Hhmm, I am a most unworthy 'hero'.
Content: Infrant Repertoire NAS with 65,000 FLAC ripped by dbPoweramp plus HiRes FLAC downloads
System: dedicated touchscreen PC running MC12, USB out to Off-Ramp Turbo 2, AES/XLR to EMM DCC2 SE
Sound: sucks
Problem: USB interface is not working without tics & pops. Have tried Foobar, MediaMonkey, AlbumPlayer w and w/o ASIO4All. Awful.
Problem 2: I do not like having the computer gear chined next to the audio gear
Solution: drop direct USB and go to UPnP. Cheapo media-bridge things do not look good for audiophile use (no staging of data so jitter straight through from stream to S/PDIF). Enter Linn and their DS series - high quality, dedicated audio solution, data is buffered and sent straight to DAC with v. low jitter. A few issues: $20,000 for the Klimax version, no digital in (only Ethernet) no digital out (must use DAC), worst control software ever seen, company is difficult times and may not be around. Ouch.
Solution 2: Try a new Wavelength Asynch USB/DAC for $8,000 but remain tethered to USB, no guarantee it solves problems (darn computers!), dedicated DAC.
Plan: Try the UpNP solution with an EVA700 using S/PDIF out. See if that works with my set up: NAS-MC12-UPnP receiver/renderer. Then evaluate Linn once I know the rest works. Then count to 10 before buying.
Action: Next weekend for media-bridge test based on belief MC12 supports UPnP and the Forum supports JRiver dummies, like me.
Dead hero? Thanks for the support.