Best USB DAC for 1000-1500?

Another HUGE thumbs-up for the Tranquility DACs. I was so impressed with the original Tranquility that I upgraded to the SE. I recently bought the Ayre QB-9, just to compare it to the Tranquility SE. The QB-9 is a very impressive DAC, very detailed and accurate, but both my wife and I found that the Tranquility was more "musical". I really wanted to prefer the Ayre, due to its ability to handle hi-rez files, but the Mac Mini / Tranquility combo is just stellar.

I ended up buying a used Tranquility (non SE) after reading the lengthy thread on Audiocircle about it. Before I gift it to my relative I want to compare it in my system to my RAM modified XA9000es. That could be a big mistake on my part :) At any rate, I hope that this will be a huge step up sonically from his current Chibi 2 DAC.

Latinsamba1, if you really want to get the best sound out of the Tranquility, try using the latest Mac Mini for server with Pure Music or Fidelia. I have the latter, and it is noticeably better than iTunes.