Good luck - hope someone responds to your query. But the RD160 is very new.
As for me, I got the T+A DAC 200.
HiFi Rose RD160 DAC
Was starting to look for a new DAC to replace the Oppo UDP 205 that I have been using as a DAC, when I came across the HiFi Rose RD160. I am really interested because it uses a AKM chip rather than the same old ESS. Yeah, I know chip does not matter and implementation matters and yada yada....
But this along with the T+A DAC 200 and Bricasti M3 are interesting to me. Let’s keep this thread as a placeholder and report back when some folks demo it somewhere.
Showing 6 responses by milpai
@toro3 , ”happy” is not the right word. “Ecstatic” would come close, along with joy. When I initially used it with Foobar, it easily trounced the Oppo I was using as a DAC. Then I decided to demo the HQ Player. It took me under 30 seconds to decide that it was time to move on from Foobar. Immediately placed order for the license. With HQ Player upsampling FAPLAC to DSD 256 or 512, this DAC is completely transformed. At the same time I think users are doing disservice to this DAC, by saying it is optimized for DSD. In my experience it is an excellent PCM player as well. I play Spotify on this DAC and it is a completely different and pleasure-inducing machine. I am constantly surprised how a DAC can be so clear without sounding harsh. I had previously associated “cleaner” with “sharper”. My perspective changed with this DAC. As to why this one over the Bricasti - I am a huge fan of DSD and T+A’s DSD implementation is very unique. It also supports higher DSD rates compared to the Bricasti. |
Good to know that my feedback would be helpful. My decision was based on tons of reading user reviews (not professional) and reaching out to folks 1:1 on PMs. Most people will be helpful in providing their perspective. And it helps even more, when you know what their system comprises of. I checked your system and see that we had interacted before. That is a classy system and either the T+A or the Bricasti will take your listening experience to a completely different level. I cannot say anything on Bricasti, because I have not listened to it. But user reviews have been favorable. You might want to reach out to someone at futureaudiophile site, since they have reviewed both - but by different reviewers. Do you know a funny thing? When Steve Huff came up with his "My Favorite HiFi Audio of 2024 from Budget to Exotic", on the very first day he had accidentally mentioned the T+A DAC 200 between the Mid/High DACs and Exotic end DACs. Then he took it down the next day, because (I think) it was reviewed last year or before.Not that it is a validation on my purchase, because my order was put in before that. One more thing that pushed me over to the T+A is the excellent forum on AudiophileStyle. I know at least one more member here who is thrilled with this DAC and is on that forum. Let me know if you have any further questions on this DAC or the HQ Player - will be glad to help out. |
Thank You @jon2020 I will not be using the DAC as a preamp. |
Seeing the response that Huff gave to the person, at the end of the review, it seems like I made the best choice for my system. Any more "body/heft" to the music would have been disastrous to my setup. But again, all these reviews need to be taken with a handful of salt. User experience is what I generally pay more attention to. Do you plan to get this DAC @jon2020? |
Ha ha ha...agreed. All the 3 seems like great choices. The USP for each is different T+A and Mola Mola for non-chip based design and the Rose for non-ESS chip based design. If DSD is important to you, then these are some of the best choices. I understand that ESS chips internally convert DSD to PCM, but AKM chips do not. Good luck to you and hope you are able to make a decision soon. |