[PJ G4]

I currently own a 17" 1.33 Powerbook. Are there any USB DAC's available for my computer. I have done some searching and came across USB powered units from M-Audio, and Xitel but I am not sure if these are DAC's or simply a means to connect a computer to a stereo utilizing a USB input and a digital output. Thanks

[subego]

Originally posted by PJ G4:
I currently own a 17" 1.33 Powerbook. Are there any USB DAC's available for my computer. I have done some searching and came across USB powered units from M-Audio, and Xitel but I am not sure if these are DAC's or simply a means to connect a computer to a stereo utilizing a USB input and a digital output. Thanks

I have an M-Audio Sonica, which I'm pretty sure still doesn't work under Panther. M-Audio isn't in a hurry to update their drivers.

To answer your question, the Sonica is both. It has a 3.5mm jack, do there's a DAC. It also has an optical digital out if you want to use the DAC in your stereo or something outboard.

The analog out is noise free, which is absolutely not the case with the audio-out on my iMac DV. The Sonica drivers choke a lot though, and as mentioned before, it became a doorstop with Panther.

FWIW I've ditched it and my CSW SoundWorks for a pair of HK Soundsticks, though not because of lack of audio quality from the Sonica.

HTH

[spiky_dog]

all of the USB products will have analog inputs/outputs, so necessarily will be DACs (when using the analog ports). quality is not assured, however. browse around on samedaymusic.com or zzounds.com (or bhphotovideo.com for that matter), there are a lot of products out there. or do a search in groups.google.com with the string "group:rec.audio.pro" ...

[TheMosco]

Just a word of caution, The jack on the Sonica is not meant for headphones. If your headphones are not the right Impedance, it wont sound good.