Do it all units for headphones (plenty of power, even for most hard-to-drives) and powered speakers, with a portrait touch screen :-) R9 has HDMI ARC for TV too.
Plenty of positive reviews around - including being able to side load any apps like Apple Music from the Google Play store. Main point of contention seems to be lack of more recent firmware updates since release (eg newer Android OS - but not really essential?). Maybe these are now EOL and a revised model/s is incoming? I haven't searched for news/rumours.
Historically above $1k and $2k respectively. I think you could've achieved about the same price on the R7 via Ali-X coupons and upsized cashbacks at one point, but defo not for local stock and warranty.
Sure, there're lots of alternatives - just use your PC (not always enough power), phone + DAC, use a tablet etc etc - but pretty convenient, less desk space, and I prefer to have it stand alone to not pick up my phone (distraction) or use my PC. Horses…..courses….
Usual considerations about all in ones vs separates (parts failure; upgrading separate bits, future software updates/support etc etc)
I settled on a used Eversolo DMP A6 and used Schitt Magni as suited my desk space better (and was cheaper at the time - but not now!)
That's a very very expensive headphone driver. Can anyone explain what the point of this is? I'd like to understand.