"In my never ending search for the best cd player, I have owned the best there is and heard even more players. At this point I feel certain to state that integrated players, without exception, sound rhythmically more integer and more "right" than separate transports and dacs. Sure, you can upgrade a cd player with a very good dac. There are many aspects of the sound that can benefit. For example, the famous Marantz CD12/DA12 combo is incredibly smooth and colourful but can sound a bit slow and undynamic. But brace yourself if you separate them and use the CD12 transport into a Levinson 360s DAC, for the resulting sound is mindblowing in terms of harmonic ripeness, smoothness and liquidity in the treble. Also, a lot of the slowness that was present in combination with the DA12 DAC, is now gone. So, we've definitely upgraded the CD12 by adding a better DAC. However, no matter how emotionally engaging and colourful the sound, still, this combo doesn't beat the integrated Levinson 390S cd player in terms of 3D soundstaging, rhythmic drive and allround sense of a living, breathing musical performance. Somehow, the separated player also sounds a little disjointed. Even the CD11LE, an integrated player and official replacement of the CD12, sounds livelier, more gripping and makes my feet tap, even if it is much less harmonically ripe than the CD12/360S combo. I could go on giving examples, but my point is: do try to avoid using spdif and get an integrated player. It just sounds more right."
Voi avete fatto prove in questo senso?