That wasn’t me, I think that might have been @ValentineLuke or @Riya from another thread perhaps?
From my experience I have tried a few devices like that, and while they did make the rnhp sound a bit cleaner it also took away some of the dynamics and added a bit more coloration that I didn’t prefer, so there are positives and negatives. Personally I wouldn’t mess with it unless you have noisy power, but it is something to try and see how it reacts for you
So in the same price range, I kinda like the bifrost 2 a bit more with the rnhp mainly because I think it adds some nice impact and helps out the rnhp in the bass a bit, while also keeping the more neutral and original voicing of the rnhp. Also adds a bit more width and space which is helpful. I think the ares ii is a pretty good dac and does sound nice with the rnhp but I think it colors it a bit more than the bifrost 2, and also makes it a bit more narrow than I like than compared with the bf2, although the ares ii is more detail forward and faster than the bifrost 2 by a bit
I use a Palmer Purifier with the RNHP power supply. I think it helps focus the imaging a bit, but it’s nothing drastic. I use one with the Airist r2r as well with similar results, but again it’s nothing drastic.
The ares ii vs bf2? I think the bf2 is a more natural dac because I think it has a more even response with a more natural to life presentation. The ares ii is a bit more colored and a bit more purposely forward which is very fun and enjoyable, but also not as natural I would say, like emphasized warmness somewhat. Also it depends with the amp you use for what the final result will be. With the rnhp I think the bifrost 2 comes across as more natural sounding, but with the lake people I think the ares ii comes across as more natural than the bf2
It really depends on the dac tbh, the type of dac used alone is only one piece of the puzzle for a good dac
There is for sure on a technical and engineering level, but I won’t cover that and leave that to someone else to explain if they want lol, I will just say that personally I would take things on a case by case basis in practice as it really depends from dac to dac. If I had to generalize what’s special about r2r would most likely be the speed, spatial recreation, and presentation.
This is a little off topic, but since we’ve been talking about natural, analogue, organic sound reproduction and praising the RNHP for infusing the sound with that; there is a way to elevate that type of sound further.
I’m betting most of you use Spotify, some use Tidal and some of you play from FLAC-capable bit-perfect music players such as Foobar2000.
To me, they all more or less sound digital and processed. I’m not sure there’s a way around it, they are all digital sources after all.
Except there is actually one music player that manages to sound analogue like vinyl and tubes. You may or may not have heard of it… it’s in the same vein as Roon and Audirvana.
It’s called Amarra Luxe (has Tidal integration). It mellows everything out just like tubes do, yes it lessens bass impact slightly as well, and notes flow into each other fluidly like they do on vinyl.
Since it’s digital and software based it doesn’t suffer from the usual drawbacks of vinyl and tubes such as high noise floor, limited dynamic range, limited power, limited frequency spectrum, wear and distortion etc.
Listening to other digital sources feels like listening to lies and vague approximations now, relatively speaking…
Unfortunately, digital will always sound digital-like and gear will help alleviate that. If you are sensitive to that, analytical and detail-forward electronics may make it worse for you.
With that being said, I would find it awkward to use another digital thing to fix a digital issue. If you want things to smooth out a bit more, I would recommend adding tubes to your chain or something with better timbre for your liking. I found that as I slowly upgrade my gear, the timbre and naturalness gets better and better.
I found the digital sounds I didn’t like mostly started going away the minute I got a ladder DAC. Specifically, my Airist R-2R reproduces some music to sound EXACTLY like songs I remembered on vinyl.
You might find that your want to use dsp for digital playback decreases with a higher end setup imo, but I can’t say for sure. The higher you go the realism factor increases I would say, and the complaints of stuff sounding “digital” goes away as well. It’s also very dependant on your source material, higher quality recording/mastering and higher quality files/formats will really yield great results
In the $200-$1500 range (ish) these two are always what it ends up with. But I think they both (have only heard the Ares ii) are nailing the statement, that the right Dac can make a big positive difference.
