Hiiiiii!
You may be the person I need the most, as I have been looking for a DAC for my apos gremlin tube amp+HifiMan Sundaras and cant decide between Fosi ZD3, ZH3 and Fiio BR15. I see you have them all and I’d love to hear your opinion on these as theres little to no info that can guide me(I’m a beginner to audiophile), love thxI started with the ZD3 and it was great in my desktop near field setup (Totem Loon plus Kef10b sub)...amps used are ZA3 in mo
I started with the Fosi ZD3...I loved the sound in my desktop setup (Totem Loon plus Kef 10b sub) ... I drove this through USB direct from my computer...sound was awesome. It was very clear and I loved the look of my minimal ZA3 ZD3 stack.
Then I was sooooo lucky to win the ZH3 from Fosi (Thanks Fosi!) so I moved to that as my main desktop setup system . I wanted to play with the filters somewhat as I do like to tinker and I am getting into headphones so that was a great fit. There was a slight differenece with this AKM DAC vs the ESS within the ZD3 but both are great in a near field setup. As I got used to the different amps I started to lean towards the AKM vs the ESS amp for its warmth and detail escepecially for long days listening while I work. Don't assume AKM warmth tonality doesn't mean its also detailed. both DAC's are very revealing. I passed the ZD3 to my daughter for her TV setup (after trying both ZD# ZH3 dacs for like 2 months) as I wasn't using the HDMI in and could be happy keeping either. I started having slight preference for the AKM sound though
...I suggest between those two pick the one that fits your use input case better on inputs and consider both to have quiet backgrounds and great DAC conversions. I am enjoying the desktop setup now generally through a wifi connection to a Zen Stream then via USB out to the ZH3 mostly upsampled to DSD256.
I then got the Fio BR15 for a great early deal and wanted to try the R2R setup (and occasional bluetooth) . I thought this Fiio BR15 was a better fit for me vs the Fiio K13 R2R as I already had a headphone amp in the ZH3 but really wanted to try an R2R amp. The BR15 is fantastic and I really enjoyed the change in sound. I decided to keep it and have since moved it to my main home theatre audio room to drive my Focal speakers through a devialet amp. The warmth and detail it provides is just a pleasure and I can listen now and find new nuances in songs Ive herad for a long time. Note I and I also bought the Airlink to test higher res bluetooth and APTX lossess and LDAC sound excellent . Like really they are great and unless you do very critical listening, most can't tell the difference between those bluetooth codecs and hardwired hi res files. Yes some can if they really listen . I like the options for good blueetooth streaming if friends come over. The airlink works great from a PC as well from my phone for whatever reason. LDAC works direct from my phone too. I also now ave an SR11 to hardwire roon into the BR15 to really use it's R2R functions through Roon. This works great (also has airplay which I don't use) . The BR15 R2R does add a better soundstage for my bright Focal Eelectra 1028's passed through my devialet DPremiere amp . I'm very glad to add that R2R to my system . Super great value for an R2R dac!
I think all your options are great ..pick the one that has the best inputs you would use as generally once its setup you generally don't tweak the settings I find. It was fun playing with the Fiio Oversampling variability and the ZH3 filter settings but those tweaks may tend to be set once for your setup then left as is.
If I was brand new like you new,
I would go ZH3 if using headphones is a must of course, and go ZD3 if HDMI input is a must and go BR15 if you want higher end bluetooth connectivity . Kind of obvious I guess lol.
They all have coax and optical and usb so if thats how your gerenally using it then think sound field...Soundwise they are all great..slight bias on my side to the more unique warmer BR15 R2R sound then the ZH3 AKM DAC then the ZD3 detailed ESS DAC but it does depend on your speakers and amps you use. Perhaps saying then cheapest is best is the way to go as you will be happy with them all.
The related software for all is updated and although there are some nuances , updating firmware or using PC USB drivers if needed is all easy and has great FAQ's and user community to help if needed.
Note1 ... the amps I use are now ZA3 in dual mono through XLR with the opamps in the ZA3 and ZH3 and ZD3 where changed to sparkos 3602. The sparkos do I think provide more purity and detail vs teh stcok amps but it's darn close so stock op amps are 100% perfectly fine if you don't want to experiment in this hobby.
Note 2 ... I generally run from Roon and Qobuz with high res music generally upsampled to max PCM or DSD256. I tweak EQ curves in Roon as needed for my room.
