I have two digital sources. One is the HifiRose RS150b all-in-one streamer/dac (and preamp if you choose). The other is an Auralic Aries G1.1 streamer feeding a Geshelli Labs Dayzee Dac. The Rose is an excellent machine. It sounds really nice. However, when I run its digital output via SPdif into the Dayzee the sound improves slightly, but you may not notice it at first. It’s simply a bit clearer through the Dayzee, with equally good tonality. This improves a little more with the Auralic/Dayzee combination via USB from the Auralic. We are not talking about night and day differences, rather small but significant improvements, at least to my 71 year old ears. Honestly, I could live with the Rose alone, the Rose/Dayzee, or the Auralic/Dayzee combination. They are all quite good. The Geshelli Labs Dayzee dac is really special and I plan to keep it a good long while. I added the Sparkos opamps to mine which probably took it up a notch from the stock model in the clarity department. If it’s not obvious, I’m really enjoying digital these days. I have to go back to my early years in high end audio when I had a Music Reference RM-4 head amp feeding the phono section of my preamp, so I could run a Talisman moving coil cartridge mounted on an Sumiko MMT tonearm, the latter mounted on a Thorens TD 160 Super turntable, to achieve something close to how digital sounds now. I still have a modest Mofi Studiodeck turntable and MM cartridge and a Schiit Mani II phono preamp, all of which sounds pretty good, but my streamer/dac sources sound better. Your mileage may vary. Just remember to enjoy the music!
