T+A DAC 200 or WEISS 501

@ljgm Have you played with the DAC 200’s filters to see which one you like the best? This is one of my favorite feature of the unit and enables you to have what sounds like six different DACs in one, and this is a feature set in the DAC 200 that is not discussed enough. For me, the BEZ2 filter performs the best in terms of natural delivery and resolution. Many people find themselves using BEZ1 or one of the NOS filters, but I have tested across both a very high end reference stereo setup and with high end headphone setup that BEZ2 performs best (personal opinion, of course). 

I also appreciate the WIDE bandwidth setting that enables it to go up to 200KHz. The extra headroom improves the ambient performance for detail retrieval and larger sound stage. 

@blisshifi no, I haven't even tried the DAC200 filters at all.  I've only been using HQ Player.  Of course, HQPlayer has many many more filter choices and there as well, you get the same effect of seemingly listening to entirely different DAC based on your configuration.  So I've really only used the wide bandwidth NOS setting and have been upsampling in HQP.  I've actually settled on a DSD configuration that sounds phenomenal. I'm also using the preamp volume control of the DAC200.  My Vitus SS-020 integrated amp has a preamp bypass so that it can be used as a straight amp, and I've found the DAC200's volume control (which can also be optionally bypassed) sounds better than the one in my Vitus.

@ljgm Thanks for sharing your configuration. I especially appreciate your comment on the quality of the preamp stage in the DAC 200. I have commented similarly, stating that I find it to be as good as dedicated preamps in the $3-5K range. It is definitely a differentiator for the unit, as most DACs even double its price do not have as impressive of an analog output stage or volume control. In many cases, I can recommend someone to use a DAC 200 straight into their amp, whereas I rarely advocate going from DAC straight to amp for most other competitors. 

Yeah this DAC is in a "second" (or less extravagant) system that resides in my office. My reference for line stages is a silver Emia AVC. And while the Emia does sound better, it’s overkill in this system and I use it in my big system. The DAC 200 with it’s preamp stage sounds fantastic in this setup. And it saves the extra pair of interconnects that would be otherwise necessary for an outboard preamp as well! Win win.

I’ve got the Weiss and the T+A predecessor to the DAC200, the DAC 8 DSD, side by side in my system. I don’t know how much changed between the two T+A DACs, and while they have very similar feature sets, you would have to think T+A changed or improved some things in the 6 or so years between the two DACs. But FWIW, on plain PCM files the Weiss is a little smoother, slightly warmer, and has better depth of soundstage. The T+A on some files sounds a little sharper (in the way of detail or brightness) but in a good way depending on what you’re in the mood for. On pure DSD files (which the Weiss converts to PCM but of course the T+A has the 1-bit DSD converter in it like the DAC200) the T+A can sound very similar to the Weiss and in some cases/files sounds better than the Weiss in terms of spaciousness and detail. For PCM upsampling right now I can only go up to DSD128 based on my current configuration. I find real DSD files sound excellent through the T+A but upsampling PCM files to double rate DSD doesn’t sound any better than the Weiss. I’ll have to work my way up to DSD512 to see if that improves things in a meaningful way, which most users seem to attest to.  Overall, and for me this is the biggest difference, with PCM files the Weiss sounds more natural and realistic than the DAC 8.  DSD files the DAC 8 takes a step up.