I'm curious how many of you leave your solid state gears on 7/24 and reasons please.

Searching for a USB DAC (or PCMCIA, no firewire port) for home use with my laptop and amp, need some recommendations. I've done lots of readings and 0404USB seems to be the favorite here, but I don't need many those functions. So I'm looking for better choice (cheaper) with sound quality being...