Quote: No - at least for line in and USB in the volume control of the DR.DAC2 DX does affect both headphone and line out.  

Quote: According to my experience the information is indeed incorrect. I just double checked by connecting my pair of headphones via RCA-to-headphone adapter cable to the RCA analogue out of the DR.DAC2 DX and connecting the DR.DAC2 DX to my laptop via USB. Works just fine including volume...

Quote: You do not need optical cables. You can use a standard USB cable between your computer and the dac and standard RCA cables from the dac to your active monitors. (Disclaimer: I didn't use active monitors when trying that setup but my headphones connected via a RCA-to-headphone...

Have you checked out the Audinst HUD-mx1? I would expect it to work under Linux (though you should confirm w/ someone). It's USD 179. No idea whether it's "best", though.

Adding my DR.DAC2 DX and modifying spelling to conform with Audiotrak spelling.   Entry-level: 264 Alien (1) AOL Picollo DAC (1) Apogee Duet (5) Asus Essence STX (7) Audio Alchemy DDE v1.1 (1) Audio-gd Compass (21) Audio-gd Compass - FUN (4) Audio-gd Sparrow (2) Audiotrak...

Quote: Sorry, but at least on a cursory look the EMU 0404 USB doesn't seem to have indicators on the device itself? Am I getting that wrong or are you also happy with a software-based solution rather than direct indicators on the device?  

Audiotrak DR.DAC2 DX, Javs UDT-1 (NO DAC!), and Matrix Mini-i are between 300 and 350 USD and display (some) sample rates. I am not sure about accuracy - what do you mean by that? Also, I went for sample rate rather than bit rate. I also didn't check for coax s/pdif.   HTH

Quote: Yes, sorry if that was unclear. Looking forward to your impressions ;-)

  Quote: Thanks for your answer!   The USB problem is perfectly reproducible every time I try it. On the least affected USB port it's just an occasional crackle/pop; on the most affected one it's close to constant static.

I recently went with the Audiotrak DR.DAC2 DX rather than the Yulong D100 (mostly because of lack of volume control on the line out, impressions here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/496590/dr-dac2-dx-unboxing/15#post_6984827). Still, I'd be curious about the following:   Which sample...

I am happy with the Audiotrak DR.DAC2 DX. My headphones are AKG K701s. Hardware and Software I am using the DR.DAC2 DX in Linux Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit on an HP Elitebook 8540w via USB. I have trouble with kernel versions v2.6.32-22,23,24,25 (the system freezes when plugging in the DR.DAC2 DX)...

What about the positive one reported on head-fi distinguishing a headphone amp and the headphone out of an integrated amplifier? http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/429619/headphone-outputs-lots-of-measurments-and-one-abx   Did you explore the full list (negative and positive) at...

miyinan,   thanks very much for your effort and the info, that helps a lot!

Somehow Google Translate doesn't work well on erji.net, so I'd like to ask miyinan or other reading there:   Are there any problems with the D100 being discussed on that forum that haven't surfaced here?   Did anyone perform RMAA measurements on the D100?   What about the problem of...

Might be of interest:  ...