what are the Best Direct to amps Digital Players ?

Audiolabyrinth, I use Esoterick K-01 dirct to my krell 302e. Great sound. I tried ARC REF 5 and esoteric own
c-03 and preffered esoteric k-01 direct for its more intimate and more refined (purer) sound. The key is amplifier input impendance needs to be at least above 50K for this type of conection (CDP/DAC direct to amp) to work with good results. Of caurse if one want to add some tonal color to the sound, the good tubed pre-amplifier will do.
I had Waida S7i two years ago, no match to esoteric k-01, unlesss highly modified, and esoteric is build much better.

Hi Audiolabyrinth,
Yes I did own ayon 5s with upgraded tubes and did run it direct to krell. The overall sound threw huge soundstage but has been missing some focus and refinement and also had some noise because of its high gain on the output.
I hate to say it, but ayon 2s not on par with ayon cd 5s and not even close to esoteric k-01 and K-03. You are for sure missing what your krell can do. The reason I sold ayon 5s is because of looking for the more long term front end solution and more universal player (ability to play SCAD and better DAC) which esoteric K-01 and K-03 is perfectly represent.
Yes K-03 has volume control.
I love what esoteric K-01 can extract from cd/scad and its overall sound that after 700 hours of burning became liquid but so resolving with no digital artifacts. Plus its USB input and its DAC and volume control make it truly outstanding device. I would say the same about K-03 just in a little smaller scale.

Audiolabyrinth
First of all esoteric k-01 as well as K-03 uses katest AKM 4399 32 bit DACs - more advanced than burr-brown 1792 . K-01 uses 8 dacs per side and K-03 4 dacs per side. Comparing K-01 with ayon cd5s, I heard taller and deeper sounstage from K-01 with better imaging, and of caurse details. I understand that you using cables to get focus and resilution, but if source cant extract more details in the first place - no cables will resolve this issue down the chain. Both K-01 and K-03 when propelry burned are better sounding players (to me and in my system) than ayon cd 5s and your ayon cd 2s way below all of them. Your cables and amplifier on a higher level than your source. Please dont underestimate the importance of the great source.

Audiolabyrinth,
yes I did, and to me it is about 80-90% of K-01,
I think K-03 is currently represent a sweet spot in esoteric line. You will happy with it and yes the digital volume control on K-03 has the same implementation as on K-01, it is just driven by a lesser number of DACs (4 on each side instead of 8) but still will provide with great sound using your krell. If you get to audition K-03 make sure that the filter and upsampling combo well burn as well as the digital volume control option (ATTN on) with at least 400-500 hours.