I'm given to understand that the prices will be very reasonable. This is second-hand info, but I trust my source
I'm not completely sure, but I think an official announcement is due any day. I will know as soon as it happens, and I will post about it here.
The Rega DAC is head and shoulders above the Xonar's Analog outs in terms of tonality and presentation of music. In my system, the Rega is not at all bright (The Xonar is is bit more detailed than I'd like it to be). The highs from the Rega are
very smooth. The Rega throws a noticeably deeper and more defined soundstage. Overall, the sound feels very relaxed and mellow, yet has very nice pace. Vocals also feel full bodied and not thin (the STX sounds a bit thin in the vocals department to me).
I still have the STX, and I use its digital coaxial out to feed the Rega. This is a matter of debate, but I prefer to use the STX's coaxial-out to my Motherboard's optical-out.
Yup, the Rega does not support anything above 16/44.1 and 16/48
over USB. But via Coaxial or Optical, it supports upto 24/192.
I love my Rega DAC
