Denafrips Owners & Discussion Thread

[alvin1118]

can i use the Pontus as DAC as  well as pre amp, i,e does it has VAR volume control ?

the Vanshine Dac has a good Fix / VAR volume control built in feature.

 

No bro, DENAFRIPS DACs are pure DAC, no vol control..

[zacho_]

First of all, I think we all owe Alvin a big thank you for organizing and facilitating a home audition tour of the Denafrips Ares and now the Pontus. It's a great way for relative newbies like myself to learn more about different product offerings in the comfort of one's own listening space, and I hope it encourages our community to be more willing to learn and share from one another.

 

I was the first tester on the tour for this particular Denafrips Ares and having followed other forum threads, knew that I shouldn't be too quick to judge the Ares as it's meant to benefit greatly from burning in. True to form, it really left a lot to be desired out of the box. However, after just a couple of hours of constant playback, things were already starting to look up. Vocals gained more body, staging improved, and spatial cues started gaining more focus. I decided to leave it running 24/7 (5) with music playing for the duration I had it with me before doing any further critical listening. Well, after putting in about 120 hours of playback, I sat down with a cup of coffee in hand and started paying attention to what I was actually hearing. Images were now more fleshed out with a solid degree of air and separation without affecting the tonality. Detail retrieval was superior to my Eastern Electric MiniMax Plus DAC and presentation of music was more relaxed in comparison. Digital glare was reduced to barely a smidgen and my ears were thankful for that! When comparing the Ares to my EE Minimax Plus, I immediately associated the Ares to Vanilla and the EE to Chocolate. Ares had a more refined tonal palette while the EE was heavier and more syrupy in comparison.

 

Coming in at S$898, I'd say it's a no-brainer to put this DAC at the top of your shopping list if you're in the market for a DAC under $1k. Reading around other forums, you'd hear of other users comparing it to DACs 2-4 times it's price and that in itself is very high praise for the mini Ares - mini in size but definitely not in sound.

 

I hope this short 'review' gives others a rough idea of the Ares' capabilities. While I only had ~120hrs with it, I must say that I'm impressed and I'm sure it'll sound even better as more hours of music playback gets put through this mini monster.

 

My Setup:

 

Desktop PC w/ ASUS Xonar Essence STX as source, Eastern Electric MiniMax Plus DAC w/ Sparkos discrete opamps, Densen DM10 Mk2, Guru Jr speakers. All cabling was Triode Wire Labs.

 

p.s. I only tested the SPDIF coaxial input as I don't have a usb cable.

[tomok]

Heard the ares and Pontus in 3 setup.

Anthem driving dynaudio

Kt88 driving horn

Lm125iA driving monitor audio gold 200

 

The ares is magical in a horn system with big 12" bass driver.

There are reviews in the internet that the Pontus is more powerful but the ares is perfect in such a setup and I find no lacking in the bass or any department. The setup is in a room and the with the Pontus the bass is a tad too much affecting the high. But we still hopeful as its Pontus early days, not fully run in yet.

 

When put  in a less sensitive system, the high and mid sound lively and open for the ares but the Pontus is a much better option overall. The pontus is also quieter compared to ares, and it presents a much more powerful sound. Out of the box,the Pontus is disappointing with the bass muddying up, the instrument all meshed up together and the sound closed up. I almost give out.

 

After letting MioTV burning it in for a couple of days. The sound starts to open up and keep improving.

 

If you like the mid; GAO GAO(thick and weighty), go for Pontus. The Pontus gives you the right piano sound with the weight and string instrument sound right to me but I find cables matter and I have been tweaking with the interconnect and coaxial cables. If your setup didn't cause you to struggle with bass issue at the lower register. You will not regret with Pontus. My friend keep asking me whether  I hook up the rthymik dual 15" sub seating by the side. Else, try ares. The Pontus is also more airy as it starts to open up and the high is smooth.

Again I play with cables matching and I don't like my sound to be too smooth losing the bite.

 

In summary, they are both good dac at their respective price point and very analogue sounding. System matching and tuning are important and the fun in this hobby. Don't write off the dac immediately if it didn't sound good in your system on your first audition. Maybe you just need to tweak and match. If you are looking for a dac, both offer good options for your consideration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[alvin1118]

Hope you guys enjoy and had fun.

