IMPORTANT NOTE TO MY PREVIOUS POST: The Trends is currently feeding my DAC with a BNC connection at the Trends side to a RCA connection at the DAC end. I don't even remember why I decided to go for this when I bought the cable many moons ago, but that's all I have at the time. No straight BNC to BNC (though I did place an order yesterday) or straight RCA to RCA connection (didn't order one of these, perhaps I should? I don't think I need one anyway, other than for testing purposes).
I have not tried using a PSU as I remember that when I bought it the merchant told me to be careful with what wallwarts I use since some customers were returning messed up units after that.
But that was a long time ago (like, 2 years ago I think?).
I do use it with the external battery pack, but I forget to recharge batteries sometimes and just use the Trends thru USB. I've read other audio forums where people use a $250 PSU upgrade that's also used for the Squeezebox, but the Trends itself is half that almost... not the way I like to spend my money. I forget the name of that PSU...
Now, the Musiland Monitor USD doesnt have an external power source, so it draws energy straight from USB port, which might be a disadvantage compared to the Trends.
It so happens that I just ran across this, and might order one to see if it makes any discernible difference with either unit (it's a cable that splits into two USB cables to draw extra power from an additional USB port):
6ft USB 2.0 One B Male to Two A Male Y-Cable - Cables To Go
I'll let you know what happens. If I don't, it's because I forgot, so please remind me.