I have been browsing the group but haven't yet heard much on the
following subject: High End Sound from the Computer. CD's are
digital sources of music. So are computers. So it seems to me that
it is time to add a computer to my stereo. Why? I watch my kids have
a wonderful time playing music on the computer. The software allows
them to choose songs without fumbling through cd cases, tells them the
song, artist, etc of what they are listening to, etc. In short, ease
of use. However, they are using MP3's which a high end snob like me
won't consider.

Here is my plan: I am going to build a computer in an ultra-quiet
case. I am going to put in a couple of big IDE drives. Most
importantly, I am going to put in a Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe
sound card (very favorably reviewed in Stereophile as well as other
places). I am going to connect the sound card to my PSE preamp using
very high quality interconnects, probably by Audioquest. Should sound
pretty good, don't you think?

I am going to transfer a bunch of my CD's to the hard drives and maybe
later take on the task of transferring LP's of which I have many.
Here are some of the issues I am concerned with: Any recommendations
for software to rip the cd's onto the hard drive? Any recommendations
for software to play the tunes on the hard drive? How about file
formats? From what I read, I need to rip to .wav if I want them to
sound as good as the cd's themselves. Any thoughts?