Taking a cue from the mild roar around USB audio, Korea's April Music has unleashed a new, low-priced component to help your transition to the glory land of hard disk-based audio. April Music, if you don't remember, blew up the scene with their Stello line of moderately priced separates. In Vegas they debuted a new line called Hifi500 which consists of a $595 HP100 headphone amp and, more importantly, the $695 DA100 USB DAC.

I had a chance to listen to the DA100 running into a powered NHT system in Vegas, not that I could tell you anything profound about its sound. The only USB DAC to get a lot of press recently is the $1750 Wavelength Brick which received responses along the lines of "well, it's interesting" in various magazines in the last few months. There are a few other options out there like Firestone's $120 Fubar USB DAC and, of course, Empirical's USB transports (mix in your own DAC) plus a handful of manufacturers shoehorning USB inputs into their integrated amps.

In any case, hit up the lovely hifi500 site for more details and - gasp - internet purchasing. If their Stello line is any indication, expect the DA100 to be killer.