DENAFRIPS DACs

nc42acc · « **Reply #80 on:** 1 Oct 2018, 08:17 pm »

Joe I agree with your sonic assessment. Out of all the DACs I own the Terminator portrays an amazing sense of realism and spatial accuracy. IMO all the other DACs sound very similar.

Quote from: jbtrio on 1 Oct 2018, 07:05 pm

Hi Tony,
The Terminator is very dynamic with excellent prat. It is very open and clear with nice tonal balance with very good micro and macro detail and scales beautifully. I would say it errs and the warm and full side of neutral but just a little without being slow.

IMS, I like it better than my Directstream DAC. The DS is softer sounding and more laid back, but also very nice sounding and might be better in a forward and brighter system.

Joe

carusoracer · « **Reply #81 on:** 29 Oct 2018, 03:35 pm »

Has anyone heard the Pontus? Thoughts and or impressions?

vtvu · « **Reply #82 on:** 31 Oct 2018, 02:12 am »

Comment by coach59 on Audiogon Forum:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/denafrips-dac-owner-impressions-feedback-general-discussion-que/post?postid=1567792#1567792

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/absolute-top-tier-dac-for-standard-res-redbook-cd/post?postid=1553904#1553904

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/denafrips-dac-owner-impressions-feedback-general-discussion-que/post?postid=1572596#1572596

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/denafrips-dac-owner-impressions-feedback-general-discussion-que/post?highlight=pontus&postid=1619136#1619136
Perhaps you can write him and ask.

Also:
Review on Positive Feedback:
https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/denafrips-pontus-dac/

Good luck
Vinh Vu

brj · « **Reply #83 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 04:24 am »

Quote from: nc42acc

Here is the list of DACs that have been in my system rotation. BDA-2, T&A DAC8, Directstream, Gungnir MB, Holo Spring level 3, MP-D2 MK2. Just received my Yggdrasil last week from Schiit with the analog and USB update so I am excited to hear the changes.

That's an impressive list of DACs that you dethroned with your Terminator! I've read quite a bit about several of those (the T&A, DirectStream, and HS lvl3 in particular), though I haven't yet had the privilege of auditioning any them thus far. Do you have a system description somewhere to give us some context?

Thanks!

alvin1118 · « **Reply #84 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 04:47 am »

Quote from: nc42acc on 1 Oct 2018, 06:01 pm

That definitely doesn't sound like Alvin. Shoot him an email and he will respond. vinshineaudio@gmail.com

Sorry guys, just read this thread. I've not been monitoring forums, my bad!
It would be easier to reach me at vinshineaudio@gmail.com :

Markwatkiss · « **Reply #85 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 10:32 am »

I enjoyed a friendly and informative chat with Mike Powell of Vinshine audio.This guy knows his stuff and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a product on his recommendation.

Samoyed · « **Reply #86 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 02:43 pm »

Powell is not “of” Vinshine, but rather a retail seller.

KLH007 · « **Reply #87 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 02:49 pm »

I thought Mike was the factory authorized repair center in the US for Vinshine?

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #88 on:** 1 Nov 2018, 03:29 pm »

https://www.mikepowellaudio.com/learn/

carusoracer · « **Reply #89 on:** 30 Nov 2018, 10:41 am »

Denafrips Pontus: Very short post, further thoughts and review to follow.

Highly impressive, solid build quality, outstanding dynamics with all of the micro details and a huge soundstage with a more analogue sound.

I’m still in the honeymoon phase, two weeks in, and still gathering my thoughts. However, this piece has me back into Audio and fully engaged. I’m sitting down and actually listening to music 🎶 again instead of evaluating or criticizing.

nc42acc · « **Reply #90 on:** 30 Nov 2018, 12:46 pm »

System: PS Audio P15, SGC SonicTransporter i7, Microrendu & SOtM sms-200, Roon, Curious Cable regen link, ARC REF5SE, 2 - Nord 1200as as mono amps, Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversary MKII. JPS Aluminata interconnects, JPS SC3 biwire, JPS Kaptovator PC.

Quote from: brj on 1 Nov 2018, 04:24 am

That's an impressive list of DACs that you dethroned with your Terminator! I've read quite a bit about several of those (the T&A, DirectStream, and HS lvl3 in particular), though I haven't yet had the privilege of auditioning any them thus far. Do you have a system description somewhere to give us some context?

Thanks!

displayname · « **Reply #91 on:** 19 Aug 2019, 11:32 pm »

Quote from: carusoracer on 30 Nov 2018, 10:41 am

Denafrips Pontus: Very short post, further thoughts and review to follow.

Highly impressive, solid build quality, outstanding dynamics with all of the micro details and a huge soundstage with a more analogue sound.