 

Some angmo also like DENAFRIPS la

 

I have about 125 hours on my Terminator. I am using it for a speaker system that consists one Proac D48R speakers, McIntosh C52 preamp and a McIntosh MC 452 power amp. Not sure how many hours they put on at the production end. Possibly 100. Anyway, it is without a doubt the best DAC I have had in my system. Since I started trying separate DACs about 10 years ago, I have probably owned about that many. Most in the $500.00 to $3000.00 range and one was 8 grand new (McIntosh MDA 1000) which I had the last couple of years. It sounded really good even though it was 2004 technology. They all sounded a little different from each other but not so much anything was just outright better, just different. Granted, I have had different configurations for my system over the years as well so who knows if at any point in time I had everything optimized as far as speaker placement, components, cable choices etc...But again, the Terminator is just a game changer. System sounds relaxed and smooth yet exciting at the same time. Even not so good recordings sound pretty good, surprisingly good actually. And the great recordings, forget about it, awesome!!! Alvin told me break in should be about 300 hours, so I will let it run some more and maybe give another update.

 

Source here: https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/denafrips-terminator-the-king-of-r2r-dac.851085/page-2#post-13596488

[twlmad]

Hi Alvin, can sign me up for pontus and ares tour as well pls? Thanks!

[alvin1118]

Hi Alvin, can sign me up for pontus and ares tour as well pls? Thanks!

 

hi bro, added you in the queue. I've also updated the location of the Ares(s)

[GyaLabs]

hi alvin, pls put me up for the pontus demo queue as well. Thanks!

[alvin1118]

okay added bro. Ares playing well ?

[Escutcheon]

Just finished demo of the Ares. The short of it, I really like what I heard from this small little DAC. And it is heavy for something this small.

 

It was a dropped in place of my existing DAC. Nothing else was changed, including power cable and interconnects. The first song out of the Ares put a smile on my face. Now I know what it means when people say there is air around the instruments. That's what I got here. And the instruments within a song just came out naturally, like their tuning was just that little bit tighter with my own DAC.

 

Next thought that came to me, "Wow, my speakers are really really GOOD."

 

One track the stood out was Dead Already from American Beauty soundtrack. Where's the bass coming from?! Put the goosebumps on me, this one.

 

Alvin also very generously provided the Soundtech MC5 USB filter to try out. I only plug it in for like 5 songs. Not long enough to make a decent comparison. I had decided to make as much use of the time I had with the Ares to listen to its own characteristics on my varied but limited collection.

 

Two small issues turned up for me. First, there is a hiss from the DAC to the speakers upon startup. Hiss will disappear once a song start playing and stays quiet from then on. Second, there is a pop when switching out from DSD to PCM. Both are very minor, not deal killers in any way.

 

Apologies that I can't write an audio review.

 

My humble setup:

Roon core running on my Synology DS1515+ NAS, with songs in MP3, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, DSD64, piping to SOtM sMS-200 powered by mBPS-d2s, feeding the Ares via a Oyaide Continental 5s2 USB cable. Ares balanced out to a cloned MBL 6010D preamp as volume control for a DIY dual mono NC400 to power a pair of Spatial Audio M4 TurboS.

 

Escutcheon

[alvin1118]

Just finished demo of the Ares. The short of it, I really like what I heard from this small little DAC. And it is heavy for something this small.

 

It was a dropped in place of my existing DAC. Nothing else was changed, including power cable and interconnects. The first song out of the Ares put a smile on my face. Now I know what it means when people say there is air around the instruments. That's what I got here. And the instruments within a song just came out naturally, like their tuning was just that little bit tighter with my own DAC.

 

Next thought that came to me, "Wow, my speakers are really really GOOD."

 

One track the stood out was Dead Already from American Beauty soundtrack. Where's the bass coming from?! Put the goosebumps on me, this one.

 

Alvin also very generously provided the Soundtech MC5 USB filter to try out. I only plug it in for like 5 songs. Not long enough to make a decent comparison. I had decided to make as much use of the time I had with the Ares to listen to its own characteristics on my varied but limited collection.

 

Two small issues turned up for me. First, there is a hiss from the DAC to the speakers upon startup. Hiss will disappear once a song start playing and stays quiet from then on. Second, there is a pop when switching out from DSD to PCM. Both are very minor, not deal killers in any way.

 

Apologies that I can't write an audio review.

 

My humble setup:

Roon core running on my Synology DS1515+ NAS, with songs in MP3, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, DSD64, piping to SOtM sMS-200 powered by mBPS-d2s, feeding the Ares via a Oyaide Continental 5s2 USB cable. Ares balanced out to a cloned MBL 6010D preamp as volume control for a DIY dual mono NC400 to power a pair of Spatial Audio M4 TurboS.

 

Escutcheon

 

Thanks bro, your write up is good! The first hiss was due to handshake with the Linux based streamer, it happens on my sms-200 and sms-200ultra too. A bro who own auralic aries mini has the same symptom too.

 

Spatial Audio M4 TurboS, i was once told by a bro here it's a very good open baffle speakers. 12" drivers, do they need large space to sing?

[GyaLabs]

okay added bro. Ares playing well ?

