I am sort of in the market for a cdp and was wondering if it would be wiser to get a DAC and use a universal dvd player instead of a stand alone cdp.
What would yeild better sound quality results,
a stand alone or a DAC?
at the most I was willing to spend under $700 for the cdp.
Thanks for the opinions.

$700 puts you out of reach of most of the better DACs. But remember that DACs aren't the only thing that makes a CDP sound the way it should. The better CDPs have better transport systems that reduce jitter and properly clock the signal.

That $700 can get you the very excellent Rotel RCD-1072. If you can squeeze about $300 more into your budget, the Rega Apollo is simply AMAZING (it sounds better than a lot of the $3,000 players I've sold).

Damn son 1g for a cdp, damn sound son!