Audio Interface For Playback Only?, Desparately looking for good quality output from my MBP Options

[newtown1]

Hi all - I've been hovering around here fo a while going through the forums, however this is my first post.

My difficulty is trying to find an excellent audio interface for playback only. My prior computer was a Sony Vaio laptop which I was getting fantastic quality from. (it came with a dedicated audio visual dock with RCA's - which seemed to be quite good in hindsight). I have recently decided to take the Mac plunge, and purchased a 17" Macbook Pro. Fantastic laptop - however the audio is concerning me a little. I always presumed that the minijack would be average at best (which it was), so I purchased a Behringer UCA 202 audio interface (seemed basic - but had all that i needed. ie: usb to laptop and rca's out). I just wasn't at all happy with the sound, so I a/b'd it against the VAIO and there was a huge difference.

So now I realise that I will obviously have to spend quite a bit more on something with a better D/A converter. My dilemma though is that I'm not sure what to look at. Most products that appear to offer higher quality all seem to be pitched specifically at musicians with lots of Midi, mic & guitar ins/outs. All I need though is something that simply has a good D/A converter with RCA output!

That being said - I realise that I probably will have to buy something with extra ins/outs that I won't use, simply to get the better D/A converter. However I don't have any idea of how far to go before I am just paying more money just for extra in's/outs (ie: what product is at a good pricepoint for the simple need that I have). I have been looking at the Presonus Inspire, particularly given it's big brother the Firefox seems to get great reviews. But is it possibly worth my while looking at some other more expensive products?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm well out of my depth here

Thanks.

[grassbro]

hi. you may be missing the fact that the mac books all have optical digital out. and the built in card is 24/96. so, if you have good speakers, all you need is good cables! even a simple mini-jack to rca will be better than the usb you have.

[newtown1]

hi. you may be missing the fact that the mac books all have optical digital out. and the built in card is 24/96. so, if you have good speakers, all you need is good cables! even a simple mini-jack to rca will be better than the usb you have.

Thanks Grassbro - although already tried that. Using a mini jack to rca was noticeably worse than the cheap Behringer that I have. I do have an excellent pair of speakers - Epos M22 tri-wirable floorstanders paired with a Cyrus 8vs amp, and the minijack is certainly shown up on them. Regarding the optical digital out - I don't have a digital input on my amp, so I'm not sure that's worth pursuing? Especially when I know the quality of sound I have been able to get via RCA's on my Sony - then surely it can't be that much harder to get the same or better sound from the Mac connected through the right equipment?

Anyone got any ideas? - surely there's lots of other people who have the need to output in better quality to some good audio equipment?