I bought this DAC for $300 including shipping to me before tariffs, and I wish I had bought five! There are different versions with only two PCM1794, older AKM chip, with LED meters, etc, so one has to dig through the details.
PCM1794 is a great-sounding chip, and this DAC uses FOUR of them, and in stock form, it sounds super smooth, rich, with nice bass foundation, essentially a favorite among those who abhor ESS Sabre DAC sound and want a more "analogue" sounding DAC. One would be very happy to have this stock sound at this price and stop right here, but it is possible to turn it into a super-sounding DAC!
Step one. Just ignore the fact there is a tube in here. The 6N3P tube is just a buffer, tacked on at the end of all the internal components, also requiring the tube-buffered signal to go through the additional large Evox capacitors. Sure, if your system sounds impossibly sterile, dry, etc, the tube harmonics may help, but sound loses resolution and neutrality. This DAC already sounds smooth and analogue before the tube buffer, so just take the tube out and abolish the temptation to spend $$ to "upgrade" those large output capacitors to boutique parts.
Step two. Because you will need the $$ you saved to buy what makes the largest difference, Sparkos SS2590 Pro discrete opamps. I have tried virtually every opamp, discrete and even paralleled, and the Sparkos SS2590 Pro just supercharges this DAC to another level. The bad news is that SS2590 is expensive and is a single opamp, so one will need four of them, two on adapters, to replace each of two stock OP2604AP dual opamps in the balanced XLR output stage. Good news is, the third OP2604AP opamp used to convert balanced to RCA signal can simply be taken out of the socket because you will want to use the excellent XLR outputs.
I have the tank-like Gustard X26 Pro DAC and Chord Qutest currently, and there is no option to change the output stage. The Gustard has impressive build quality with all-discrete output stages already, but one cannot change the output sound. For the XiangSheng, the SS2590 IS the output stage, and component quality here has a huge effect on sound character, a tweaker's dream! One will need to use multiple opamp risers or extender to fit the SS2590 on the board.
Step three. Great supporting cables such as "Dragon" XLR cables and Xangsane all-silver USB cable will just push the goodness higher. With these steps, the resulting sound is breathtaking. Some DAC's favor one range over others, such as powerful bass but less so in treble or midrange, or vice versa. This DAC, with SS2590, features powerful and equal energy behind treble, midrange, and bass, so the sound is extremely detailed from top to bottom yet also superbly balanced and musical. It feels like one can hear truly deep into the recording mix without getting ear fatigue from misbehaving peaks. Micro and macro dynamics along with bass rhythm and punch are exemplary. Most of all, the all-important male and female vocals are to die for, analogue, vibrant, colorful without coloration.
SOTA digital these days tout the latest ESS, AKM chips, exclusive FPGA programming, or expensive R-2R resistor arrays, most costing $$$, but the old stalwart like Burr-Brown PCM1794 in quad-mono mode pushing signal through powerful output stage like Sparkos SS2590 Pro can and will embarrass some of them
