help me find/choose a (balanced) dac/preamp (all in one) for use with computer/poweramp/speakers...

Hello Guys,
After doing some research (Thanks Andre for all the help) I thought it was high time to update this first post.
Because I am going stax I will 1. need a separate dac 2. the dac will also have to function as preamp for my speaker system because my normal headphone amp can no longer do this job and stax amps generally dont function as preamp. My budget is around 1500 but if I find something really special i want to go up a bit, i am very happy to go second hand. I would like a dac with 1. preamp output/ volume controlled output either rca or xlr (my poweramp has both) 2. A GOOD volume control my poweramp is 2x 120 watt but I like listening at low volumes. 3. non-variable/non volume controlled outputs either rca and xlr, would be nice if these were balanced as well because knowing myself I will probbably switch to a balanced stax setup eventually. 4. must sound analog/real/authoritative not digital/cold/sterile (see also my sig). 5. It has to have either a usb input or firewire and at least 1x optical for my digital receiver and 2x if I also use my laptop optically.
Here is what I have found so far
(i am taking the dacs money can buy thread as a reference so if it does not mention variable output then i might miss somehting, plese correct me in that case)
1. bel canto dac3 (a new version will be released soon not sure what its price will be) underwoodhifi can modify the bel canto dac3 to audiophile standards which would be a great advantage but also more expensive.
2. cyrus dac xp no usb or firewire but 2x optical so it could work. I would have to buy it second hand though.
3. lavry da11 honeslty not sure if htis dacis good enough for its competition here especially since I dont need its headphone functions.
Not many of the popular/highly regarded dacs seem to be able to be used as preamps.
The rwa isabella+isabellina would be ideal of course but it is way out of my budget, and I am not at all sure that i would like its battery approach because I am at my computer 16 hours a day.
Thanks in advance for any helkp/insight/suggestions....,
Greetings, Anouk

Hey John oops i dont need an analog to digital converter. Yeah I know the minidac can do wha tOI want but you know me, always want the best for my money (not that i am saying the minidac isnt good and it would be ideal because i do have firewire and this would leave me with a much neeed spare usb port but I am just htinking if for 1500 on the second hand market i cant do better). Also i did hear you have to use this thing via internal jumpers, not somehting that I really like doing.
Thanks for the help!
Greetings, Anouk

I am reading reviews on computeraudiophile.com to get myself a bit more into dacs and what recent ones there are/what recent revolutions there are. I am reading a review about the bel canto dac3 and it states that this one has non-fixed/variable outputs. I guess this means that it has a volume control! Neat! I will have to look into this more.
Greetings, Anouk

Still reading at computeraudiophile (must bookmark that site) the berkely alpha dac has a preamp but unfortunately 5 k new and not that long on the market.
Greetings, Anouk

HEllo, I know this thread seems to be a monologue on my part but I am hoping that someone in the future will find this a bit useful.
I just heard back from someonem, apparently the bel canto dac 3 has remote volume control and can be used directly with a poweramp (according to someone at underwood hifi). I will have to look into this further, not sure if this would be as good as the dac1 pre.
I am also considering going with a dedicatd preamp because now my options are rather limited.
Greetings, Anouk

Hello, it is not in my short list because i did not know it could be used as a preamp and because its mostly known as a headphone amp and I dont need headphone functionality at all. If it can function as a preamp then I will look it up and see if I can find comparisons with the benchmark dac1/bel canto dac3.
Thanks for the other tips! I will do some googling.
One more ocmplicating factor is that I cant audition anything at all nearby so I will have to buy blind (no pun intended, lol).
Greetings, Anouk

Hello, wow I will really have to do some researching. I really did not think stello dacs could be used as preamp. I know someone with a stello 220 but I dont think you can use that as a preamp otherwise he would have mentioned it. I will have to look into this all later this evening/night. I also registered at computeraudiophile.com to get some more opinions and according to its founder there will be an upgraded version of the bel canto dac3 soon.
Will get back to you all with my findings.
Greetings, Anouk