The Esoteric N-05 XD and N-01 XD have volume controls but do not spin CDs. They are called Network Players.
Here’s a link to a column in Stereophile about a TEAC CD transport. The matching Streamer/DAC/ Preamp is called the UD-701N and it’s written up in the recent email - newsletter I got from Stereophile. Theres a section on the volume control copied below in italics. I’m sure you know that TEAC is the pro side of Esoteric, but I’ll say it anyway. This sounds like what you’re looking for.
| TEAC UD-701N streaming D/A preamplifier |
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In Gramophone Dreams #88, I described the sound of TEAC’s VRDS-701T CD transport as "dense and precise in a way I had never previously heard from digital." I went on to explain, "by ’dense,’ I mean there was a tangible corporeality effected by seemingly infinite quantities of small, tightly packed molecules of musical information."
The volume control is all-analog; TEAC describes it this way: "Our TEAC-QVCS (Quad Volume Control System) is a variable gain amp volume control (see block diagram) with four independent circuits for left, right, positive, and negative (L+, L–, R+, and R–)." During these auditions, the 701N provided sufficient gain to drive all three of my amplifiers directly. If you’re using it with a preamplifier, the volume control can be bypassed and the fixed output set to either 2V or 4V. |