USB DA recommendation needed

Just a note, USB 1.1 doesn't have the bandwidth to play more than 2 channels at 24bit/96khz. Companies are slowly coming out with USB2 and firewire devices that can play multi-channel audio at this resolution, but the original USB, a.k.a. USB 1/1.1 is too slow for more than 2 channels @ 24/96. It will play 16/48 (or 16/44.1) x 6 channels (5.1) Just something to keep in mind.

I have been using an Extigy for a few years, and it does well with DVDs because at 16/48 it compares very well even to the newer M-Audio line in SNR, Frequency Response and THD. It falls a little behind in 44.1 which is a major shortcoming of this device, in addition to the lack of multichannel higher resolution audio.

I'm waiting for M-Audio to release a USB2 Theater so I can have one device that does it all.

returned the audiophile and got a edirol ua-5.
sounds pretty damn sweet and needs no drivers for 16bit sound.
It is pretty universal since it has optical and coax as well.
Of course a week after i got it m-audio released new drivers for the audiphile to fix the crash problem in panther :-(

now i wouldn't mind borrowing somebody's theta to compare :-)

Update -- Bought an Apogee USB Mini-Dac. This is waaaay better than the M-Audio Audiophile! The M-Audio introduced time smear. Apogee has a better clock solution, smear is gone, full, rich, detailed sound, deep wide holographic sound stage -- I've found what I'm looking for! The Apogee cost $976, which is about five times what the M-Audio USB DAC cost, but I couldn't be happy with the M-Audio DAC -- I am really pleased with the sound of the Apogee. You can go from your computer, to the Apogee, to your amp or powered speakers --- no need for a pre-amp.

Rsbeck, does it have SPDIF out to connect to a standalone DAC?

Yes, the Apogee, like the M-Audio, has an SPDiF out. I tried using the SPDiF out on the M-Audio, plugging it into a digital input on my Proceed AVP2 and it did not sound good, which is surprising since the Proceed has very good DAC's and usually makes low end gear sound much better. I haven't tried the SPDiF out on the Apogee yet. I've been listening to it non-stop since I got it on Monday. Today, I plugged the balanced XLR outputs into my Levinson mono-blocks and into my Monitor Audio Studio 60's -- sounds great! The G4 and Apogee make a really satisfying front end. Musical as hell, the imaging is really delightful, I find myself glued to it. I am now going to rip my entire 1,000+ CD collection to an external hard drive, uncompressed, and use this for high quality casual listening in the family room. Convenience with very little compromise!