Benchmarkmedia의 인기 DAC인 DAC1의 USB 모델이 나왔습니다.
드라이버 설치없이 24bit, 96Khz를 지원하는데 Custom Driver를 쓰는 USB 장비들은 Bit-Transparent하지 않다는 얘기를 하는군요. (아마 그래서 Apogee의 Mini-me나 DAC가 48Khz밖에 안되었나 보다는 생각을....)
가격은 $1,295로 Apogee Mini-DAC보단 비쌉니다.

Devices that require the user to install a 'custom' driver for operation usually are NOT bit-transparent. We have done extensive testing with USB audio devices, and only 'native' devices (meaning they required no driver installation) were found to be bit- transparent. The problem with native devices has been their inability to stream audio at sample-rates over 48 kHz and word-lengths over 16-bits. Benchmark's USB technology extends bit-transparent native USB audio to high resolutions up to and including 96 kHz, 24-bits.

A common problem with streaming audio via USB is the presence of pops and clicks. This is due to the computer's inability to properly manage data streams and buffering. Audio is a unique type of a data stream for the computer to handle, as it requires constant and consistent stream rates. This is especially problematic for USB streaming because the USB protocol was designed to operate in 'surges' of data, not continuous steady flow. Any gaps in the audio data cause clicks and pops in the audio. The Benchmark Advanced USB solution was engineered to withstand these mismanaged data streams and prevent clicks and pops.