I’ve tried countless models from £10 to £700 and the winners when used as transports over SPDIF were the Cambridge Audio DVD89/99 that I picked up for £30 apiece. CD, SACD and DVD-A playback all outstanding, performance preferable to models from Audiolab, Leak, Arcam, Yamaha, Marantz, Cambridge’s own CXC V2, etc.

YMMV, but my recommendation is that if you see one of these beauties (the difference between the two being that the 99 has a USB input, whereas the 89 does not), grab it!

One of Apple’s most disappointing products, a fatiguing listen. Yet the minis are really pretty great - go figure.