Need a DAC recommendation

Since this is a technology that changes rapidly, and we already have the ability to make DACs that can achieve much higher bitrates, I was hoping that there is, or will be, a great new generation of affordable DACs on the market. Seems to me that the majority of DACs on the market are a bit obsolete Months ago, I saw buzz about an exciting DAC from Asus: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Asus-to-Release-Xonar-Essence-One-Audiophile-Headphone-Amp-and-USB-DAC-188448.shtml
Upsamples to 32 bit/352.8Khz and is only supposed to cost about $250-$300. Now, I realize that Asus isn't the prototypical audiophile company, but they make a good soundcard, and maybe at this point it'll take a computer electronics company like Asus to make something that renders the competition obsolete at a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, there's been no news of this DAC since then. Anyone know of anything on the market that can achieve upsampled bitrates higher than 192 for anywhere near that price? Also, does anyone have any experience with the HRT streamers? I wish there were more current DAC reviews out there, but I can't seem to find that many.

I understand the need for good analog components, and I love the warm sound of analog+tubes...if I could have the best of both worlds that'd be great. I guess i'm kind of a bitrate junkie--my entire music collection is in FLAC, and I strive so hard to find the highest quality files, so I really want a DAC that can stand up to them on the digital end. A lot of the DACs with good analog components mentioned above are a bit hard to find. A few questions come to mind--does a tube DAC really add a lot of warmth to the sound? I don't have any tubes in my setup yet for budget reasons, and being able to add some tube-sound with a DAC would be nice. Also, how do the HRT streamers stand up to the music fidelity DACs and the PS Audio DL III? My only qualm with HRT is that they are USB-only, and I like to use digital coax. Is the asynchronous USB as good as digital coax? I've never used asynchronous USB. Does the HRT II+ add a lot of quality over the HRT II? I think the M1 DAC may be at the top of my list right now, but at that price range are there any others worth considering?

Arni--you make a good point about borrowing the combo from my other system. For some reason, I haven't thought to do that(I have the V-DAC/V-Link set up at my gf's place) but I will bring it home and compare the v-link with straight coax into the v-dac. BTW, my soundcard has a dig coax output, and that's how i'm getting it.

In regards to the argument about having a good power supply, I agree, but this raises the question: how does that reflect in the quality of the HRT DACs, which are only USB-powered? In addition, would you say its worth adding an external power supply to the V-DAC? At that point it might just make sense to go for the M1 DAC. I haven't heard any mention of the Cambridge Audio DacMagic--how's that compare? I'm also curious about the Emotiva XDA-1 DAC, which I hear a lot of people talk about. Has anyone had the opportunity to directly compare anyone of these great value DACs(emotiva,MF,HRT,PS)?

P.S. If anyone cares, these are my current setups:
1)Totem Rainmakers + NAD C375BEE (Love this combo)
2)B&W CM7 + Rotel RSX-1056 + V-Link/V-DAC (Like everything except the Rotel)