USB DAC With Large Soundstage and 24/192 Support... Recommendation?

I'm loving my Ultrasone Edition 8, but its really tearing through my equipment chain and screaming for upgrades.  While I'm currently extremely happy with what I'm hearing in terms of dynamics, texture, punch and overall clarity, my biggest gripe is the size of the soundstage.  These perform well in this regard for closed-backed headphones, but they're still most definitely closed-backed.  My current setup is as follows:

Macbook Pro -> Pure Music (hog/memory play enabled) -> Apogee Duet -> PPAv2 w/STEPS power supply (OPA627) -> Ultrasone Edition 8

While I feel that the Duet has performed very well in terms of instrument separation and placement, if the headphone out is to be believed the soundstage presentation is a bit on the small size.  Adding the PPAv2 does many things that I absolutely love, amongst which is noticeably widening the soundstage.  Still, I could definitely do for some added space.

In addition, the Duet is limited to outputting 24/96.  I realize that upsampling isn't for everyone, but after much A/Bing between different media players and match/upsample, I definitely prefer it as the presentation seems more natural and involving to my ears.  I'm interested in seeing if I'll prefer further upsampling to 24/192.  The new Duet 2 is going to support this when it releases and, since I love the original, I'm considering it.

Given the current layout of my listening space, USB/firewire connectivity is ideal.  The Duet uses firewire and I'd like to stick with it but realize that this greatly limits my options, so USB is fine.  Please keep this in mind when making a recommendation as many 24/192 DACs are limited to 16bit or 24/96 via USB.

To summarize my needs:

-Large/wide soundstage presentation

-24bit/192kbps sample rate via USB

I don't have a budget in mind but cheaper/higher bang for the buck is better. ;)

Thanks for the replies!  Researching some options mentioned...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

24/192 isn't going to make any difference.

Some say it does and others say it doesn't.  The only way for me to know what I prefer is to experience it myself.  I clearly prefer the overall presentation of 44.1 kHz upsampled to 24/96 rather than ran natively.  Running through several media players (Pure Music, Fidelia, Audirvana, Decibel) confirmed that 99% of the time I found it to be of great benefit in terms of dynamic range extension (taking away a ceiling on the highs and floor on the lows) and creating a less aggressive, more natural sounding presentation.  While some have described the difference between 96 and 192 to be definitive but less substantial than 44.1 to 96, if I have the option to exercise it's all the better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

I probably should have worded my post better: For the DACs you are considering, most of which are low-end, I wouldn't concern yourself with 24/192, but more so with the quality of the DAC.  More audible benefit can be had from careful selection than can be had from up-sampling in my experience.  A higher quality DAC will have a wider soundstage and less aggressive presentation regardless.  Some of the effects of up-sampling I've observed turned out to be the result of a cheap clock inside the up-sampling circuitry likely increasing distortion. 

Thanks for the clarification and, make no mistake, your contribution is very much appreciated. :)

I completely understand that purchasing a unit that underperforms in the first place will make its supported sample rate completely inconsequential.  Like Yoga, I'm eagerly awaiting impressions of the new Duet as I feel my current one performs exceedingly well.  Tonal separation, neutrality, body, texture, clarity... it performs in spades.  If the new version retains these attributes it may be a purchase for me as its adding 24/192 support.  24/96 is less forward than native, so if stepping up to 24/192 puts me a bit further back it may be just what I'm looking for.  While I've been removed from recording for some time now, I still have some equipment that would allow for an artistic outlet should the mood strike and retaining the ability to put sound to hard drive could also prove beneficial.