[LAU] Searching for audio interface with software-controlled mic gain

Hi List, for a project at work (nothing to do with music, sadly, but at least audio) I'm looking for an audio interface that supports at least 16bit/48kHz (24bit/96kHz would be even better, we're potentially looking for rather high frequency signals...) for two mics that need phantom power and where the preamp gain can be controlled remotely by software, as this will be used as follows: The whole setup will be mounted at a remote location inside a larger machinery for audio surveillance of said machinery (fault detection etc.). The larger machinery of course may not be running while opened to install our setup, thus setting the gain has to be done remotely. The PC in this setup has an x86_64 CPU running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, but the case is too small for PCI(e) solutions, doesn't have firewire, so the only option is USB. For our current setup we have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 here, but there's no way to set the mic gain via software :-/ Researching so far led me to the RME Babyface that is said to be supported when in class compliant mode - but you seem to need to hold down buttons while turning it on, which is a problem as we can't open up the larger machinery every time the hardware needs to be restarted. Is anyone here aware of something we could use here? Thanks in advance, Thomas