I know it sounds incredible...
All things same i.e. same amplifier, speakers, cables etc. and you consider a CDP and a PC with an Asus soundcard the PC + Asus combo will trump the CDP every single time. The PC + Asus combo will do what the CDP does i.e. play music and transport it but do it much, much better. The PC + Asus will do 192kHz/24bit. How many CDPs will do that? If a person already has a PC (and most do these days) then all that's required is an 8K soundcard. No CDP comes at that price. Now if you want a CDP that will do what the Asus soundcard does i.e. Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz @ 16/24bit, Output Signal-to-Noise Ratio 124dB, Frequency Response 10Hz to 90KHz... well you get the picture and you can only begin to imagine how much such a CDP will end up costing.
I was reading that a free crossover plugin for Foobar does a better job than a $1500 Bryston, free players like cPlay, Foobar will play music without jitter, better soundstage and more warmth.
Coming to why CDPs cost so much more well even I would sell for way over the costs involved if people were ready to pay and audiophiles/stereophiles are a special breed who do want to pay more so cannot really blame the CDP makers here. Also, PC makers are coming up with audiophile grade components like speakers, soundcards, HTPCs only now challenging the monopoly of the CDP makers. A few years ago music on my PC actually sounded horrible in comparison to my Sony CDP and even I used a CDP back then. I used to use the PC only to convert my CDs to MP3s to play on my Motorola ROKR mobile and my iPod, but never actually play music on it. Now of course things have changed and for the better. Still lots of bias against the PC. People want something that looks good like a CDP in their living room and not a PC and still want to pay more for far lesser SQ. Like I said audiophiles/stereophiles are a peculiar breed... no offense meant to anyone!
I find this quite intriguing. Why is it that a 8K Beresford DAC is much much much inferior to a 8K ASUS.
And no, I'm not being sarcastic or questioning the reviews etc. I have heard neither, so am not even in a position to comment on their SQ.
But still .. I find it intriguing how a manufacturer can produce something for 8K, the SQ of which cannot be matched by something costing many times. How much would 'many' be? 5 times (40K CDP) ? 10 times (80K CDP)?