Haven't heard the ones you mentioned, but I had a Bel Canto DAC3VB in my system and in addition to being a great sounding DAC I found its preamp section to be indistinguishable from my Bryston BP6 preamp. There are a couple 3.5VBs for sale here now, one almost unbelievably cheap. Read the reviews, and yes the VB version is definitely the one to get. Best of luck.