 

yeah, it was surprisingly good for its price

[Escutcheon]

Thanks bro, your write up is good! The first hiss was due to handshake with the Linux based streamer, it happens on my sms-200 and sms-200ultra too. A bro who own auralic aries mini has the same symptom too.

 

Spatial Audio M4 TurboS, i was once told by a bro here it's a very good open baffle speakers. 12" drivers, do they need large space to sing?

I thought the hiss is a problem related the USB. Thanks for the confirmation. Just have to be careful to turn down the volume knob every time I power down.

 

My setup is in the untreated living room of a 3 room HDB. The M4 is singing nicely, even at low volume. But I believe they can do better with some room treatment. Just haven't got the budget to do that.

[Wilfred Wong]

I thought the hiss is a problem related the USB. Thanks for the confirmation. Just have to be careful to turn down the volume knob every time I power down.

 

My setup is in the untreated living room of a 3 room HDB. The M4 is singing nicely, even at low volume. But I believe they can do better with some room treatment. Just haven't got the budget to do that.

 

Interesting to see someone with the Spatial M4. I've been looking at them. I assumed you got it straight from the US?

[Escutcheon]

Interesting to see someone with the Spatial M4. I've been looking at them. I assumed you got it straight from the US?

Yes got them factory direct, shipped by vPost sea.

 

Now waiting for the Pontus DAC. Very intrigued by the improvements over the Ares claims.

[Wilfred Wong]

Yes got them factory direct, shipped by vPost sea.

 

Now waiting for the Pontus DAC. Very intrigued by the improvements over the Ares claims.

 

Am using the Pontus myself. i reckon you'd be pleased with it :)

[jeromelang]

The dealer in Melbourne also offering home trial.

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/126213-eoi-denafrips-dacs-demos/

 

A new world wide strategy?

This new type of marketing very good!

Very creative, very convenient for potential customers.

[alvin1118]

The dealer in Melbourne also offering home trial.

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/126213-eoi-denafrips-dacs-demos/

 

A new world wide strategy?

This new type of marketing very good!

Very creative, very convenient for potential customers.

 

Thanks bro. You like to sign up for the tour bor ?  ;D

[jeromelang]

Thanks bro. You like to sign up for the tour bor ?  ;D

 

Just upgraded my DAC. Slowly slowly cooking....

 

;D

 

 

[domho8]

Just upgraded my DAC. Slowly slowly cooking....

 

;D

 

 

 

Bro simi DAC u using now :)

[jeromelang]

dac2x v2

[Boxerfan88]

First of all, a big thank you to Alvin for facilitating a home audition tour of the Ares. I have never owned a standalone DAC, and have been mulling owning one for some time. My reference is the CS4398 built-in DAC in the A38 amp, as well as the ESS9016 built-in DAC in the Yamaha RXA3030 AVR.

 

When the ARES was dropped in, it was like "wow". It certainly is a big step up from what I am used to. More airy/better highs; much better imaging (ability to pinpoint the location of the instrument/vocal). The start (attack)/stop (decay) is more life like. The tone of the piano/guitar/vocal was very realistic (like what I heard when live choir perform). Listened to vocals, instrumental, some classical during the trial period, I really liked what I hear. Interestingly though, the Ares sounds slightly better with my amp in class-AB mode vs. class-A mode.

 

I am now convinced I need to get an external DAC, R2R type (since this Ares R2R DAC so easily beat the two built-in SD DACs that I am using). Question for me is to consider the Ares, or stretch for the Pontus. Looking forward to try the Pontus.

 

Interconnection:

DAC Output is XLR to A38 amp. I also tried the SE RCA connection as well, however I still prefer the XLR connection.

DAC Input - tried all 3 inputs - optical, coaxial, USB. Optical & coaxial worked extremely well, zero issues. I had a bit of USB high pitch noise challenge with USB connection, which concerned me - found a workable workaround by chance - which was to tie the Ares RCA ground to A38 RCA ground with a RCA interconnect.

 

Setup:

Content: 16/44k1 24/96k 24/192k FLAC files & DSD64 (from 2L.NO)

Source: Desktop PC i7-6800K Win10/x64 running Foobar2000 1.3.16 (RAM playback + Pro Audio MMCSS priority).

DAC: Ares

Amp: DA&T A38

Speakers: Usher MD2

[Audio]

Question for me is to consider the Ares, or stretch for the Pontus. Looking forward to try the Pontus.

 

Why not the Terminator?

 

(Audio)

[rickysio]

Hi Alvin,

 

Would like to participate in the Ares and Pontus trial if possible. Thanks!

[ScoobyJoo]

Hi Alvin,

 

Can include me in the Pontus tour?

 

Thanx.

[alvin1118]

6. risccpu - Ares is here

7. badseed

 

Badseed pls WhatsApp me. Your turn