Quote: ...of what?

You can certainly get something that would suit you for not too much money. What do you need from this interface? Will you be recording through microphones, do you need midi input...?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking... Could you clarify what you're trying to find out

Quote: It's hard to find something for you if you don't know what you have now, and change your criteria and budget every post.

Are your speakers passive or active??

Quote: Just to make sure I am not missing anything, you have the mic and speakers. Correct? If so, I would recommend you use something like this. If you need something that connects over firewire, this will work. Those are both decent entry-level interfaces.

Lastly, how serious are you about doing this? Just a hobby, or what? Do you want he bets your budget can afford, or just something that will work? Also, am I correct in assuming you don't have a DAW? If you do, what is it?

How are you hoping to have it factor into your electronic music?

If you're just producing electronic music, do you need a mic? What mic do you have now?

You misunderstood. A DAC will work in a system that contains a mic and vice versa. What was said is that the DAC won't do anything for the mic. I'll help you, how much are you willing to spend on this? What are you hoping your setup will accomplish (i.e: what will you be recording/ what type of...

Why can't you use your mic?

Using this setup will mean you will have no preamps. Not totally sure what it is you want anymore, but just a warning

Active or passive?

Quote: Yes, it would matter. A mic transmits analog signals, so they would need to be converted to digital. A "digital to analog" converter can't do that. Also, not sure what you mean by audio source. The MobilePre is a preamp.

I plan on downloading CD's to my computer, but I realized I have no idea whether the built in CD drive on my Mac is suitable. If I am just ripping CD's does a better CD player make a difference, or does a better drive only help when playing music off CD's? Thanks