USB DA recommendation needed

To my ears, the combination of the Theta and the MAudio Sonica sounds better than the Stereolink. My setup is actually sounding a bit worse right now, b/c I just moved the stereo across the office, and with some other changes, now have PC -> MAudio Sonica USB to toslink converter -> 36' of toslink -> MAudio C02 toslink to digital coax converter -> Theta. I just posted a Q in another thread--I'm looking for insights into whether I'd be better off with 36' of USB or some other device that is USB->coax digital and a long coax digital run...

My M-Audio USB Audiophile came with a driver that had to be installed before the computer would recognize it.

The squeezebox from slimdevices.com is worth a look. It doesn't have a USB input port but it does have both Ethernet and WLAN interfaces, which will allow for remote connectivity to your server-based jukebox. It can play a wide variety of digital formats including uncompressed PCM. The S/PDIF output will allow you to bypass the builtin DAC, and use one of your choice.

I don't have personal experience with this device. However, I'd guess that RFI and jitter might be the two main issues.

the squeezebox looks interesting!
However, since I use the screen of, my cube to watch DVD's I cannot ban it from the living room. Thus wirelss is not needed, but maybe I get one for the bedroom!
I am leaning towards the 2 step solution (sonica-dac) or waiting for deals on the apogee :-)
A couple questions:
Did you ahve problems before with short cables going into the DAC?
Does the Sonica work without drivers ?
I know nothing about DACs. what is preferred, coax (s/pdif is guess), optical ? What use one is good for the $?

Thanks!

I looked at the Slimp3 from Slim Devices for my other stereos, and ended up with a bunch of Audiotrons instead:

http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/audiotron/producthome.asp

The Slimp3 (and the SQBX) are server push--means you have to have software running on a computer to push things out to the box. The Audiotron, on the other hand, indexes all the mp3s/wavs it finds in any public directories on the network and accesses them as you decide. Worked better for me. I do run one CD30 "server push" device in my bedroom hooked to a cheesy Nakamichi radio alarm clock. Might want to look at that too:

http://www.cd3o.com/

The ATron has ethernet, but no wireless (you could hook it to an 802.11 based bridge, however). There may be an issue w/wireless, however. For higher quality mp3s and wavs, the data rates of the 802.11 system may not be sufficient. Nominally, it should be good enough for most mp3s. The problem is that, in most cases, you aren't going to get ideal 802.11 rates in your house--depends on how many other 2.4 GHz appliances you have and how many floors/walls it has to go through.

The Sonica does require installation of drivers to, at least, reroute audio through USB rather than speaker output from the computer (it does on my WinXP box). My perception was that the sound quality was better with shorter runs of toslink, but the Q I asked was because it doesn't get to the quality of ATron-fed mp3 playback in my living room. There, the ATron feeds a Theta Casablanca via coax s/pdif, to a pair of ARC VT 100 Mk IIIs to a set of Proac RS 3.8s. The study system is Theta Pro Basic III (should be comparable to C/B as a DAC) into an ARC LS-16 pre into an ARC D240 Mk II into Proac RS2s. Should be comparable, but its not.

I think conventional wisdom is that coax sounds better than toslink, but I've heard contrary views expressed as well. I think its probably safe to say that on most systems, coax sounds better. The Sonica only has a toslink out, however. I've wondered about cracking the box open and wiring in an RCA plug--I think they use toslink b/c its cheaper to manufacture, but I've seen mods people have done to turn toslink into RCA... Heck, at worst I destroy a $50 box.