Was looking for some feedback on the Hilo and maybe something else that competes with it.
I have a Topping A90 and a THX 789 Amp.
Headphones I own are listed on my profile.
Looks like it crushes anything I have been told to look at…
Rme Adi 2
Ares 2
Soekris 1541/2541
Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.
So I would agree it’s on another level to the adi 2 and ares ii, but I would say it trades some blows with the 1541 imo (with it’s dac performance). Generally stage wise, the 1541 ends up having sharper and more accurate placement, tends to have a more convincing stage, timbre wise the hilo feels a bit more organic in that sense, impact and tonal density wise the hilo also is a bit more impactful and rich sounding, speed wise the soekris feels snappier and more light on it’s feet, and dynamically feels like it has a bit more range than the hilo can offer. Separation wise, the soekris feels more capable here and can also offer a bit more texture. Detail, I’d say they are roughly on par with eachother. Signature wise the hilo feels more studio neutral whereas the soekris feels more neutral-analytical, both are still pretty engaging. For amp pairing, the hilo tends to have a bit more forgiving nature, as the soekris tend to be somewhat picky with what they sound good with, so imo it would more come down to potential amp pairings and the feature set (since the hilo has way more features than the soekris can offer you, although the soekris has more sonic flexibility as you can make or use your own filters which the hilo cannot do). I’d say the hilo would pair better with the amps you have given that the soekris + thx can get way too lean and dry, for the topping I think either would be a decent pairing