The RNHP can sound thin and does not pair with all DACs (as you mentioned) very well. I do say… Don’t return it until you pair it with the Bifrost 2. That chain is magical.
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I’d say it would be much more than just a reasonable replacement haha
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I’m very tempted to do that. On a few tracks the Helios has a bit too much treble. I think the Bifrost could help that
I liked the RNHP, but I parted ways with it when I decided to upgrade. I do love Violectric (congrats on the HPA V280 btw) and I see it as a significant change over the RNHP. I don 't have the BF2 so I haven’t tried it the RNHP, but it is consistently recommended combo. But if you have the on the v280 on the way, I can understand taking advantage of the return window.
I will say I’m enjoying my Violectric and the Modius (which I’m using as a band-aid DAC for now).
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I just did a quick search, but couldn’t find anything. Have you done any write-ups on your V281?
I would really like to hear more about your experiences and thoughts about your Violectric.
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You are correct in that I didn’t do a write up.
I never considered doing a write up, but I’ll think about it. In the mean time I’ll encourage everyone else to speak their mind.
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You and I are the only two I know that have them. There will be a rush of reviews when the Drop units start landing.
In the meantime my interest was piqued when I read your post about ownership.
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I want to join the Violectric Gang! 
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Come on over! It really is pretty impressive. I am very curious to hear about the new V280’s when they land.
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Many thanks for the detailed reports about the products!
I have had a Lake People G109 for a long time and due to the quarantine I use it daily now.
Originally I wanted to save for the Lake People DAC RS 06 but you made me very curious about the Soekris. I’m a little bit unsure about buying a Soekris, because I would like to keep the slightly dark character of the amps.
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Hi Hazi59, great write up. I was especially interested because I just got a Lake People G109 impend am really enjoying it with a pair of Sundaras and hooked up to an ifi zen dac.
After reading your initial post I looked for the Soekris 1321 and it looks great but a little out of reach budget wise. The Lake People DAC RS 06 is even more expensive.
I’ve been advised to try pairing my G109 with a Topping E30 for a less warm sound than the zen dac will probably be giving it.
Anyway, do you have any thought on synergy with the G109 or Lake People in general with cheaper amps. I’m quite happy with my ifi zen but I can still return it and switch it with something else, paying a little more or a little less than the 149 euros it cost.
Anyway, any recommendations from your experience will be greatly appreciated.
I’ve also come across this dac, I don’t know if anyone has any experience with it: Swissonic HAD-1
Swissonic is a house brand of Thomann.de
If they are anything like “Fun Generation” (another in house brand), they are okay-ish enough to get you by, but are a 6/10 in every aspect.
Mind you I have 0 hands on experience with Swissonic branded stuff.
If you can find a used Massdrop Airist R2R DAC, that would be a great pairing as it shares some design qualities from the Soekris dac1321. The topping e30 and schiit modius both are solid choices as well.
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ok, thanks, good to know. okay-ish kind of sucks
im in Europe so schiit is out of the question because always out of stock. Topping e30 pairs better or worse than the Aorist R2R DAC?
Also I saw the Topping D50s Dac 2 on amazon for 250 euros but from the specs I don’t see the substantial difference with the half price and newer e30.
Als oyou would take the Aorist and Topping e30 over the zen dac?
I personally prefer R2R or Multibit dacs as they sound more natural to me, so the Airist would be my choice. The topping e30 is a good dac for its price, but the airist would be an upgrade over it, IMO. If you really wanted to stretch your budget, the Denafrips Ares II would be a pretty big jump up in sound quality.
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great, thanks. I looked for the Airist on Drop and its out of stock. Do you remember the price? I asked them to notify me.
The Denafrips looks good but for the future I guess because of the price stretch. thanks for the advice
So I guess in general the thing is to look for R2R or Multibit as the main category.
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The drop is over, so you would have to find a used Airist R2R. You can typically find them on the used market for $200 - $300. I suggest using www.hifishark.com for all of your used search needs. That is the best site I have found personally when looking for used audio equipment.
Not necessarily as not all are created equal. For example, the Audio Gd R2R is horrendous, as well as most of Audio Gd’s lower priced options…just really poorly implemented designs with lots of distortion.
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