like to buy a dac?

Well I don't sit around here and make this stuff up.

I made mention of the PCM output... which your PC does natually, as my FIOS HD cable box made by Motorola Q6200 doesn't output the audio data in PCM format. I found this out accidentally on purpose, trying to do one of the things you noted above not too long ago myself, Hooked it up... and got nada. Spent two days calling Verizon FIOS support and even Motorola support... again... nada. None of the support teams even knew what PCM was/isw.

I then called the support for the DAC I had at the time and sure enough Lavry Egn. wsaid as much too.. ONLY PCM. Bel Canto was up next and when I finally got to them same thing. PCM.

Lavry's DAC converted higher sampling rates to 192, vs. BC DAC3 at only 96 via TOS or Coax inputs, and only 16/44.1 K on USB.

SO THERE'S ONE MORE CONSIDERATION... IF usb IS USED.... insuring the output stream is within the parameters of the DACs abilities for each interface... USB or Coax. Likely it will be if you are streamning audio off the net. My Bel Canto DAC3 will via USB.

Lastly, the interface is key... USB TOS or Coax, as much so as is the prospected DACs abilities.

BTW be mindful of the numbers game... 16/44.1, 16/48, 24/96, 24/192, etc. more or larger numbers might not correlate to better, and some DACs don't upconvert to their analog outs. They merely process the info given them... ala BC DAC 3, Lavry DA10... ETC.

i SAY TOO... "If you like what you are getting, keep doing what you are doing.... if not, then change what you can."

Blindjim, you opened up a can of worms in my mind with your last post,but a good can if it is going to keep me from purchasing the wrong DAC down the road. I am currently using a PCI soundcard(Echo Layla 24, with outboard break out box and DAC running pure wave) but have been wondering if i could improve sound by bypassing it entirely and running an external dac such as the Paradisea+ via my PC's USB hub ? My main concern is being able to stream audio(radio stations such as pandora and youtube etc.) through as i am able to do that now and absolutely do not want to lose that functionality. Thoughts?

Better make sure of two things going into this purchase/search... that the components you want to hook into the DAC output PCM data... or can be configured to output PCM. Most DAC only accept PCM info.

or do ensure the DAC you buy accepts and converts other than PCM data. Not too many DACs do bit stream.

HD audio from Blue Ray is another item. you'll need to config your BRP to output the 24/192 so the DAC can handle it, and the DAC will of course have to deal with 24/192... this also limits DAC choices.

Good luck.

look at MSB the Platinum series has their own digital filter which is awsome nothing on the market can touch it
if you don't want to spend the money try
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1231224084&/Msb-Technology-gold-link-iii-d
The DAC is the most important piece you will own
I own the Platinum series but I started with the Gold

Sat radio isn't worth a DAC. It's all compressed and a DAC may end up making it sound worse (you'll notice that something is missing like highs and lows).

You need to think carefully. Generally to get BD to what you need for two channel you will need a DSP (something that gets you a "phantom center" and allows for sub or no sub in order to integrate LF info in the 0.1 channel). Most ordinary standalone DAC's don't offer this kind of functionality.