[Alexzander]

Hello lucky owners of the RS8. I've read a few reviews but unfortunately none that focused on the DAC itself using the LO. I'm curious to know how this R2R DAC compares to other DACs, either desktop, mobile or from other DAPs. When we read comments using the PO we can't really know what is the specific performance of the DAC itself versus competing devices using AKM, ESS, ROHM chipsets...

Anyone has done an A/B comparison using only the RS8 LO to an external amp? If so which "DAC" did you compare it to?

Thanks a lot.

I’ve compared RS8 LO to N8ii and SP3K.

RS8 has the strongest sub-bass but somewhat smoothed treble peaks.
Both SP3K and RS8 have the blackest background and defined notes edges.
RS8 notes have the biggest weight, N8ii - the smallest.
So Cayin sounds the most delicate but also the most life-like one due to it’s tuning.

 

[Loftprojection]

I’ve compared RS8 LO to N8ii and SP3K.

RS8 has the strongest sub-bass but somewhat smoothed treble peaks.
Both SP3K and RS8 have the blackest background and defined notes edges.
RS8 notes have the biggest weight, N8ii - the smallest.
So Cayin sounds the most delicate but also the most life-like one due to it’s tuning.

wow, impressive list of TOTL devices! May I ask which amp you were using? Same amp with each I suppose?

 

[Alexzander]

wow, impressive list of TOTL devices! May I ask which amp you were using? Same amp with each I suppose?

Thanks mate
Yep, always the same Luxman L-505uX MKII into Bowers & Wilkins 705 Signature speakers.

 

[esaulten]

wow, impressive list of TOTL devices! May I ask which amp you were using? Same amp with each I suppose?

Did you burn in the RS8, I have just 60 or so hours, don’t have a amp use it with my IEM’s.

 

[audionewbi]

If anyone sick of their RS8 and want to trade with N8ii or P6 Pro, please let me know.

 

[rsbrsvp]

I have a question about DSD on the R8. I have the Sony wm1z m2 and it not only plays dsd, but it can convert all pcm to dsd. I love the result as it is a much thicker physical sound.

Does the R8 do that?

 

[gLer]

I have a question about DSD on the R8. I have the Sony wm1z m2 and it not only plays dsd, but it can convert all pcm to dsd. I love the result as it is a much thicker physical sound.

Does the R8 do that?

No

 

[rsbrsvp]

No

Got it. That may be a breaker for me- because I love the dsd round weighty sound; and even the Sony which has a reputation for sonic density does not reach the level of density I like until that dsd conversion option is activated in the wm1zm2.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

Got it. That may be a breaker for me- because I love the dsd round weighty sound; and even the Sony which has a reputation for sonic density does not reach the level of density I like until that dsd conversion option is activated in the wm1zm2.

neutron player has all to dsd 256, should be possible on the 665

 

[FooFighter]

Hmm
Don’t have RS8 (yet) but I remember an extensive discussion about maxing out RS8 using external upsampling with HQPlayer which supports also DSD conversion.
That’ll be some RS8 desktop setup though

 

[rsbrsvp]

neutron player has all to dsd 256, should be possible on the 665

Prefer DSD 1024 and I doubt that program will work for streaming music.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

Prefer DSD 1024 and I doubt that program will work for streaming music.

It has DLNA, but i don't care much for streaming, only local so i'm not very knowledgeable

 

[Newsee]

I have a question about DSD on the R8. I have the Sony wm1z m2 and it not only plays dsd, but it can convert all pcm to dsd. I love the result as it is a much thicker physical sound.

Does the R8 do that?

I suppose you ask about RS8, not R8.
The RS8 has a thick physical sound, resulting from the R2R architecture, which is inherently multibit. It does not need to convert to dsd1024 to reach the thickness.
It does probably do upscaling, if not set to NOS in the Darwin audio setting menu, but definitely not to DSD.

I still have not seen any detailed explanation from Hiby how the DSD decoding is done. I suppose DSD is converted first to PCM, how else?

So the answer is yes, the RS8 had thick sound, and no, it does not convert to DSD, because it does not make sense on R2R system. (Anyone, correct me if I am wrong)

 

[gLer]

Prefer DSD 1024 and I doubt that program will work for streaming music.

Even if RS8 could upsample to DSD it wouldn't sound anything like the 1ZM2. Very different players with different technology. RS8 is much faster and more powerful, with system-wide EQ and a smooth R2R sound, while the Sony has its own strengths. I'd say the two are more complementary than competitive, and that the best pairing ultimately depends as much on the IEM as it does the player.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

Really curious to know if the RS8 would be better paired with high frequency PCM vs DSD 256. Since i have a sizeable section of DSD music, i'm thinking if i should resample it to PCM