I tried one last year in place of my stock Sony XA5400ES, and found I preferred the sound of the Sony all around. I was really hoping the Burson would fit the bill, for I liked the versatility of it's variable pre-amp output and USB inputs. I gave it lots of time to break in, tried 2 different transports to it, various cables (USB and RCA), different music programs on the computer etc. The USB inputs sounded best, but I was a bit disapointed overall.
The new Benchmark DAC 2 looks very interesting, and adds a very good sounding remote pre-amp volume output as well.
The new Benchmark DAC 2 looks very interesting, and adds a very good sounding remote pre-amp volume output as well.