I'll give you my brief experience. I was also intrigued by the Topping D50III and waited to see how it went. While waiting, I got the D-6S because it has been out for 1 year, therefore, it has been tested by users who have highlighted its strengths and weaknesses. I was amazed by the D-6S, so much so that I wrote here about the only flaw I found, which we later saw did not depend on the D-6S but on the Foobar2000 drivers. I can tell you not to go beyond 200 dollars, because the more you go up in price the more they start to give you "accessories" and therefore it no longer becomes a simple DAC but something else, except for the R2R DACs which I haven't tried yet. If you need more inputs, a preamp etc. then go up the price otherwise it's not worth it. I haven't tried the AKM processors, I wanted to but I saw that you pay more for processors that are less easy to produce, given the company's problems. The "cheap" DAC models that have AKMs save on the power supply phase, and have problems (E30 ii lite for example). I wanted to try E70 Velvet, but I gave up. The dual chip solution is not always the best, just like the pro models. Just read the previous pages of this and other topics. Therefore, it is worth risking a large sum if you have the ability to resist it if it doesn't go well. As for EQ, I have the Eversolo DMP A6 which has a software EQ, compared to the A8 (which I wanted to get just for the EQ processor). The EQ of the A6 is not the best, it dirty the signal. I used it little. Ultimately my EQ, on the main system, is the toe-in arrangement of the speakers (after looking at the polar diagrams). But you can also do EQ with amplifiers, if the speaker allows bi-wiring (with the separate tweeter circuit). So, EQ depends on many things for desktop use you can use different software. For Hi-fi systems, it is more complicated and you need to know more information (room, speakers, amplifier, etc.).
All in all, the d-6s may not be aesthetically the best, but it sounds good. The topping d50iii I wanted to try it but decided not to, because the optical output is important to me, also with the Mac I think there are no hum problems, but on an assembled pc it depends on the PSU I'm afraid (I wanted to do this test, but the optical output blocked me, and I'm not sure it will be solved with the FW). The d-6s doesn't pop at all to me; it's paired with a REGA IO (which has lousy measurements, but sounds good to me and doesn't heat up like an oven). The pops you hear on the sampling change may be related to the recordings. I happened to hear them only with Flacs made from vinyls, which I deleted. So you should buy one and try it out, if possible get it on Amazon so you can send it back after the 30 days if you see it doesn't satisfy you.
