ejspain2020
Sorry for the slow response, damn work has gotten in the way of my hobby.
I appreciate the input, and I did go back and read that article. The first thing I noticed is the article is from January 2022, before Vinshine/Denafrips had even introduced their firmware updates; of which many were released; and three years before the 15th series were released.
Three years is a LONG time ago in the DAC and streamer world, and I'd venture to say USB implementation has come a long way in three years too. Before I'd get rid of anything, why not try things out to see how they sound? My DAC and streamer will be upgraded this summer, and I'll try all options to see which SQ I like best.
As I always say on this subject "It depends", and the depends only comes from listening in my system, or a system that I know well. If I were to make a decision today, I'd likely end up with an Aurender N200 or N20, and a DAC from the Terminator 15th (or upcoming Terminator Plus 15th), Lampizator, Weiss, T+A, etc. group.
Whether I'd add a DDC depends on where I end up sound wise, but I do have my own Iris DDC; and access to a Gaia and Hermes DDCs that my friends own.....and I will try them all. The Denafrips DACs hold a VERY dear place in my heart, because to my ear they are extraordinarily musical and fun.....but I will keep an open mind as well.
with a DDC like with everything else in audio. I always thought that a decent DDC would likely improve sound (and at worst do nothing). I have a few DDCs, and with most streamers I have had, there is definitely an improvement with adding a DDC to the chain and going I2S out to a I2S capable DAC. However, two instances where I favor no DDC over having a DDC is with my now years old dedicated PC streamer with a JCAT Femto USB Card powered by a Keces P8 LPS (not sure if this JCAT card just has a really good USB implementation) and my Topping D90III Discrete DAC (USB always sounds better than I2S no matter what DDC I have tried with it). Also, from my experience, DDCs have really made a big difference when they have a master clock input and I am able to sync my entire chain with the same external master clock (though this is not really something that can be done with the Denafrips and Musician DDCs as they don't have 10 MHz master clock inputs and only have dual 45 and 49 kHz word clock inputs). I know its only with my ears (n = 1) and applicable to just the 4 streamers I have tested (Wiim Ultra, Eversolo DMP-A6 Gen 2, Fiio SR11, and Auralic Aries S1), but I have noticed that using a Musician Pisces slaved to the Venus 15th DAC's OCXO clock and going I2S into the Venus results in an improvement for all of them.