Last night at the pub a couple of my mates who never express any interest in things Hi-Fi were rabbiting on about the 'Brennan' mp3 player/cd ripper/amp/toaster/microwave/vacuum cleaner etc... as featured in all rubbish Sunday supplements, next to the 1 giant slipper and incontinence pants adverts.

I mentioned that it was a 'baguette de merde' and that one could have a much better solution for less money...

Option 1;

Use a laptop/winamp/FLAC, with a half decent budget DAC, and their existing serviceable mid '80s Japanese kit. The question here is which DAC, I've heard the dacmagic3, and it seems excellent for the cost. But I notice a lot of people here use the Beresford Caiman, they're about the same price, any thoughts about the relative quality? Particularly when used via USB.

Option 2;

Get a squeezebox touch (a separate server would be too far for these boys), I know there are a few constraints when using the touch as both server and player, 100K tracks and 100 track playlists etc. Is anyone out there using the touch in this way? Are there any other problems/issues you've encountered?

Option 3;

Let them get the Brennan, and spend the rest of the year laughing at them...

My advice is option 1 by a mile (they already have laptops), but they seem to like the one box solution, so option 2 might be a better compromise...

Cheers,

Will