I'm just wondering what people can come up with. There's not a lot out there in this range. I can't blow nearly a grand on any component, much less a little black box, and face my spouse. But, I could use a DAC or two in my transition to wireless digital music serving.

The ones I'm aware of are

1) Scott Nixons USB or S/pdif Chibi DAC's @ $250
http://www.scott-nixon.com/dac.htm

2) Scott Nixons TubeDac @ $475
http://www.scott-nixon.com/dac.htm

3) M-Audio Audiophile USB DAC @$250 MSRP (~$160 street?)
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...eUSB-main.html

4) Stereo-link USB DAC 1200HD @ $189, 1400HD @ $419
http://www.stereo-link.com/Static/1200Desc.html

5) HeadRoom Micro DAC @$299 (but would have to use a headphone jack to RCA adapter, and I don't really have any clue if this is a good idea. But it has USB/Coaxial/ AND mini optical inputs!) http://www.headphone.com/products/he...-micro-dac.php


I'd be interested to know if anyone can compare these to each other or add to the list. I'd like to know if anyone knows of DACs with Toslink inputs, which would be nice to use with Apples Airport Express. The M-Audio seems to have the greatest flexibility, but not Toslink (coaxial instead). After emailing Scott Nixon, I found you can add optical toslink input to the chibi for $30. Which would be nice to use with Apples Airport Express.

At the least, maybe this would be a good thread for the aspiring audiophile.