Which DAC for computer based system?

I am very happy with my TwiDac Plus. When I bought it, the price was over your limit, but it is now available with the battery supply as an option, so maybe the price is under 2,000. With the dollar against the Euro, I don't know. You can always add the battery supply later.

I would also look at the Brick from Wavelength Audio. And maybe the Apogee Mini.

Did I mention I love my twindac?

Steve

I would recommend the Apogee USB Mini-Dac. I am ecstatic with mine. Your G-4 laptop will recognize it without having to install extra drivers and you won't believe the sound. Detailed, natural, musical, black background, wonderful soundstage, air -- and non-digital. Your G-4 plus Apogee will sound as good as digital front ends costing twice the price.

FWIW I use a similar system, though still have my music in compressed (AAC 192kHz) format, but I stream the audio wirelessly with Apple Airport Expresses and use the DAC's in my processors for conversion. Though not as good as your system, in my trials with uncompressed files, I had no signal drop outs, and will likely use this format for when I get the new HD and re-copy all my music in native format. As an added benefit, I can stream to any stereo in the house..

Backup of a collection like that is essential. Hard drives can and do fail. My friend just had his Lacie with 100gb of music fail on him in the first two weeks of owning it. To recover the data would cost more than the drive did. It was a Lacie 250gb drive (one of the Extreme models). On the other hand I've used Lacie drives for years without even a hiccup, so go figure. His dad is a Mac guy and recommended a drive I'd never heard of called a Mercury Elite Pro. Given his experience with the Lacie I think he'll try one of these next. I still wouldn't hesitate to use Lacie. Those kinds of things can happen to any drive. They all have very fast moving parts. I think his reader arm slammed into the wall. I'm in the process of backing up 200+gb of music onto about 40 DVD's, which is another alternative to an extra drive, and arguably a bit safer, but much more labor intensive. Still, it'll be reassuring to have a hard copy, as it were.

I haven't actually listened to the DAC in my Waveterminal, but i don't imagine it would be difficult to improve upon given the price. I use the digital SPDIF to run to a Muse DAC and couldn't be more happy. As you know from the other thread, USB DAC's could also be a great solution.

Marco

basically any dac with digital in is OK, a benchmark or an apogee should serve you well.