Good morning ASR!
I have attempted my best to read this forum for months (while saving for buying a dedicated DAC) and follow reviews of Amir, Wolf and other forum posters in order to prevent this question from occuring, but amount of information piled up created a mix of volatile confusion with shameful pause occuring every time and preventing me from blindly picking and ordering a DAC (As there is no option to go to "local audio store" and listen to all DACs myself as "local audio store" is busy selling their outdated, overpriced stock and even second hand market has no DACs worth mentioning).
My current "setup" is Roland Quad Capture UA-55 (Audio Interface) connected (cheap 6.3mm -> 2xRCA cable with noise) to SMSL SP200 and on the end there is a hungry monster in form of Fostex T50Rp Mk3. (Shortly: PC -> Roland UA-55 -> SP200 ->T50Rp Mk3).
I have determined that DAC (or whatever is inside UA-55 doing DAC things) can sound better if it was something with AK4497/99 inside or R2R and spent a few months of researching comments and reviews (on ASR, Youtube, few other non-english forums) to shorten my list from:
1) DENAFRIPS ARES II
2) Singxer SDA-2
3) Gustard A18
4) Gustard A16 (negatives: faulty units, few mentioned a flat "just like default PC card" sound, mixed opinions from some owners that prevent any coherent picture to be formed)
5) SMSL SU-9 (negatives: Despite good reviews there is zero desire to see ESS chip turn my music into flat uncolored line of sand-dry sound. Also - some reliability and support issues.)
6) Topping D70/D70s (negatives: Solid device overall, but default unmodded Singxer SDA-2 apparently is better sounding in general).
7) Topping D90 (negatives: Outside of my price range thanks to import taxes on top of the price of D90 that will make RME 2 ADI DAC an cheaper purchase).
8) SMSL M200 (excluded because of decision to spend a little more $$ on DAC and escape small negatives this unit has... but not enough $$$ to reach excellence of SMSL M400)
To a really short one:
DENAFRIPS ARES II is praised all around, but seems to be lacking in speed and slam (where say SDA-2 excels), but having spacious sound stage. The only downside is it reaches maximum price limit of my DAC budget with import tax and few people reporting bad assembling quality and had to send back to original store for replacement (ending up without DAC for 3 months, but thankfully it got replaced alongside shipment expenses).
GUSTARD A18 seems like a good "entry level" AK4499 DAC with speed and attack, but at the same time criticized (on non-english speaking forums) by few members for being not good enough (bad vocal reproduction at low volume levels where vocals become sort of quiet and less noticable/impactful) and lacking bass work of Topping D90. Some dude said that after talking to some sort of "seller" that said that Gustard A18 is an "entry" unit that one is guaranteed to sell after few month to get something better.
Singxer SDA-2 is reported to be very good (but top resolution of "just" 32 bit/ 384kHz and not 32/768 kHz like other dacs of this price tier makes me wonder why 384 and not 768... but that is most likely another story involving marketing and some lacking audio knowledge), reviewers indicating a "mature, proper hi-fi sound" as well as "intimate", "musical", "detailed when needed" as well as overall "very good engineering" by Singxer allowing this DAC to stand out among others in this price range. Downsides: Lack of bass and not enough "meaty power" for metal songs reported by some owners that and enthusiasts saying one must go in and swap a lot of pieces inside to make DAC sound far better (according to some people who were "improving it" one needs new Nichicon FG capacitors, OPamps, resistors and some skill fitting it onto a relatively small space inside) and swapping USB and power cables that "should" cost 150-200 USD each, be shielded and made of high quality materials. I am close to dropping it from considering thanks to not needing that amplifier part (hopefully that smsl sp200 meets endless power needs of T50Rp mk3... but that is debatable as high gain is mostly ON at 10-11 o`clock) and those "enthusiasts" that make it look like device plays like cheap DAC without all those surgical operations that already add up to price of RME ADI 2 DAC .
Most of the time i listen to all sorts of music like electronic, instrumental, some "game" music tracks while not going with heavy metal too often and appreciating some excitement as well as presence of good vocals (that is why i am questioning idea of purchasing SU-9 as rumors are ESS chips are somehow converting music into flat boring stream of sound. I am not sure whether or not it is true, but since there is no ESS3038 PRO device lying nearby to hear it for myself... I have to consider something regarded as "exciting" or "colored" over something that is "flat", "uncolored", "analytical").
Please help me choose one of these three (SDA-2/A18/ARES II) (so i can buy one and put thoughts that might tell me ""X dac to the left was so much better but you bought and now stuck with worse one Y dac because you wasn`t even asking smart and intelligent people on forums"" to a rest) and end these months of search?
Thank you for reading it all.
Edit 1: Minor mistakes and wrong expression of thoughts.
