Short answer - we have to spend thousands to get a “high quality” bitstream into the DAC if we want the investment in a DS DAC to be worth it.
The USB input you refer cannot read a music file on a thumb drive. The music file (which has metadata) has to be converted into a specific data stream. We need some sort of computer, music rendering software, etc to select the music file, convert it and so on.
It’s important to get this “exact rip” but it’s only the first step of the complexity of Digital music. I’ve been through years of disc players and DACS, CD cleaning/cutting/blankening/demagging, USB audio interfacing, ripping and meta data grooming (hate it) and I’m going back to a transport - this time the new PS Audio SACD unit. After a visit to PS Audio last year, hearing their speaker prototype with a PS Audio transport playing my CDs (it was fantastic), I’m ready to make my life simpler by just playing discs on a top rung transport, connected by a superior I2S interface, into my terrific sounding DS DAC. Expensive - yes - but now worth it in my senior years.
Back to your final question, your CD will sound fantastic via a great transport. Your ripped CD file will only sound great if you spend plenty of time and money trying to get music files, in the best way possible, into the DS DAC USB input.
3 Likes