USB or Squeezebox Touch from Mac to DAC

Raj - you dont "need" a USB converter with your DAC. It just depends on what kind of SQ you are after. Remember, it is the USB interface that is the most critical part of this. The more you spend on a converter and the S/PDIF and/or USB cable, the better the SQ.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I recall the Nova had a synchronous USB connection that did 24/96

It's decent but not great. Steve's Offramp is by far one of the best USB-SPDIF devices and would be significantly better than the Nova's internal USB.

I remember comparing a SonicWeld Diverter to the Nova's internal USB and it was simply no contest.

RMata thanks for asking all teh questions that I had wanted to ask. I considered also a long optical cable (minijack at one end and regular toslink at the other) from my mac to the dac, but in the end settled for an iMac.

You can use USB through your Touch with EDO if the DAC/converter supports the USB Audio standard. I use a Touch connected to a Wavelength Wavelink HS USB converter in my bedroom and it sounds great.

However, I think the Mac Mini is the best solution, which is what I use in my main system. The Logitech playback software sounds fine, but you can get better sound with other software. I like the Mac Mini because it is extremely quiet and supports both OS X and Windows natively with Bootcamp so you get the best of both worlds in terms of software. I think JPlay (Windows) and Amarra (Mac) are the best sounding, but both interfaces rather suck, so I reserve those for critical listening and mainly use Squeezeplay (this would be useful to you so you can keep your LMS library) or Foobar2000 with an iOS or Android remote app. Having a smartphone/tablet is soooo convenient and is well worth the modest cost for this function alone.

To me the USB converter is a key component and is a worthwhile investment.