Marantz NA8005
 

I am in the market for a DAC/music player for my Ayre preamp. Currently living with an Oppo 103 and a USB Hard Drive. The reason I have not looked into the 105D is the music control App is quite rudimentary. I am not that interested in the internet features, just want to know how it sounds with WAV, ALAC, FLAC 44.1/16 or high Rez and how is the control App - as comparable to ITunes or JRIVER? Can you hook up a 1-4 TB USB hard drive or must you stream from an NAS?

The Sony HAPZ1 ES is another contender in this segment. It is both a source and a DAC. Most reviews have been very positive.

Yes, that has been on my list. The only negative is no digital out for running to my PrePro (and only silver but could live with that). Thanks for your response.

Also consider the Pioneer N70 A. It has astounding sound quality, punching several leagues above its price class relative to CD players. It has optical and coaxial digital outputs as well.

The control app however is very basic, and might be a deal breaker for you. I did read that Audionet's music manager App is compatible, provided you use a NAS.

Did not have that on my radar, thanks! Appears to quite new with not much info yet and most of the previous versions appear to be more based in Europe. The control app is part of my requirements or I'd stick with Oppo.
Because of the likelihood of Meridian's new MQA coming down the pipe I am a little hesitant about spending much more than a few $K at this point if new technologies are a foot. But if a player does have a digital out only the DAC will need to be replaced.