I’m still in the honeymoon phase, two weeks in, and still gathering my thoughts. However, this piece has me back into Audio and fully engaged. I’m sitting down and actually listening to music 🎶 again instead of evaluating or criticizing.

Sorry to dig up an old thread. Saw this post and was wondering if you ever did a follow up after you had more time on the Pontus? I'd be interested to hear your long term thoughts.

lolligagger · « **Reply #92 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 10:06 am »

Hello,
Any response you get from carusoracer, who bought the Pontus in Nov. of 2018, will shortly be irrelevant. The Pontus and the Venus are about to receive new DSP boards. The Terminator and the Ares II already have them.

I have a Terminator and I got the new DSP board and inserted it (very easy to do) and it really makes a difference in my opinion.... in Srajan Ebaen's opinion as well. You can read about it in 6MOONS.

The only way a reply from carusoracer could be relevant to your interest would be if he had installed the new DSP board... but it has not been released yet for the Pontus.

displayname · « **Reply #93 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 10:33 am »

Quote from: lolligagger on 22 Aug 2019, 10:06 am

Hello,
Any response you get from carusoracer, who bought the Pontus in Nov. of 2018, will shortly be irrelevant. The Pontus and the Venus are about to receive new DSP boards. The Terminator and the Ares II already have them.

I have a Terminator and I got the new DSP board and inserted it (very easy to do) and it really makes a difference in my opinion.... in Srajan Ebaen's opinion as well. You can read about it in 6MOONS.

The only way a reply from carusoracer could be relevant to your interest would be if he had installed the new DSP board... but it has not been released yet for the Pontus.

Any ideas on a timeline for the new board? I know "soon" can be a big variable between companies. Being unfamiliar with Denafrips, I don't know if soon means a couple weeks, or just over a year.

wushuliu · « **Reply #94 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 03:58 pm »

Replaceable DSP. Very clever. I'm guessing by DSP they mean filters. Having worked on a diy Soekris R2R recently I was reminded as to the dramatic impact custom filters can make since it allows you to add any number of them yourself. Not like the typical basic Apodizing, Minimum, Linear option on most dacs. A good custom filter can radically change the presentation for the better. I wonder if that's one aspect that separated the performance between the Denafrips models to begin with...

lolligagger · « **Reply #95 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 07:40 pm »

Quote from: displayname on 22 Aug 2019, 10:33 am

Any ideas on a timeline for the new board? I know "soon" can be a big variable between companies. Being unfamiliar with Denafrips, I don't know if soon means a couple weeks, or just over a year.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you.
Alvin/Vinshine tells me that it should be available in a month.

brj · « **Reply #96 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 07:59 pm »

Quote from: wushuliu

Replaceable DSP. Very clever. I'm guessing by DSP they mean filters.

Not just the filters, but the input processing as well. USB input receiver architecture went from Amanero to a custom ARM based implementation. (Beware the typo in many of the links... they say 'AMR' in some places when they mean 'ARM'.)

https://www.vinshineaudio.com/product-page/dsp-board-terminator-dac

https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/2019/05/31/DSD1024-PCM1536---Are-you-ready

The new board was a very nice upgrade in the Terminator, so I'd expect it to offer similar improvements in the other DACs. I've actually stopped upsampling to DSD with HQPlayer for the moment. (I'm not saying I won't go back to it at some point, but probably not until I first get my last couple of room treatments and some cable updates sorted.)

As impressed as I am with the DAC, they do need to update the manual regarding filter selection, and to be more thorough in general. I contacted Alvin a while back via their web-form asking whether hitting 'mute' first was required, and what LEDs would be lit to indicate which filter (fast or slow), but I didn't hear back and I didn't have time to try again.

PeteG · « **Reply #97 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 08:18 pm »

You do press the "mute" button then "mode" button to select.

1x 8x led on = slow filter
1x off 8x led on = sharp filter

displayname · « **Reply #98 on:** 22 Aug 2019, 09:16 pm »

Quote from: lolligagger on 22 Aug 2019, 07:40 pm

Sorry it took so long to get back to you.
Alvin/Vinshine tells me that it should be available in a month.

Oh wow, very soon! I’ll be curious to hear others thoughts as these roll out. This line of DACs was already on my radar, and they will be even more so I they are getting upgrades. Hopefully I can get my ears on one at some point.

brj · « **Reply #99 on:** 23 Aug 2019, 01:27 am »

Quote from: PeteG

You do press the "mute" button then "mode" button to select.

Thanks, Pete. (Yeah, that post in the head-fi thread showed up after I'd originally emailed Alvin.) Have you compared the USB vs. the I2S (via your SU-6) since the DSP board update? Thanks!