Is the Venus II DAC a middle child? Nope. Not quite.
The Venus II is very close to the Terminator (2020) reviewed by NRD.
Venus II comes close due to the following upgrades:
TCXO - Temperature-Compensated Crystal Oscillator. This is the prime performance improvement that brings the Venus II sonic performance close to the Terminator DAC
MU Metal Shielding between the PSU and Main DAC board, like the one found in the Terminator/II/Plus DAC. A metal sheet is added in between the DAC board and PSU to further reduce the EMI/EMF.
EVOX MMK caps (White)
Germany Film Caps WIMA
Upgraded DSP board to support PCM768, DSD512 over USB/I2S
My recommendation goes to the Venus II DAC for mid/high end systems. Having said that, it also depends on the resolution of your system, and how attentive you listen to the music. Here's a short video of the Venus II DAC. Do subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the notification buttons for more videos update. Happy reading watching!
Team Vinshine Audio