Experience with SoulNote Dac2?

Thanks @bluethinker, I appreciate the follow up. I will do some more research. 

@arafiq Thank you for your comments,  very helpful. I see you have a Merging+nadac, I had not heard of that one, sounds interesting, though a bit out of my price range.

Thanks for the update, it sounds promising. FWIW, I am now seriously considering a change from my Reuss/QLN combination. This is all your fault! 😀

My current rabbit holes are Bricasti M3 and  Meitner MA3, though I think the Meitner is on the warm side too. I will do some research on the D2.

@bluethinker Thanks for the tip, that is a good deal for sure. I am looking for something a little more lively, it sounds like the D2 is sounding that way to you. Keep us posted as you get used to it. 
 

@audphile1 Thanks for the commentary, I had thought you had tried both the Meitner and the Bricasti. Your description of the Meitner sounds a lot like Merason, I would be a little worried it would not be a significant change. I never thought I would say it, but I think I want a bit more edge, but certainly not bright. 
 

In the meantime a friend loaned me his Luxman DA-07x. It is quite nice. 

@bluethinker I would be very interested to hear the results of that pairing, thank you.

I am really starting to wonder what sound I am seeking. I also plugged in my spare DAC, a Schiit Modius+ coupled with a Singxer SU-6, and was honestly very impressed with the results. But most noticeable was the bass and bloomy nature of the sound. The bass is not as articulate as other DAC’s, but certainly more of it, maybe with some even ordered harmonics thrown in to richen things up. I am not suggesting that this is on par with the DAC’s we are discussing, just that it has offered me another perspective. I am a low volume jazz listener, sufficient and articulate bass is important. Probably need some tubes somewhere, but not a great fit for a system that is on most of the day.

And sorry for hijacking, but it sounds like we are both looking for answers to the same question.

@996turbo911 @bluethinker Thanks for all the additional information. I decided yesterday to pick up a used Bricasti M3. I view this as a tentative step towards the world of more detailed, and less warm, DAC'S. It is also a lower cost, less risk path to see if this sound appeals to me and works with my system. I am a little deep in gear right now, and need to sell some to make any big moves. 

I did quite a bit of review on the SoulNote and I am/was very tempted, especially given your results. For now I will take the baby steps.

@bluethinker I am still very interested to hear your thoughts on the combo with the QLN's. Please share if you find the time to try it out.

Following with interest as we have very similar systems. 

@bluethinker I have not tried the Innuos USB DDC, however for some other reasons I picked up a Singxer SU-6 and this has been a significant improvement. The low bass on the QLN’s really improves. Cables do matter as mentioned. 
FWIW, I spoke to an Innuos dealer at AXPONA this year about the DDC, and he said I would probably get better results with their Ethernet box. Both options are kind of spendy for tweaks. 

@bluethinker Close. I have the Merason Reuss with QLN 3 speakers. Still owe a review on the speakers, but they are keepers, but I wonder about the 5’s. 😃

On paper that certainly looks like a “warm” system alright. It will be interesting to hear how the Soulnote blends with your system.

@bluethinker I discovered the same thing with USB and my Merason, and probably any good USB DAC, that cable can make a huge difference. In my case I replaced a Transparent USB with a Wireworld Platinum, huge difference, so I know what you are talking about. 

The Bricasti M3 is doing well and has brought the increased level of incisiveness to the sound that I was looking to balance out the warmth of the QLN's. A few days after I bought the Bricasti, I picked up an Antipodes CX server to compare it with my Innuos Zenith MkIII. Switching from Zenith-USB-Bricasti to CX-Ethernet-Bricasti was a big step up.

I had a friend over today to listen and we compared the CX Bricasti combo using both USB and Ethernet, a very significant difference in sound. I have to go back and listen to the Zenith-USB-Bricasti again. Zenith was running Sense, CX was running Roon, so not a clean experiment, nor meant to be.

Somehow I have the feeling I will eventually take @audphile1's advice and try the Meitner 3, it sounds like it hits the sweet spot, and it supports Ethernet.