I'll second the Havana (great choice). There's also a ton of DAC's that would fall into that price bracket that are also excellent. It really depends on the SQ you prefer. Broadly they range is from a very neutral, analytical, pro-sound solution like the Benchmark (I've tried two versions of this DAC and hated it, but plenty of others love it), to various colorations of warmth with or without tubes in the output stage. I like my TADAC in the latter realm as well as the Havana already mentioned. There's also upsampling vs. NOS to consider. Jitter reduction can be a huge asset. Is size an issue? There are very small DAC's, medium and full-size boxes. You may also want to search the forums over at Audiogon with the same query - you'll get a whole lot of input there. You might slowly narrow down your preferences this way. It's hard to say without your knowing where your preferences lie. The Benchmark, for instance, sounds very different from the Havana, yet both are highly respected in that price range. Plenty of much cheaper solutions too...you may want to weigh out as to whether the differences between a $300 solution and a $1000 solution are audible to you and are worth the premium to you. Implementation of USB is done more for convenience and ease of integration into a design. To make it work really well requires throwing $ at it in my experience. Asynchronous USB technology used by Wavelength and seemingly in some form by Empirical does a superb job at dealing with that interface. If your computer has it, Firewire is another option, but more complex to implement, though arguably better than USB in moving clocked data from computer to DAC (Empirical's and Wavelengths options being the exception but outside of the price range you mention). Solutions there are limited in your price range. Apogee's mini-DAC comes in a firewire version. The pro-audio, Focusrite Saffire also is Firewire, but has a very techie interface. I haven't tried the other solutions from the Far East, but VALAB gets a whole lot of buzz. Do some research on implementation of the USB interface in DACs before jumping the gun. With the Havana, for instance, USB is just OK while running the same DAC via Coaxial or Optical SPDIF really maximizes the potential of that DAC. Put an Empirical Offramp in between the computer and the Havana and you will level that playing field instantly based on my experience.
