Preamp-Streamer to Hook to D&D 8c (DAC Optional)

Tying yourself to AES seems very arbitrary and limiting.  

Bryston BR 20 kinda close.

Misses:

has a DAC (But a good one)

Manic Moose interface aint excellent But it gets the job done. 

hmm maybe BR20 does not have AES out, only AES in and xlr out. 

There's a number of different streamer options that would work well with the 8c, but the main issue with AES is going to be digital gain control if you want to use the streamer as a preamp. The only one that I'm aware of having lossless digital volume is the Lumen. 

With that said, the AD conversion is quite good on the 8c, and I've had some customers and even dealers say that they prefer to go analog in.

For me personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the jump in and out of the digital domain, and would focus more on the day to day utility and usability of the system. Both the Roon and Ascend apps have fine volume controls (use able enough), but neither are as good as a physical (tactile) remote IMHO.