DAC with a Balance Control - Does on exist?

Theta Gen VIII has balance control, and is an excellent DAC as well (it is what I am using now), and there are a bunch of them for sale now. It operates in the analog domain. It is basically a function of the volume control; it is as if there were 2 separate volume controls, one for each channel, so there is no sonic degradation caused by it - no extra pot. The volume control works by switching resistors in and out, with one discreet resistor for each volume step, so all you ever go through is one resistor and one switching device (I believe a solid state relay, although I'm not sure). I apologize for any typos; I just got in from shovelling the driveway yet again, and had a nice big martini to kill the pain.

Sumflow, I agree wiht you 100%. I think the reason for the encoder type volume ocntrols is that they are easy and cheap to implement with a remote control. An other option is a motorized pot, which when used directly without the remote, is a direct position correlates with volume knob. When used with the remote, there is a button for up and a button for down, at whatever speed the motor feels like turning. They can overshoot due to momentum. I suppose the perfect solution would have a knob on the remote and a motor on the preamp that slved the 2 together. You would then need a motor on the remote to move its knob if you turned the knob on the preamp. This would be very difficult to implement. I hate detents too.