DAC for PC, Bluetooth & Genelecs?

[newbio]

My first post here, please be gentle (and move this to another subforum if this is not the right place)! I am looking for a DAC and having spent the afternoon reading these forums, I thought it might be best to ask the experts:

My Current Setup & Use:

• Speakers / monitors: Pair of Genelec 8020Ds
• Other Hardware: Windows 10 PC and sometimes mobile phone (Bluetooth)
• Use: Music listening (mostly through Qobuz) and gaming
• I had Cambridge Audio's DacMagic Plus with this setup before but sold it to a friend

Some DACs I Have Considered:
Firstly, below are just some options I have considered but more than happy to take suggestions for alternatives! I have listed the prices I could buy these in the UK at; I am happy to spend on the more expensive options but only if they make sense, given the rest of my setup.

• Topping D90SE (£660 from Shenzhen Audio)
• SMSL SU-9 (£340 from Shenzhen Audio)
• Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M (£449 in the UK)

My Questions:

• What would you recommend and why?
• Are some of the more expensive options worthwhile with my setup? Can I really hear the difference?
• How is the build quality / support of the different brands?
• Feel free to point out anything else I have missed!

Thank you for your help in advance!

 

[Wicky]

In terms of quality measuring/transparent DACs you are starting from a good place with either Topping & SMSL. The Cambridge hasn’t been measured here if I’m not mistaken or if that is important to you you might like to see if you can find some stats elsewhere. Features? Headphone amp Built in? DSP, PEQ? You could look to something like the RME ADI-DAC if you are looking for some of those things.

 

[Trell]

With good DACs today I think it's more about features, connectivity, reliability and build quality than just the best SINAD. On this site there are many DAC reviewed that is inexpensive and audibly transparent.

I've the RME ADI-2 DAC FS V2 that I use with my Genelec desktop setup. It's not just a DAC as it has a powerful headphone amplifier as well, but it's DSP features like PEQ, Dynamic Loudness, Bass/Treble tone controls are very useful to me. There is also a remote if you want to use that as well.

It is quite a bit more expensive than your other options you listed at £829 : https://www.thomann.de/gb/rme_adi_2_dac_fs.htm

 

[Wicky]

With good DACs today I think it's more about features, connectivity, reliability and build quality than just the best SINAD. On this site there are many DAC reviewed that is inexpensive and audibly transparent.

Completely agree, for me it's only an indication that the product is likely well designed by folks who know what they are doing.

Feature set is more important to me personally but everyone looks for different things.

Another plus on the RME based on the OP's questions is reliability and support. I haven't seen one compliant/issue with this product on these forums, the same cannot be said of Topping/SMSL. RME also have UK based distributors which offer product support https://www.synthax.co.uk

 

[3125b]

What would you recommend and why?

How about the Topping EX5? It offers the features you want plus a good headphone amp at a reasonable price in a compact package.

Can I really hear the difference?

No, not between any of these.

How is the build quality / support of the different brands?

Hard to tell, to me none of those three companies stand out as having any sort of extraordinary reliability issues.
I (personal opinion, take it with a grain of salt) think Topping dealt with the L30 issues relatively well, SMSL took some time to figure the 3rd harmonic thing out but came around eventually and I don't know anything about Cambridge Audio.

The RME ADI-2 DAC FS has been mentioned here, certainly a great unit, but it may not be for you, doesn't have bluetooth and is a fair bit more expensive.
Two things RME has going for them apart from performance, features etc. are support (they still have up-to-date drivers and software for their old FireWire and PCI devices) and resale value, they will loose some value initially but never become really cheap, the Fireface 400 is 15 years old for example and still goes for 300-400€ used.

 

[newbio]

Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful analysis!

The RME looks really tempting and has raving reviews but I think the price might be slightly outside my range and I suspect some of the great features it has might be lost on a complete newbie such as myself. There were really good points about the customer service (I even saw an RME employee on one of the chats here answering questions) and resale value, so I think that brand goes on my list if/when I have the budget and expertise to upgrade to something nicer.

Topping EX5 might be my choice this time, as said above it ticks the boxes for my current needs and seems to have good reviews too.

Really glad I asked the questions here, turns out there were options I had not considered at all!