Thanks and I've seen the Transient! Very nice!
I was thinking of something a bit simpler and lower cost. I would have no need for the digital outputs and volume control. Maybe something along the lines of a VDA-2 but async USB-only.
The Transient offers even better sound than VDA-2!
The volume control and I2S outputs don't really add much to the cost...
The volume control is built-in to the DAC chip and uses the same micro-controller as the sample rate LED's.
The I2S signals come from our XMOS based USB converter board and are needed to feed the internal DAC.
Part of what makes the Transient so good is the USB board, which cost us a lot to develop, and uses expensive/precision clock oscillators. The only way for us to make a less expensive model would be to sacrifice performance. At it's selling price of $699 with 5 year warranty, I don't see the need for a compromised model.
There are many products like that already... Dragon Fly, MyDac, etc.