For the last few months, I’ve been using HQPlayer/Roon with a Gustard A26. An excellent DAC, but unreliable and poorly supported, so it’s going back. The experience has also made me rather wary of Chinese-supplied kit. So, what to replace it with? What are the relative merits of going with a DAC/streamer that will support NAA vs a direct USB connection, vs ditching HQP altogether and simplifying the playout chain.
In the ‘not supporting NAA directly’ camp, I’ve been listening today to the DCs Bartok and Chord DAVE (the Bartok came out comfortably ahead), and am planning to audition a Mola Mola Tambaqui shortly. Both streaming DACS that are Roon Ready but don’t support NAA over their network connection. I’m not keen on a USB feed as the Mac Mini only supports DSD over DoP. Interestingly, I listened to the Bartok both with its built-in streamer and via an external Auralic - I was surprised to prefer the latter.
If I stick with something that will integrate with my current playout chain, I’m interested in the Holo Audio Spring 3 L2 or the Denafrips Venus II 12th, both with a streamer such as the Holo Audio Red, connected via I2S.
The unfortunate thing is that it’s impossible to audition the Holo or Denafrips, so has anyone made this sort of comparison? There’s an appealing (relative) simplicity to the Bartok/Mola Mola approach, but I do like the freedom to play with HQP filters and modulators. First world dilemma, of course…