Fenton Beasley:
I think the point of an
external DAC is to not play mp3 files with, but to play FLAC or other 'lossless' computer files instead
I wasn't at the meeting where that rule got decided
(I think Naim developers missed the meeting too when developing their naim
uniti to play CDs, internet radio, MP3, iPods, Lossless formats, wireless etc at all different bitrates and levels of compression.)
I am having great fun playing Freeview radio, internet radio, BBC iPlayer, iTunes (everything from lossless to 256k AAC+ downloads), youtube and DVD sound through my external DAC. Others on the forum report excellent results with Spotify through their external DACs.
I was also not at the meeting that decided people most only play
either (a) CDs through a CD player
or (b) Lossless files through a DAC but
never both.