"My preference will be deep soundstage and instruments separation." - forget this. These DACs have all great measurments. I would go with the simple ESS E70, as it is the cheapest and it is plug and play. It would sound just fine.
Hey, I have received it a couple of days ago. It is NOT a plug and play device. With driver it works on Win 11, however the first time it made a few bugs so I had to reinstall. Now it is ok, but I still don't know wehether I keep it.
For a couple of weeks I used the motherboard's jack out to the amp rca sockets. I lost the details and soundstage. I have received today the SMSL SU-9 PRO. Well, it is a different world again. It sounds great.
Hey,
yesterday I had the chance to pick up my dream amplifier, a Luxman 507ux II. While on analog line I wanted always that irrational beauty, as a DAC I would like to buy something purely based on performance, which has XLR and would be a proper partner for the amp. Currently I have a Pro-Ject...