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.

[emgcarra]

To me, "excellent output quality" always means: a lot of money...!! You´ll need to think about your financial threshold.... Good luck !!

[mortalengines]

I'm actually kinda surprised to hear that your mini jack sounds bad. I just did a gig the other day & used the mini jack out to 1/4" adapters & it sounded pretty good, actually & I have a 2 year old G4 power book. I did, however, spend 10 to 12 bucks on "Live Wire" mini jack to 1/4" (as well as mini jack to RCA, which also sound pretty good. Here's another thing though...... With both cables out of my mini jack I always went into a mixer first, which probably converted the unbalanced output to a balanced signal before going to the speakers. Before you spend a bunch of money, try taking your macbook to a friend with a mixer & see if your sound improves. You may be able to get away with just buying a crappy little 40 dollar Behringer mixer.