Looking for a preamp with XLR connections

LA4 is AES48 compliant.

The Freya+ is NOT noisy. I owned it and I also owned 2 of the quietest preamps in the world, the Topping pre90 and the Benchmark LA4 + HPA4. I currently, only have the LA4 and the CODA 07x in the house.

Both the LA4 and 07x have XLR inputs (2 each) and XLR outputs, The LA4 has 1 XLR and 1 RCA. While the CODA has 2 XLR’s.

The Schitt Freya+ is actually rather quiet, not as quiet as the pre90, LA4, or 07x (not 100% sure on the 07x), but surprisingly quiet for tubes. If I were someone that likes to have a lot of audio gear around, I would have kept the Freya+. I thought it was rather good with a Benchmark AHB2 amp.

BTW - I do not think much about the cost of audio gear. I actually laugh at some of the prices. However, saying all of that, I expect to pair my $2500 LA4 preamp with a $35000 amp when my Livingroom system is done. The LA4 is what to use if you do not want to flavor your sound and also want to hear only the other gear. So that other gear better sound good ’naked’. I would not take any other preamp (at any price) over it for my best system.

BTW2 - I am not someone who dislikes tubes. My RAAL VM-1a tube headphone amp has 7 tubes and is a bit noisy, but it is also the very best sound I have ever had in my home. That is until my future Livingroom system comes together.

That BAT VK-42se was a fav or mine. It is very warm, but at the time I had it, I need a very warm preamp. A SS fully balanced preamp.

@peter_s That is true and sometimes I like that boring base system and only want to hear the source material through that base. The following is the design goal of the Benchmark products. They say this explicit on their web site's APPLICATION NOTES section.

benchmark against multiple other preamplifiers and said that while it is quiet, it is flat and boring and without color.

At the moment, my Benchmark LA4 preamp is connected to a warm KRELL Duo 175XD amp and a warmish Mustec 005 DAC.

My AHB2 monos are connected to a warmish CODA 07x preamp and a warmish Musetec 005 DAC.

Both systems are great to my ears.

If I had a warm speaker, I would likely go with an all-Benchmark stack (including their DAC). Though, even the not so warm KEF LS50 speakers were very enjoyable on the all-Benchmark stack.

Someone I know compared the Weiss 501 to the DAC3B and they preferred the Weiss also. I use the DAC3B with a tube headphone amp and it works better than my 'best' DAC with those tubes. So the DAC3B, while not my best overall DAC,  works like a champ in 1 setup, and that is perfect.

The DAC3 HGC that I had for a while was rather frustrating for me when used as a preamp, especially at low volume. The Benchmark LA4 preamp is of a much high caliber when comparing the preamp functionality of the DAC3 lineup.

The LA4 preamp should be used with a system that has a amp whose sonics that one loves. This statement regarding the LA4 is repeated by a few others on Audiogon.