Old DAC died, looking for a new one with a remote (and other requirements)

[Celty]

So my DAC died a few days ago and I'm looking for a new one.

Must-have: a remote, because I use a power amp without adjustable volume

Nice to have: a headphone out that can power pretty much any headphone and a readable display for volume, currently selected input etc

Preferable: balanced outputs, optical in, wireless

What are your recommendations?

I've been considering a new DAC, if I were to order today it would probably be a Topping D70S. It has all the features you named, including higher output voltages for both SE and XLR. Amir's review is very good as far as measurables ("top praise for this level of engineering"), and the more subjective YouTube guys concur.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-d70s-mqa-review-dac.18728/

 

[gn77b]

I think once you add volume, it's a pre-amp. But again, that's just being pedantic.

The advantage to you is that you are separating out functions. You'll get more value, and better performance, if you seperate the DAC from the headphone amp. Plus like I said, amps are forever but your DAC can get out of date pretty quickly, so you will likely be replacing the DAC (or not, your choice) before the headphone amp.

The pre adds the volume and the remote. Volume control is actually tricky to get right without adding distortion so it's better left to a dedicated device.

None of this has to be expensive to sound great. But it's a lot more fun if it is.

I browsed a local hifi trading site to get an idea about the prices of preamps but I could only find overpriced "vintage" crap and audiophile crap. No in-between, down to earth stuff.

 

[zanny]

I second the D70s. I have spent hours going from knowing barely anything about DAC chips and various chifi models, to homing in on this specific one.

Best bang for the buck, and I also considered SGD1, X16, A18, A22, X26 Pro, D90.

All that's left is deciding if I should buy locally for 10% more than AliExpress.