HiFi Rose RD160 DAC

I’ve been eying the DAC 200 for quite some time, as well as the M3, and Sonnet Pasithea. With the DAC 200 I’ve heard that HQ Player and DSD is the way to go, but I’ve also read extremely good things about PCM with this DAC. @milpai happy so far with the DAC 200 and how it’s integrated into your system? Curious what pushed you over to the DAC 200 vs the M3 as these are the top two DACs I’m currently considering.

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.

Greatly appreciate this part of your response which says quite a bit about this DAC. Not too often that a component can literally change our perspective, especially amongst more experienced enthusiast like yourself. Very insightful data point for people like me attempting to make an informed decision. 

Thank you for the generous compliment! I read the suggested reviews on futureaudiophile which were well done - I really like the structure and formatting of their reviews over there. I’ve also been following that audiophilestyle sub on the DAC200 for a while which dives pretty deep into HQ Player and the various filters, which at times is a little over my head. It’s been a great thread to follow.

Steve Huff gets a lot of flack, and his other YT channel is rather “interesting.” Nonetheless, I always appreciated how he articulates characteristics of SQ and differences he hears within his system. I think he does a really good job in this department.

I suspect at this juncture I probably can’t go wrong with either of these DACs. It’s going to come down to subtle characteristics of system synergy, preferences, aesthetics, and feature set. Never know until I make a decision and I try, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later!