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New dac with Pi and stereo amplifier

alex88

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I There, im Alex and im glad to be here.

I'm thinking about which Dac to use for my sound system.
I built a raspberry Pi with Ropieee, this should be connected to the Dac. Via RCA out it then goes into the stereo amplifier (Denon pma 1500). I would like to connect the XLR connections from the dac to a headphone amplifier later.

Right now I have different models I like. I'm not quite sure whether this performance will be enough for the future?

SMSL Su 9
Topping D70s
Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200
Mytek Liberty Dac digital

I mainly use Roon with Tidal and Qobuz.

I hope you can help me and thank you in advance.

Best regards
Alex
 

curiouspeter

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Also check out the Gustard X16, which I recently bought after going through a similar exercise. I also use RoPieee.

Note that the Cambridge DacMagic 200M and the Mytek Liberty DAC come with a headphone amp already.

All of these DACs have MQA and should have sufficient performance for years, until they break or until you want a new toy.
 
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alex88

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Also check out the Gustard X16, which I recently bought after going through a similar exercise. I also use RoPieee.

Note that the Cambridge DacMagic 200M and the Mytek Liberty DAC come with a headphone amp already.

All of these DACs have MQA and should have sufficient performance for years, until they break or until you want a new toy.


Thanks so much.
anybody knows something about the sound stages of the dac. The only thing I'm not sure about is if the Dacs are decoder and renderer. I assume that they can do this, especially when I stream from roon.
 

curiouspeter

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IIRC all of these are MQA decoders. However, I have Roon do the first unfold because I want volume leveling and parametric EQ.

Also, note that a Mytek Liberty DAC II is coming out.
 
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alex88

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IIRC all of these are MQA decoders. However, I have Roon do the first unfold because I want volume leveling and parametric EQ.

Also, note that a Mytek Liberty DAC II is coming out.
can you Tell me something about the X16. How it’s sounds.
 

curiouspeter

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can you Tell me something about the X16. How it’s sounds.
It's transparent. I think the sound is great.

That said, I can't tell the difference between it and the NEO iDSD that I also own. Both are better than the Sonos Amp but DACs are just DACs. Any difference will be subtle.

I based my purchasing decision on price, features, and looks.
 
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alex88

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It's transparent. I think the sound is great.

That said, I can't tell the difference between it and the NEO iDSD that I also own. Both are better than the Sonos Amp but DACs are just DACs. Any difference will be subtle.

I based my purchasing decision on price, features, and looks.

thanks for your help.
im between the Gustard x16, topping D70s and the smsl su 9.
any suggestions or an alternate?
there are so many dac outside ;-)
 

curiouspeter

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thanks for your help.
im between the Gustard x16, topping D70s and the smsl su 9.
any suggestions or an alternate?
there are so many dac outside ;-)
All of these are fine. The Topping costs a bit more, but I think it looks quite nice aesthetically. But I think it is physically wider than the X16.

The SU-9 has a knob. The X16 has a dial. The D70s only has buttons. It depend on how you will use it. I only use USB and 0 db volume attenuation, so I rarely touch anything at all.

Always buy from a retailer with good service.
 
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alex88

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All of these are fine. The Topping costs a bit more, but I think it looks quite nice aesthetically. But I think it is physically wider than the X16.

The SU-9 has a knob. The X16 has a dial. The D70s only has buttons. It depend on how you will use it. I only use USB and 0 db volume attenuation, so I rarely touch anything at all.

Always buy from a retailer with good service.
I’m from Germany And it is very difficult to find a retailer, I can also by from France, will use it only via USB as a dac for my RPI 4 with ropieee for Roon.
 
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