“I've bought two DAC2 HD HATS from PiHut. One is used in a RPi 4 headphone setup, feeding an Aune headphone amp and Sennheiser HD650 headphones. The other is in a RPi 3 desktop setup feeding B&W MM-1 active computer speakers. The HiFiBerry DACs replaced a CA DACMagic 100 and a Micromega MyDAC providing very compact solutions. Sound quality is at least on a par if not better. I've been very satisfied but maybe the boards are slightly over priced hence the 4 stars.”
“Great... it’s like hearing songs for the first time again. Well built, clearly well designed and great for anyone wanting their music to feel new and fresh”
“Astonishingly good DAC board for the Pi. I rate the sound quality at least as good as my £1500 Cyrus streamer and far better than the best selling commercially available mid price DAC/streamers currently on the market and it can be upgraded by adding the optional DSP board. Highly recommended!”
“Let's make one thing straight. Whilst it is NOT audiophile's grade DAC, it gets close!
I'd rather rate 4.5 if could. Only reason for 0.5 deduction is the price/sound ratio)
Compared to nearest "half the price" rivals like DAC2 PRo or ALLO Master, it is definitely better - but not the double the cost better.
On the flip side, it will safely match and/or beat most of its rivals in the USB stand-alone £200-£300 category. No doubts.
Sound stage is nicely presented, clean, well defined and wide. About only thing missing is a bit of air.
Sounds a bit little like surgical tool concentrating on detail definition, trading off the "organic blend".
I'd put it down to selection of output stage components (OPamp and caps).
But you're getting clean low noise and low distortion signal to balance it out.
Is it worth the extra buck? I'll let you decide.
Would I recommend it? That's all 10 in YES!”
