i have a 12inch G4 powerbook and i was thinking that i'm going to go this route for audio (besides my TT)
what do i need to hook this puppy up to my receiver and get it to sound good?

i don't know anything about usb external soundcards or art di/os

i know they exist and that people talk about them, but that's it.

serious help is needed!

Depends on how you want to do it. If you want surround, you need spdif out. If you just want music, you should choose between rca and 1/8 inch stereo plug.
Look at m-audio's site.
The sonica, and audiophile are well regarded around here. Look and see what connections you need.

I just bought an Audiophile firewire sound card to be a transit for my Benchmark DAC1 that is coming in the mail. After listening to the headphone out of the card, I think I could be happy with it for awhile had I not already bought the dac1. It raises my standards for the coming Benchmark.

Headphone jack on my iBook SUCKS. My SR60 is OK but I hear static with ER-4S. You should look at BitHead from HeadRoom (http://www.headphone.com) if you want to use powerbook as source. It's basically a external DAC with decent amp. I read it'll be compatible with macs but not completely sure about that.

IMO using any PCs as source is dumb because of fan noises. Only way it'll work is by using ear-canal or sealed phones with good soundcard or something like BitHead.

since i'd like to go this route, i think the firewire to DAC is a good idea,
how does this setup look?

thanks

now that i've read more reviews and posts,

i guess what i'm looking for is the ability to enhance the sound out of my powerbook g4 to go to my marantz 2226b which will handle all my sources.

Is the xitel compatible with a mac?
How does the Sonica sound? or the Transit? how does the Bithead compare?

differences between USB and Firewire on the M Audio Audiophile?

yahhh! help me!

You should get a headphone instead of DAC for your PC. It looks like Koss 35 is your best headphone with your Stax sr34 being stolen.

hd580's and ms1 on the way!

so back to the question...

i still want this because i want to hook it up to my marantz!

i listen to music on speakers too

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I upgraded from a Xitel Hifi Link (AN-1) to a Sonica and am pretty satisfied with it. It took me a while to find the setting to enable 24/96 mode to get the best possible sound out of it, though. The transit is just a sonica with line in, so unless you want to be able to record, go with the Sonica. USB is more than sufficient for 2-channel audio. I know M-Audio has a firewire card out, but that's more for studio-recording purposes and such..