Peter.CRaig

My V-Link 192 took a full 50 hours continuous play until the bass tightened up...and 150 hours to fully burn-in.That said, saving $20 on a demo unit has its benefits.

It never hurts to use a clean separate power system. The V-Link 192, though, is galvanically isolated so an external power supply may not be required. Only the digital signal will transmit through the V-Link to your dac. Any power coming from the Mac to the V-Link via your USB cable will not be transmitted "downstream" and dirty the signal. MF built galvanic isolation (and possibly/probably other features) into this V-Link converter so that using the USB power from your computer should not affect the sound quality. I would suggest you try the V-Link on its own first. You might be surprised and feel it is all you need. I'm running it with Windows 7 on a very inexpensive netbook and enjoy excellent detail and separation, incredible tight bass, and a black clean background even at the highest volumes.