[wushuliu]

It's been about a month since the SI384 DDC and the accompanying -100hz clock arrived.  With the dacs I have on hand, I actually prefer the UAC1 DDC.  The SI384 exhibits a more studio quality sound.  With each dac I tried, there's more space/air/detail and such.  But, the UAC1 sounds more musical to me.  Then, I found a Pontus mk1 on audiomart and the seller is very local to me.  So, wtheck might as well try it out.  I did previously own a Pontus mk2 but didn't like it but that when I had the Singxer SU6 and didn't appreciate the lack of longer term listenability. 

First, I plugged in the Pontus to the UAC1 via RCA/SPDIF.  It didn't sound annoying compared to the previous Pontus but it sounded kind of boring.  The Pontus 2 had a huge sound to it but its fake N/OS sound was hurting my ears after 10 minutes.  With this, it has long term listenability but lacks the charm of my other dacs when connected to the UAC1.  So, the UAC1 has an i2s output.  I thought what's the chance that they are actually compatible.  Well, they are compatible.

With i2s, the sound changed slightly.  Cleaner in a good way.  Slightly raised soundstage and less background noise.  But, only marginal improvement.  Then, I plugged the Pontus into the SI384.  The SI384 actually made a bigger improvement on the Pontus than the UAC1 did.  And, weirdly, it didn't improvement the sound by making it more audiophile sounding.  It's actually very listenable and even a bit charming.

Overall, I think SI384 is a bargain in terms of matching it up with your pre-existing Denafrips.  But, in terms of dac/ddc, I think I still prefer the UAC1/TDA1543 dac.  The sound has more character.  And, it's so small and diminutive on the hifi stand.  But, this is with the HDPLEX300 powering the pair.  If using lesser PSU, the SI384/Pontus probably sounds better if memory of my listening experience sans HDPLEX300 is correct.

Thanks for the update!