Right now I´m testing an old Creative Infra24 that has function buttons on it´s panel and also a very handy remote control, so it can be used without the PC.
I´m using an IBM power supply from an old Japanese PS/V pc that died some time ago.
In the rear you got a Digital Audio 2 pin connector, so I´m taking a coaxial cable from this 2 pins (using an old hdd led connector from a scrap pc-cabinet) and driving it straight to an external DAC, that can be my Denon or Pioneer receivers or even an Audio Alchemy DAC.
The soundstage, dynamics and everything else is very similar to a dvd player (pioneer 606 / Panasonic RP82) using the digital coax output and the same external DAC.