Beginning of this year I decided it was time to get myself a decent streaming DAC. After reading a plethora of reviews and considering the budget I decided to go with the Bluesound Node 2i... unfortunately the sound quality of the internal dac was a major disappointment and I returned the unit for a refund. Next I set my sights on a Cambridge Audio CXN V2, but with all the recently DAC chatter on forum about the various technologies (DS vs ladder) and makes (RME, SMSL, Bel Canto, LaVoce, Audio DG... etc, etc), I've decided I would really like to buy a dedicated DAC in the R20K price bracket. I'll continue to use my PI4 + Volumio for streaming duties, until I can afford something like a Lindemann Limetree to feed the DAC.
So, now I've got my eye on a RME ADI-2 DAC FS (+-$1149), and would really like to know from those that have been there and done that, are there any preferred/more reputable online stores that I should consider buying this type of gear from, and what are the potential gotchas I should be looking out for? I've bought items of much lesser value from overseas in the past, but the thought of laying out R20k+ for an online purchase is giving me the jitters (no dac pun intended). Any wisdom/advise would be greatly appreciated!
So, now I've got my eye on a RME ADI-2 DAC FS (+-$1149), and would really like to know from those that have been there and done that, are there any preferred/more reputable online stores that I should consider buying this type of gear from, and what are the potential gotchas I should be looking out for? I've bought items of much lesser value from overseas in the past, but the thought of laying out R20k+ for an online purchase is giving me the jitters (no dac pun intended). Any wisdom/advise would be greatly appreciated!
