I'm looking to move my CD collection from a couple of Sony carousels to a laptop. My setup is a 990, 755, and PSB Silveri speakers and a Dell laptop connected to the 990 via USB. A local stereo shop let me borrow a PS Audio DLIII DAC ($995) for a few days. I've ripped a few CDs using Windows Media using the lossless option.

I've spent quite a few hours trying to compare the sound going directly from the laptop to the 990 via USB and the laptop to the DAC (via USB) and then to the 990 via L and R cables into the inputs labeled CD. I'm having a hard time hearing any improvement. I really can't say I hear any difference at all. From everything I've read in mags and websites I should hear a world of difference. It seems like I should hear some diffence considering the price of the DAC is equal to the 990.

I'm wondering if I've configured the 990 correctly to be able to hear a difference.

I changed the input config for the CD inputs where I plugged the DAC to analog and I changed the config to bypass. Is there a way to tell if this change occurred properly on the LCD display on the 990 when I've chosed the appropriate (CD) input and I'm listening to music?

Can anyone offer any other suggestions?

When using the analog output of the DLIII, it is not too hard to check that it's in "bypass" mode. The current mode isn't displayed continuously on the 990's front panel, but if you're not sure what the current mode is you can just press the "Stereo" button on the remote or the "Surr Mode" on the front panel (being careful to only push the button once, and assuming you are using firmware newer than the original 3.07) and the front panel will display the current mode. Unless you are in this mode, any evaluation of an outboard DAC will be nullified by the A/D/A conversion.