MAC or PC?
Well, what's on hand right now? Really? then try that first.
As has been posted there are many levels, and flavors along the way in ANY realm of audio.
Begin with what you have now. it might suprise you what can be done with it. It sure did me. Just picking out a different media player made the sound better! I'd never have believed that to be the case. But then, I'm eternally skeptical.
This ain't rocket science. We just think we're NASA engineers... no offense to those who really are of course. Much of what can or should be done with pc audio or digital audio is at this stage, simple plug and play. usually. now and then there's the needed download too.
I keep seeing rhetoric about noisey personal confusers so one should use an outboard sound card, or DAC. that aforementioned noise can be amelierated with little trouble. Just open up the case, for staters! A nice PCI card might be the way to go right off.
Just try something and see if that floats your boat. If not, then try something else. For under $150.00, you can get a M Audio Audiophile 24/192 PCI card that has several inputs and outputs for recording OR playing back music. For free you can get J River Jukebox. J River, BTW is well regarded as a favored media player by several of the top USB DAC makers.
Just getting in where ya fit in is always a good place to begin. Then.... think about what or where to go from there, and most importantly, how you want to utilize this new playback system. Whole house? Wireless? Remotely? USB?
Good luck... don't let it overwhelm you. it's not that much trouble... and remember, "best or better" is up to you to decide anyways.