I have attempted my best to read this forum for months (while saving for buying a dedicated DAC) and follow reviews of Amir, Wolf and other forum posters in order to prevent this question from occuring, but amount of information piled up created a mix of volatile confusion with shameful pause occuring every time and preventing me from blindly picking and ordering a DAC (As there is no option to go to "local audio store" and listen to all DACs myself as "local audio store" is busy selling their outdated, overpriced stock and even second hand market has no DACs worth mentioning).
My current "setup" is Roland Quad Capture UA-55 (Audio Interface) connected (cheap 6.3mm -> 2xRCA cable with noise) to SMSL SP200 and on the end there is a hungry monster in form of Fostex T50Rp Mk3. (Shortly: PC -> Roland UA-55 -> SP200 ->T50Rp Mk3).
I have determined that DAC (or whatever is inside UA-55 doing DAC things) can sound better if it was something with AK4497/99 inside or R2R and spent a few months of researching comments and reviews (on ASR, Youtube, few other non-english forums) to shorten my list from:
1) DENAFRIPS ARES II
2) Singxer SDA-2
3) Gustard A18
4) Gustard A16 (negatives: faulty units, few mentioned a flat "just like default PC card" sound, mixed opinions from some owners that prevent any coherent picture to be formed)
5) SMSL SU-9 (negatives: Despite good reviews there is zero desire to see ESS chip turn my music into flat uncolored line of sand-dry sound. Also - some reliability and support issues.)
6) Topping D70/D70s (negatives: Solid device overall, but default unmodded Singxer SDA-2 apparently is better sounding in general).
7) Topping D90 (negatives: Outside of my price range thanks to import taxes on top of the price of D90 that will make RME 2 ADI DAC an cheaper purchase).
8) SMSL M200 (excluded because of decision to spend a little more $$ on DAC and escape small negatives this unit has... but not enough $$$ to reach excellence of SMSL M400)
To a really short one:
DENAFRIPS ARES II is praised all around, but seems to be lacking in speed and slam (where say SDA-2 excels), but having spacious sound stage. The only downside is it reaches maximum price limit of my DAC budget with import tax and few people reporting bad assembling quality and had to send back to original store for replacement (ending up without DAC for 3 months, but thankfully it got replaced alongside shipment expenses).
GUSTARD A18 seems like a good "entry level" AK4499 DAC with speed and attack, but at the same time criticized (on non-english speaking forums) by few members for being not good enough (bad vocal reproduction at low volume levels where vocals become sort of quiet and less noticable/impactful) and lacking bass work of Topping D90. Some dude said that after talking to some sort of "seller" that said that Gustard A18 is an "entry" unit that one is guaranteed to sell after few month to get something better.
Singxer SDA-2 is reported to be very good (but top resolution of "just" 32 bit/ 384kHz and not 32/768 kHz like other dacs of this price tier makes me wonder why 384 and not 768... but that is most likely another story involving marketing and some lacking audio knowledge), reviewers indicating a "mature, proper hi-fi sound" as well as "intimate", "musical", "detailed when needed" as well as overall "very good engineering" by Singxer allowing this DAC to stand out among others in this price range. Downsides: Lack of bass and not enough "meaty power" for metal songs reported by some owners that and enthusiasts saying one must go in and swap a lot of pieces inside to make DAC sound far better (according to some people who were "improving it" one needs new Nichicon FG capacitors, OPamps, resistors and some skill fitting it onto a relatively small space inside) and swapping USB and power cables that "should" cost 150-200 USD each, be shielded and made of high quality materials. I am close to dropping it from considering thanks to not needing that amplifier part (hopefully that smsl sp200 meets endless power needs of T50Rp mk3... but that is debatable as high gain is mostly ON at 10-11 o`clock) and those "enthusiasts" that make it look like device plays like cheap DAC without all those surgical operations that already add up to price of RME ADI 2 DAC .
Most of the time i listen to all sorts of music like electronic, instrumental, some "game" music tracks while not going with heavy metal too often and appreciating some excitement as well as presence of good vocals (that is why i am questioning idea of purchasing SU-9 as rumors are ESS chips are somehow converting music into flat boring stream of sound. I am not sure whether or not it is true, but since there is no ESS3038 PRO device lying nearby to hear it for myself... I have to consider something regarded as "exciting" or "colored" over something that is "flat", "uncolored", "analytical").
Please help me choose one of these three (SDA-2/A18/ARES II) (so i can buy one and put thoughts that might tell me ""X dac to the left was so much better but you bought and now stuck with worse one Y dac because you wasn`t even asking smart and intelligent people on forums"" to a rest) and end these months of search?
Thank you for reading it all.
Edit 1: Minor mistakes and wrong expression of thoughts.
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