Mac Forum / General / Hardware / December 2007

Please define what you mean by "good".  Does that mean something that
actually sounds better than the built in sound or something that works
with zero compatibility issues?  I use an iMic and 99% of the time its
faultless.  I don't notice any major difference in sound quality
between that and the built in sound but I wasn't using good
headphones/speakers when testing.  So there may be some advantages.  
Mark Conrad (speed recognition enthusiast) has pointed out that there
are definite advantages in the audio in area if using a USB soundcard.  
He doesn't mention firewire as that may be overkill.  

If you're looking for audiophile quality its not an easy quest as most
equipment is designed for the musician or PA (sound reinforcement) and
high end sound quality is simply not a priority in those situations.  

Remember that you're shopping for a D/A (digital to analogue)
converter for the computer.  I wonder if there is a USB to optical
digital cable/converter out there?   Then you could hook up any
computer to any audiophile quality D/A converter.  

And of course if you're concerned about quality, don't bother with
MP3.  Its lossless, uncompressed formats only.  Then you need to think
about high quality near-field speakers.  Once again mostly the domain
of recording studios and musicians.  Same problem with sound quality
priorities.  Its not an easy search.