DAC with volume control under $250

Never heard it but it fits the budget. Emotiva XDA-1 with 5 year warranty.

http://emotiva.com/xda1.shtm

That's great. I considered getting one myself to use the balanced outs into some amps I have, but will probably just get an all in one integrated instead to save space. Please be so kind as to update us with some listening impressions when you have a chance. I hope your friend enjoys it. Seemed to get a lot of positive feedback on various forums, especially for the price.

I don't know about "owing" but I'd gladly thank you for those impressions. I have a buddy looking in the same price range and I'd probably just forward him the thread if your friend has a favorable impression. :)

Thank you for that. I'm not too surprised that a) it's nothing more than good for the money and b)your friend is very happy with it. As far as the Benchmark comparison, that seems like wishful thinking or confirmation bias. It seems rampant on internet forums. Based on your report, I think it'd still be a win for my friend, who would never think to spend $1000+ on a DAC, but could actually benefit from the feature set this one provides. Mihaitaa, thank you so much for taking the time for the update. I, for one, really appreciate it.

Well, I ended up ordering one to use in my office system. The preamp capability/balanced output/price made it a no-brainer. My girlfriend and I share the office and we'll be using it with Hibachi monoblocks and Ohm speakers. And the multiple inputs mean we can have both of our laptops plugged in atthe same time.