Marco and Jax2: I know the Mac platform is solid for USB out. I have an old Mac iBook I could use for that config, or I could buy Windows Vista and stick with my PC. I want to stick with iTunes. I've read that Foobar and ASIO are too much of a headache. Would iTunes for PC w/ Vista equal iTunes on a Mac for USB out?
Marco and Jax2 are one and the same. I know, it seems magical, but they're both just me. I did not mean to imply in any way that the Mac platform was inadequate. I use Macs exclusively for over ten years now. I only meant I would use the USB rather than the internal toslink option given the choice. As far as an inexpensive converter for your Benchmark, if you can find a used Waveterminal U24 that'd be a nice option...My friends Edirol seems to do a decent job...I think it's a UA25. As far as the two platforms, I just know Mac works: OSX hasn't given me any major headaches, is almost impervious to viruses, worms and other evil attachments, works brilliantly in all the graphics software I rely upon for my work, and streams music just fine with nary a hiccup.It has a very instinctual interface, which seems to get better all the time. I've used an iBook and that works perfectly well for streaming music, as I'm sure a MacMini would. Either way, if you plan on using the new Mac operating system, Leopard (10.5.X), make sure you have at least a gig of RAM in whatever box you choose, and that your hard disk is a large one (the newer MacMinis are a bit more versatile in that regard I guess - someone correct me if I'm wrong there). Like Vista, or so I'm told (I steer clear of PC's if I have a choice), Leopard is a memory hog requiring 512mb of RAM just to run the OS. OSX also runs smoother and faster if you leave about a third of the boot disk free (hence larger drives are better for Leopard).
Marco