Glad to see we're on the same page again, gonk.

I am familiar with that Audioholics article and other writings by Bruno Putzeys. When he wrote that in 2004, he was indeed describing what was the current state of the art of analog vs. DSP at that time. But DSP chips have gotten a LOT faster and more powerful since then- which has closed the performance gap considerably- perhaps to the point of inaudability.

In any case, I shall continue to lust over the possibility of someday eliminating the giant wad of cables connecting all of my components together without [audible] sacrifices in sound quality.