Thank you for the suggestions, but for the purpose of testing Dirac Live DLBC, I need a real 2.1 output, so it is not about HDMI vs optical/coax, but about to get that .1 channel.
That would have worked if I had kept my Denon AVR and Marantz AVP and use it for 2.1, but they are gone, traded in for two AVM70.
I just read somewhere, that if I run DLBC on my Macbook pro, it has a way to output a virtual .1 channel so there is hope and now I just need the time to figure out how it is done. If that doesn't work, then I may consider the 5 channel dacs such as Toppings. Those are unnecessarily (since I only need 3 channels) expensive. The only other possibility is the Motu M4 that is much more affordable but is probably difficult to setup as it is not really intended for such purpose, it is more for recording.
M4 | MOTU.com
If you guys know of other affordable alternatives (<$400), please do let me know. Oh yes I do want something with high enough SINAD such as >=100 dB. I am not concerned about THD, but noise.