[damnbiker]

Hello everyone, long time lurker here, thanks to this forum I've already spent far too much of my hard earned money and now I'm thinking about trying something a little different.  I realize that there is a computer audio forum but, like I said, I'm thinking about something a little different.
 
I've been toying with the idea of getting a Cowon X7, J3 or S9.  Ideally I would like a portable jukebox.  I'm not interested in getting an iPod classic because of the file type restrictions.  I'd like to be able to load my music collection as FLAC onto a single device used mostly at work.
 
Size isn't terribly important to me (to a degree) since I'd be using this at my desk at work for the most part, I am interested in sound quality which is why I have been considering the Cowon line.  Then it occurred to me, I already have something capable of playing any file format that I can dream of and capable of long battery play back time - with some modifications.  My old, and hardly ever used Eee PC701 4G.  My only real concern is the sound quality issue.
 
With a few modifications my old Eee PC (running Ubuntu) can be modified to hold up to 256 GB which should be more than enough to hold my music collection.If I were to couple this with a high quality USB DAC would it be possible for my Eee PC to get sound quality that could rival one of these Cowon players?  Would I need a good portable amp with this set up?  I have been looking at the Headstage USB DAC and Arrow amp.
 
I'd be driving Sennheiser HD555, Shure SRH440 or Audio Technica ATH-ANC7b headphones (if I'm traveling).
 
Currently I'm using a Rockboxed 8GB Sansa Clip + with a couple of 8GB micro SDHC cards.  Do you think a USB DAC on my 'crappy lappy' would surpass the SQ of the Clip + or would it be just as useful for me to carry around my music library with me and just load it to the Sansa?
 
Am I over complicating things?

 

[Young Spade]

Well I mean getting a dac and amp(you would have to either gwet the combo amp/dac or both separate) would give you better sound quality than the headphone out on the computer, but the price might be a problem.

Areyou looking to keep it stationary or are you going to br taking it from place to place? And how much money are you willing to spend?

 

[Lex]

I use my eeePC as a portable source, usually in a messenger bag, with the iBasso D2+ in USB DAC mode stashed in the cell phone pocket on the bag's shoulder strap allowing easy volume adjustments.
 
Sounds fantastic, best sound I've ever had walking around.
 
The 9 cell battery  gives me 12 hours of tunes driving the USB DAC and Ultrasone 580's, more if the music is on a SD card.
 
Thinking of adding one of these http://us.kensington.com/html/13881.html to complete the setup.
 
Work (and play) often means carrying a netbook around with me, makes sense to use it as an audio component.

 

[aamefford]

I'm looking for a new source, and considering a netbook.  One can get a used netbook for what a nice refurbished iPod 5.5G goes for, and have at least USB digital out, if not optical as well  I think the OP is onto a good thing.

 

[Young Spade]

^ yea that's definitely a good idea if you aren't planning on going mobile with the rig; mobile waning to the park or on walks mind you. Loading a net book up with lossless files and outputting to a dac and amp combo will give great sound; better than most portables at around the same price.