DAC/PRE

Soon to be released Femto DAC by Calyx Audio. It has jitter so low that it is only measured in 'femto seconds'.

It also has a high quality analog volume control, not a digital volume like many other dac's.

I'll second Zdiac Gold +Voltikus. It has a full function high quality pre with relais attenuator built in and sports the best clock by a country mile. Beyond that it offers 2 analogue inputs, one of which is balances and gives you Aes/EBU, SPDif and USB2.0 inputs. It sounds great, too and I am a user ratherthan dealer

The Zodiac Gold is one of the best sounding DAC Preamp combos out there. The Wyred4Sound DACs are quite boring to listen to in comparison.

The Zodiac Gold has a precision stepped attenuator for the analog output volume control. It has a single ended and balanced analog input along with AES/EBU Digital in a pair of SPDIF coax inputs and a pair of toslink inputs too. USB too up to 24/192K on PC and 24/384K on a Mac.

It has superior clocking technology to any DAC under $20K i.e. lower jitter.

The headphone amp has its own volume control too.
It comes with a remote control that allows you to choose inputs and volume control

I have used it with great satisfaction and sell them.

Neal Van Berg

Also the new NAD M51

The Wyred is made in the US, has superior parts, great service and is upgradeable.

What did you choose in the end?

Mahalo for all the suggestions.

My short list is down to the PWD, BADA and Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2.

Esoteric D07, but I believe it'll only output 2v.

The latest dCS Debussy with remote control and 2V or 6V output.

Weiss 202 for more affordable solution.

The Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 has a built in volume control.

The minerva and dac2 do not have remotes, but they do have a digital volume control.

Some more options:
- PS Audio PWD
- Esoteric D70 (older, but among the very best you could buy at any price around 2004)
- Wadia 27 or 27ix (same as with the D70)
- Audio Aero Prima
- Weiss Minerva and DAC2
- Berkeley Alpha
- Tact 2.2XP (and you get room correction to boot)
- Theta Gen.VIII (too bad I cannot audition this one)
- McIntosh MDA1000 (in my view too expensive for what you get, but then there are audiophiles paying those prices so there might be something)

I put together this list from reading reviews and a lot in A'gon and AAsylum, then decided to get a preamp instead of a DAC with volume control so can't say much about the sound of these. I couldn't help but wonder if the Bel canto DAC3 (a great unit of today) could outclass a D70 or Wadia 271x (best money could buy 6 years ago). I'll let you decide!! :)

the new Weiss 202

The Benchmark DAC1 HDR has those features.

Bel Canto DAC3 does that. Has remote control of digital inputs and volume. It also has balanced outputs.