D/A Converters

Good morning,
I currently am using the USB-based Music Streamer to send internet music from my Macbook to my older RCA-based receiver.
Having just purchased a HDTV that has built-in internet access, I now have more options.
The new TV has two options for AUDIO OUT.
   --- a 3.5mm analog jack
   --- an optical digital jack
Question 1 -- if I convert entirely to the HDTV pathway, which output jack will carry the best resolution?

From Yahoo News:
Legendary rocker Neil Young took his campaign for higher-fidelity digital sound to the stage of a technology conference Tuesday, saying a giant of the industry was on his side: the late Steve Jobs.
Young said the Apple co-founder was such a fan of music that he didn't use his iPod and its digitally compressed files at home. Instead, he used a physical format well-known to have better sound.
"Steve Jobs was a pioneer of digital music. His legacy is tremendous," Young said. "But when he went home, he listened to vinyl (albums)."

I just recently downloaded a software update on my EMM Labs XDS1 CD player/ D/A converter and was somewhat taken aback by how much better it sounded.  It was quite a bit higher in resolution.  Fine details that I couldn't hear in recordings before I could now easily hear.  Imaging and 3-dimensionality were markedly improved with more of a sense of an expansive soundstage, easier to identify where the instruments and voices were, and more air around everything.  It was also easier to follow individual instrumental lines.  The bass lines were easier to

What other products are directly competitive with Simauido Evolution DAC offerings?
 
I have a Marantz SA 11S1 SACD player now which I could sell and upgrade to a player/Dac like the Sim stuff or I could keep my Marantz and add a stand alone Dac.  Either way, I want to get into computer audio (Mac based) and I don't want to compramize too much on sound from what I get now from my Marantz.
 
Thanks!

I've noticed several glowing reviews in the audio magazines lately on the Bryston BDP-1.  While it looks like a fine device, I'm not clear what advantages it has over the much less expensive SqueezeBox Touch to justify the significantly higher price?  The Touch is $299USD and the BDP-1 is $2150USD.
The Bryston clearly has superior build quality and will handle higher sample rates up to 24/192 vs. only 24/96 for the Touch.  But with it's nice touch screen, analog outputs for casual listening, etc. the Touch has it's advantages as well.

Can any DAC out there work with the iPad 2 as the source?  I was hoping that Weiss 202 would...

This is not quite a D/A converter topic for this forum but this forum seemed the best of an inadequate fit. As my prior post indicated, I'm intending to put together a great sounded, computer audio system, which will start off with a MAC computer.

I want to assemble a great-sounding computer audio system, which will consist of a Mac computer, a computer interface, and a standalone DAC feeding an amplifier directly, although I am also looking at DAC/preamp/amp integrated units.

 www.hifiwigwam.net
everyone is welcome.

Hi everyone. I have a PC with a 24/192 KHz DA, which sounds fine enough with .WAV and MP3, but rather poor with 16/44.1 CD's.
Does anyone recomend CD player software that can turn my Windows PC into a contemporary sounding CD player - oversampling to 24/192, nicely, and reading the digital stream directly for the CD, etc.

I've never liked the sound of 16/44, except in a very few cases.
Thanks!