I have 3 setups.
Not using HQPlayer. All setups are fully balanced.
The TDA1541 is the DAC equivalent of a Linn LP12. Woe betide anyone who criticises its greatness 
It is a brilliant DAC though. I have a Sony 337ESD CD player that has a pair of them in it. Very nice it sounds too…
My absolute favorite tubes are the 6N3P-DR or 6N26P (matched pair if going with balanced pagoda) from Reflektor. They’re pretty cheap too, which is hard to say for other sought after tubes.
If you prefer European or US tubes, the WE396A was also great. Can’t go wrong either way.
I get it 
but if we’re honest, 96db of dynamic range is still far better than most non-class D amps (let alone any class A or AB) and plenty for any and all music.
At least that’s what the engineering side tells me. I also have a Topping D10 that makes me question what’s possible for the money these days. But to some degree I trust my ears more… Even though both the Audial S4 vs Topping D10 measure extraordinarily well to the point of being realistically transparent, my ears still prefer the S4 
Compared to the MHDT DAC’s though it’s no contest. I love the tube buffer sound, but no way is it as quiet with as much dynamic range as the others. Still fun though.
Roon NUC to PS Audio Nuwave DSD. My only complaint is the Nuwave holds the USB connection and doesn’t go into standby or autoswitch to other inputs if USB is plugged in.
@Matthew_Philpot. Thanks I kind of have eye out for a Western Electric 396A 2C51. PM if you have any leads. Thanks
PS Audio Perfectwave MKII via USB to Roon ROCK.
Quick post. About 5 hours into my new Orchid with standard tube (Western Electric 396A 2C51 D Getter JW military en route). Very impressed so far. Was using an Oppo 105 as may DAC for my Roon prior. The complete sound stage seems to have changed. Almost like listening to a live performance if that makes sense. I by passed the Oppo DAC and connected it in the Orchid via CoAx and my CD’s never sounded better. I was initially concerned that my HiRes files might not sound as detailed. Nope all sound amazing. Definitely warmer and very natural. Will report back after burn in and again after new WE396 installed. Cheers.
Hi,
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I’m doing DSD upsampling at the core (a linux box with an i5 that incl. Plex, etc), and that seems to work well. Haven’t gotten as far as HQplayer yet.
I also have experience with the original USBridge – I liked it, but the way DietPi was fickle about dropping the DAC and needing a restart was very frustrating.
I think you are likely right about the 4495 DAC number – it’s what’s in the RA-1592, which is meant to be the same pre-amp stage as the RC-1590 (https://www.stereonet.com/news/rotels-monster-integrated-amplifier)
The real question I was fishing for was what I’d have to spend on a DAC to get a worthwhile up tick in sound quality – i.e. an off board DAC, feeding analogue into the pre-amp. I suspect the correct answer is that what I have is maybe not all bad, short of doubling the investment. Put it this way – I have a cupboard full of camera lenses; I use one of them all the time, the others occasionally – if I’d known at the outset that a 28mm was my thing, I’d have more cash and more cupboard space; there is an applicable stereo analogy in there some place, I think.
Cheers, and thanks again.
Hi Nostro,
Apologies for slow reply; interesting times at present. Thanks for the response – this is good perspective.
The specific point behind my “bits is bits” comment was that a USBridge sounded “better” than an RPi when delivering a signal over USB to my amp’s on board DAC. I would have thought all either of them did was pull data off the network and send a bunch of 1s and 0s up to the DAC; which on reflection, probably means I don’t understand everthing that’s actually happening between data packet and the DAC. A source of puzzlement, anyway.
+1 on vinyl; I’d listened to John Hiatt for years on digital, but there’s a lot I wasn’t hearing until a recent LP purchase. Anyway, off topic.
Cheers, thank you again for the education, and happy Roon tinkering.
T+A Dac8 DSD @ ~usd 4k
however, thinking of swapping it out for an Aqua la Scalla MK-II
…anyone having experience with these DACs have an opinion on making the change??
Why are you asking? Aren’t you happy with your T+A DAC?
extremely happy with the t+a… but, the R2R, NOS DAC with tube output stage is a Siren calling me to the rocks. honestly, would probably keep the t+a and add the la scala.
If it is a RPi3, then the ethernet and USB share the same bus and may be what you were hearing.
Hi…yes I do have the mkii Optologic. Yes its a great r2r dac, however it will only go as far as PCM 384 and DSD128. Thats fine for most but if you want more than that than the Formula might be of interest.
I do however use Hqplayer so not using pure La Scala. It does get great reviews though as one of the worlds top DACs, so well worth grabbing a demo
Its even in Darkos Premier league of DACs (1 of only 6) https://darko.audio/the-darko-dac-index/
Hi Scott - no problems at all - totally understood. Thank you for returning!
As it so happens, I have more time than usual. Luckily, it’s not due to having no work under the current circumstances; I happen to be on a break.
Work commences once again on Monday, so I’ll likely be scarce.
Good luck & happy listening. 
I use a RME ADI-2 DAC FS in my main listing room and the build-in DAC of my nuPro A-300 in the living room
Musical Fidelity M1 (2010)
I run Roon off an Innuos server and it connects direct into the Devialet using a 25m ethernet cable. It does make life simple.
For sure! That‘s how I envisage connecting the SonicOrbiter i5.