Integrated with built-in accessible DAC bad move?

I don't know that dacs are really improving by large amounts. A 5 year old dac that sounded good 5 years ago still sounds good today. I think the dac technology is starting to slow down a bit, perhaps aside from dsd.

That hegel unit looks to be very nice and if your friend should feelthe need to upgrade from that dac in a few years time, that is completely possible as the hegel has plenty of analog inputs.

Another thing to remember is that specs of dac chips aren't the whole story. Implementation is also very important.

I'm not an expert here, so this is of course just my oppinion :)

Everything I've heard from Hegel at the shows I've attended
has been very musical.....I think their DAC is probably
very high spec......
The thought that seperates are needed from the standpoint
of power supply isolation etc, would also negate the argument
for an integrated and there are plenty of integrateds out there
that compete head to head with high end seperates and I think
Hegel would be included in that......I would look at whether 250W is
really needed for your application, the lower power Hegels I think are a bit more musical, but if you need the muscle, then you need it......
and they offer it.....

I would buy one without a second thought, in the PCM over USB
realm, everything current today will still be current in a decade
and it will sound great on that unit....

I think it may depend on how often your friend likes to upgrade their gear. I agree that digital technology is not changing anywhere near as fast as manufacturers, retailers, and magazines would like us to believe.

What types of digital inputs does the Hegel 300 have? I believe the USB interface is changing faster than DAC technology.