H-CAT DAC

@folkfreak thank you for providing the link.

In retrospect, I should have remembered to update this thread after hearing of Roger's passing.  I apologize...

Thanks @trelja and @folkfreak for the update. May he rest in peace, I liked the HCAT preamp a lot, and I don't know what to replace it with now...

@pepperidge Can you open the preamp cover and adjust the volume?
Roger built a fully balanced preamp with XLR input and outputs for a friend last summer.   I think it's only one in existence.  His preamp has manual volume control.   Roger was working on mono amps ... my friend emailed him last week for update and no reply.   Roger makes good stuff but unfortunately didn't catch on.

@joecasey thanks for the suggestion.  I would be happy if I could just control the preamp somehow without throwing it away!  I did open the cover to see if there’s a manual attenuation of some sort but the inside looks very clean...nothing that I’m skilled to fiddle with.  Could anyone help me confirm that nothing can be done about it from the photo? https://photos.app.goo.gl/tCqs1mTfqyNRTLy38 

@pepperidge  My H-CAT friend knows an excellent tech that might be able to help.  Don't throw it out yet.   I'll ask if ok for you contact him.  PM me.
My friend also has $20k tube pre and H-CAT is very very competitive.  Basically differences between tube vs SS so more different than 1 is much superior to the other.