What about violectric's own v800? I'm using it with the v281 and it's really good.  

I've messed up several drivers by sweating during running sessions. Good thing I always had warranty. Thx for pointing the rule out to me! Still using these!

It does. But I'm just a fan of violectric products and I like the stack ;)

  I'm using the v800 with the v281 (and also keeping my v200 because I like it). I've never really had any other dac besides the v800 connected with the v281 or v200. All I can say is that this combo is really good with the hd800. You should look into my previous posts in this thread for futher...

  You won't regret it. I'm using the v281 + v800 + hd800 as well, with desktop setup playing from foobar/asio. Enjoy your setup!

  Why wouldn't you consider the v800 from Violectric while you own the v281 yourself? I have the combo and it's really good.

I don't even think it was a connector being improperly seated. Honestly, I didn't really touch a thing inside. Everything looked fine, solid and in perfect shape. It even smelled good. Like the inside of a car the first time you ride it. So after some short admiration I closed the case again and...

Alright then. Opened up the cage, inspected the plugs, cables, ribbons, and saw nothing strange or unexpected. Closed up the cage, power on and all is working properly. It's a mistery to me. Perhaps the casing wasn't closed properly and opening and closing it again fixed to problem.   Now it's...

  Thanks Xaval, that's exactly my plan. When I get home I'm opening the case and reseat all plugs, cables and ribbons. If that doesn't help I'll send the v281 back for repair. That's what Fried also suggested today. He's been very helpful with all this.

I have not, and I don't know it's worth trying anymore. Yesterday I tried another power outlet in the house, near the ground. By accident I found out that if I lightly touch/press down on the top of the case of the amp, I hear a switch click and both HEAD and LINE leds are on. No flashing. As...

  I've got a response from him. He told me that the amp has detected DC current which may hurt the headphones, so the headphone sockets are switched off.   Then he asked me a few questions to try figure out what might cause this, my answer on them below:   Hopefully this clears things...

  Tried your suggestion. Both HEAD and MUTE leds are flashing. Doesn't seem right to me. Still waiting for Fried to respond. But your input on this is highly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks Xenophon, I've disconnected it for now and contacted Fried about the issue. Hopefully he can help me.

My v281 arrived today. I'm extremely excited about testing it out with my v800 dac and my hd800. The problem is...I can't get it to work.   The v281 leds are all flashing on and off. I have XLR enabled, feeding it from my v800 with balanced cables. The dac is feeding the signal properly...

The Violectric v281 would be an excellent choice for that budget if you're using balanced cables.