Perhaps this could be considered the M-Audio SuperDAC 2496's bigger brother, in physical size (similar width and height, but deepr) and price (00), and apparently performance... The Apogee MiniDAC. Much like the SuperDAC, this is a piece of pro studio gear which can find application in hifi. Rene Van Es (who is known for having replaced his monarchy 22B with a SuperDAC) is now using one. Connectivity options are interesting, looking at the back panel, and include USB, AES, optical, coax and some other stuff... output is by XLR only. Psu is, surpisingly, by a DC input from an adaptor (suprising because of the wish to drive negative output swings, hence why the superdac has on board rectification of an AC input). Might be interesting. So WM, when are you getting one in to play with?