Went through the same thing. As far as dac's I've heard between 500-2000, most of them seem to use the reference saber dac these days, and to me, they all share it's house sound of open, ultra dynamic, slightly laid back and very spacious and energized sound. Most, also, share the dac's weakness of sounding a tad vapor like image body, and having a slightly overhyped treble that can be a bit too mechanical. No one would mistake these for vinyl :)
Of the new breed of 9018 sabers I've heard, the wyred dac2(which I borrowed from a friend for a week), oppo bdp105(which I own) and wadia 121 (which i auditioned at home for a weekend) I liked the wadia the best. Seemed to have the best characteristics of the saber sound with the least attributes of it's common flaws. Also has the volume control you want, it's in the same price range as the other two ($1295), and has multiple inputs as well.
I went a different direction, and took a chance on a jkdac32 dac by John Kenny. It's a simple, battery powered dac with a single USB input that uses his modified hiface USB input stage, and a burr brown PCM 5102 chip. Does up to 32/384 files. Completely different sound. And, to my ears, a favorable one. Doesn't have the same larger than life sound of the saber dac's I mentioned, but it does make music sound complete, and has better depth of image, while giving instruments proper weight and placement. Also, the most 'analogue' sounding dac I've heard so far. I don't mean warm or fuzzy, I mean cohesive with proper space, weight, texture. Lovers of the saber dac's might consider it undynamic and dull. Though, I consider most of the saber dac's I've heard to sound unrealisticly dynamic, and lacking realistic weight and involvement. The wadia was the exception.
I digress...
There are lots of good options out there. And, since most fall below $1500 bucks, there's no need to spend more cash on a good one. The market for these devices has become ultra competitive, which means the consumer is winning. Try a place like music direct that has a 30 day return policy, order a wadia, and give it a listen. I really liked it, and showed me what the dac's in my oppo bdp105 can really do, when more love and care is focused on the input/output stages. If, as you say, you want 'clean, hi res sound', it'll probably get you closer to it than can be purchased near it's price, and get you enjoying your music very quickly and easily.
Hope all this helps.
