Space is important for my desk. Haha. Maybe I'll wait for the Topping DX7Pro upgrade in the future. Can save space. When that time comes I'll sell my THX789. For now just going to enjoy my setup. Thanks!
I run the RME ADI DAC2 fs for a reason. I had the DX7pro and a huge assortment of op-amps. I bought the RME after becoming tired of a very dry sound that the dx7pro would put out no matter what I did, ultimately I couldn't escape a tiny soundstage with a lack of musicality. I had by this point spent enough money to have bought the RME ADI 2 DAC fs! When the RME arrived I carefully opened the smaller than topping DAC, lighter than topping DAC because it uses a computer style brick power supply, connected the balanced cables and the first note that came out of the DAC was exactly what I had been searching for. Music, and notes arranged almost mechanically to recreate some imitation copy of music. I used a David Gilmore song that I am extremely familiar with. Within 30 minutes, I had the topping boxed up, and drove to my local Hi-Fi recycle shop that buys and sells used audio gear, I got exactly the value I assumed I would get which is 1/3 of the retail price. They try to sell items at about 50% if it's a current model year product which at the time, the DX7pro was, of course I kept all my op-amps and refitted all the original LME47290's.
I personally don't use headphones as my primary listening source though I do have a couple of unbalanced only headphones and IEM's. The RME sounded much better right of the box here too. My headphones are 32ohms, IEM's 26 ohms the DAC has a separate 3.5mm plug which I used for the IEM's. You might want to check all the youtube video's out there that review the RME ADI 2 DAC fs. RME is a company that makes pro audio gear, and due to consumer demand they, for the first time ventured into the consumer market. And trust me when I say this, I am not alone in thinking that the RME DAC is actually a bargain. It has an 80page owners manual which is actually very easy to follow and understand, plus they have a user forum. Also It's either 3, or 5 years for the warranty. I've had my DAC since January, and it's NEVER been turned off. Absolutely no drop in performance and you can change the colour to a degree, brightness of the display, or have it set to Auto-off to help save the dot matrix display. Touch or twist the nob and boom, the display is back on. RME is constantly offering software updates. Since I got mine, 3 updates, all to keep up with the new Mac Mini, and some fine tuning of things I can't hear with my speakers, but could with headphones. It has a 5 band parametric eq with huge adjustability.
I would have literally run out of superlatives when it comes to this DAC and it works perfectly great with the SMSL DA-9 provided you don't use the SMSL remote control and use the supremely good built in preamp and headphone amp. Some of the RF signals for the SMSL change the settings on the RME. I get it that there are only so many frequencies that are available, but yes, this is the only drawback I could find. But then again, I'm not a huge headphone guy, I use speakers of my own design to listen to music. If you can find your way to a local dealer, I would urge you to ask them for a demo, bring a FLAC file or something, listen for yourself and walk out before you spend your money and think about what you just heard. Do you need "balanced pentaconn 4.4mm 5 pronged plugs? is it truly necessary, The RME doesn't have balanced headphone outs. So if you are going to audition the amp, bring the factory cable, or equivalent. There's literally, insane levels of adjustability, crossfeed, de-emphasis, Dual EQ (separate L/R adjustability or not), Width, polarity which can be adjusted in several steps. Best of all, I'm not even in the least bit curious to open or see the insides. There are online pictures showing everything.
And like I said, it is a fantastic companion to the much, much, much cheaper SMSL DA-9. And the DA-9 not only keeps up with the RME as I did try it multiple rooms before deciding this dac will be my main dac for everyday use and I work from home so If it's not music, I'm listening to a podcast.
The data measurements wise when it comes to this level or performance is so extremely good that you have to listen to the device yourself with your headphones or iem's to truly know what device is right for you. I am probably going to buy the SU8, the new one that was recently released a few days ago, along with another DA-9 for another room, my living room. Yes, I might seriously put my tube amplifier away for a while during the hot Tokyo Summers.
Before you mentally sell yourself on a device you should always find a shop where you can hear the device you are purchasing. Or be okay with the idea of gambling. For me, the RME is staying and never going away. The DA-9 will stay until I kill it from never turning it off. My PC also only gets turned off for a system update. Then it's right back to work. This hobby that we are all into should bring you immense joy. And I've had my fair share of DAC's and this RME unit is staying until it either breaks, or something that a patch cannot make better comes along which I think will take quite some time. I strongly recommend this combination, a weird one where the DAC is so much more expensive than the power amplifier, but it literally a beautiful combination in terms of sound.
Happy hunting, and you're absolutely right, space is very precious on any desktop these days, the bigger our screens get, the worse it is for us. That's what drove me to build my current speakers which admitedly are unfinished due to the fact that I live in Tokyo, in a high-rise and can't be making MDF cutting noises. Fortunately there is a famous shop that can cut lumber to a 0.1mm accuracy at 3 metres length. My panel alignment and clamping is more inaccurate than their cutting.
sorry I didn't wipe down the Amp/DAC combo. excuse the dust.
