Help choosing digital front end.

Mitch, bidat??? I've never heard of that one. Could you please share some info about it? Thanks.

I have recently gone the transport/dac route as it makes no sense to buy an expensive CDP and have to upgrade every two years. There are many excellent dacs now for @$1000 or less, like Bel Canto, Birdland, and EVS Millenium and these make major difference in sound quality of system. I have Musical Fidelity A3cd/Bel Canto Dac1 front end and am very impressed with results, Sam

Sam: Have you tried the Bel Canto or another DAC with the X-Ray? If so would you suggest it for a transport? You know that I like the X gear, but I have not gone with the X-Ray because of its stand alone sound (I like a warmer sound). If a DAC changes this and if it is a good transport it would be nice to have appearance wise. I suspect that they will be sold out sooner than I would like, just like the other X gear.