1) There are no import taxes or fees. The Singapore dollar price at Vineshine is what you pay. Right now that is about $808 USD.
2) No idea. Never heard one.
3) Most people think the Ares II is a very natural sounding DAC. I hear a tiny bit more detail in the highs than something like the SMSL SU-9 but certainly not edgy.
A few other comments. It is easy to do A/B testing of DACs if you have a preamp with a remote control and all I can tell you is I really struggle to hear any difference between the Ares II, SMSL SU-9 or Topping D70. I don't have golden ears but lots of other things in my system make more difference, sometimes for less money.
Also, I find the Ares II sometimes needs to be rebooted. Some combination of file formats from Roon seems to cause it to start hicupping. It doesn't happen frequently enough for me to spend time debugging it and I have never seen anybody else mention it but it is irritating to have to get up and turn the DAC on and off from time to time.
Finally, having a remote with a volume control turns out to be a much more important feature to me than any minor difference in sound quality the Ares II might offer. You might feel differently.
2) No idea. Never heard one.
3) Most people think the Ares II is a very natural sounding DAC. I hear a tiny bit more detail in the highs than something like the SMSL SU-9 but certainly not edgy.
A few other comments. It is easy to do A/B testing of DACs if you have a preamp with a remote control and all I can tell you is I really struggle to hear any difference between the Ares II, SMSL SU-9 or Topping D70. I don't have golden ears but lots of other things in my system make more difference, sometimes for less money.
Also, I find the Ares II sometimes needs to be rebooted. Some combination of file formats from Roon seems to cause it to start hicupping. It doesn't happen frequently enough for me to spend time debugging it and I have never seen anybody else mention it but it is irritating to have to get up and turn the DAC on and off from time to time.
Finally, having a remote with a volume control turns out to be a much more important feature to me than any minor difference in sound quality the Ares II might offer. You might feel differently.