T+A DAC 200 or WEISS 501

I purchased a DAC200 late last fall from Juan @blisshifi (great dealer to work with BTW!). On PCM vs my previous Dac, it was only slightly better - more different than better. However, using the DSD converter path, the DAC200 is superior.

Upstream, I have an Auralic Aries G2 and Auralic Sirius processor which i use to convert to DSD 512. I was going to sell the Sirius but the DSD channel of the DAC200 is so good, it made sense to keep it. Functionally, it’s doing the same thing as HQPlayer. 

I’ve auditioned several much more expensive DACs - and I was willing to purchase any of them. That list includes the Linn DSM/3, Ideon Absolute and DCS, among others. All are different. Sourced properly, the DAC200 is pretty competitive with them - and a vastly better value. On PCM, it’s fine. On DSD, it’s a standout in my view.

@roccity 

I agree with Juan at BlissHifi in that it’s implementation and not file type that makes the biggest difference. My previous Dac could also play DSD files natively and indeed sounded good doing so through the Sirius processor, but the differences between DSD and PCM were far smaller than through the DAC200.  

I’ve also heard other DACs where PCM sounded better than DSD. 

Hope this helps.

Best,