Since this is a technology that changes rapidly, and we already have the ability to make DACs that can achieve much higher bitrates, I was hoping that there is, or will be, a great new generation of affordable DACs on the market. Seems to me that the majority of DACs on the market are a bit obsolete Months ago, I saw buzz about an exciting DAC from Asus: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Asus-to-Release-Xonar-Essence-One-Audiophile-Headphone-Amp-and-USB-DAC-188448.shtml
Upsamples to 32 bit/352.8Khz and is only supposed to cost about $250-$300. Now, I realize that Asus isn't the prototypical audiophile company, but they make a good soundcard, and maybe at this point it'll take a computer electronics company like Asus to make something that renders the competition obsolete at a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, there's been no news of this DAC since then. Anyone know of anything on the market that can achieve upsampled bitrates higher than 192 for anywhere near that price? Also, does anyone have any experience with the HRT streamers? I wish there were more current DAC reviews out there, but I can't seem to find that many.