I've used both the DAC 1 USB and DAC 1 Pre(current preamp) and think they are both very transparent and are both very good. The flexibility in the digital inputs is great if you have multiple sources and like to use a laptop to play hi-rez files that a Squeezebox cannot play. With the DAC 1 you get a very good flexible DAC that allows you to remove a layer of interconnects. There is no remote, that's the only drawback IMO.
