Denafrips Owners & Discussion Thread

[lallygagger]

Ok, I have not had any response yet from Alvin.

 

But I did talk to Claudio De Pasquale who is the organizer of the Denafrips Terminator tour here in Italy.

 

In response to all of my above questions, Claudio told me this:

 

1.In the event of a faulty cap (or any other problem), Denafrips will send out a whole new main board. 

 

2. The Terminator is of modular design, meaning that any and all components can be substituted by the end user at home. There are three main circuit boards and they are not soldered, they are connected by pins making any changes (either to correct problematic issues or to take advantage of future upgrades) very simple.

 

3. Firmware updates are very easy to effect using a program which is found on the Denafrips website. Claudio has already updated the firmware one time and he said it took only a couple of minutes to do so.

 

4. With respect to eventual MQA implementation, he does not know if Denafrips is even considering it.

 

I am posting Claudio's replies for the benefit of those, who like me, like to know right away (lack of patience??)

 

Alvin, if there is any discrepancy in that which Claudio reported to me, please let us know.

 

So, it would seem that Denafrips has thought of everything (at least with respect to the Terminator) and that this DAC is seriously future proofed.

 

To me, this is good news indeed

 

I have been told that I will be receiving the demo Terminator on or about the 12th of September.

 

Peter

 

 

[lallygagger]

Hi Peter,

 

Sorry for late reply. It's a long weekend holiday in Singapore :)

 

Claudio is a good friend who bought the first DENAFRIPS DAC in Italy, he subsequently grows the DENAFRIPS family, encouraged and believing that the DENAFRIPS DAC is good. He's the admin of Italian largest audiophile Facebook group Audiofili d'Italia, a season audiophile in his 50s owns a lot of high end gears in his HiFi cave. There are approx 50 person in Italy own the DENAFRIPS DAC, thanks to Claudio! 

 

The demo Terminator is with Nicola now, it should be shipped to you next week.

 

To answer your question:

1. The DSP board is modular. If there is upgrade of the firmware, it can easily be replaced by the owner.

 

2. The caps are well known brand with high reliability and long endurance time. We don't foresee the caps will be faulty. Fact is DENAFRIPS DAC rail voltage are low, the caps withstand voltage is almost double of the power rail voltage. Also the heat is low, we can be sure the caps will last :)

 

3. Unfortunately, MQA will not be supported...

 

Ok, thanks. MQA is not very important as far as I am concerned. I was just curious about it.

I posted another post before I saw this one that you sent. In it, you will see, that I have listed various things that Claudio told me. I hope that his information is all accurate. Please let us know if it is not.

 

 

[nfnc]

I am new to this forum. While I occasionally enjoy reading forums I don't usually spend a lot of time posting.

In this case, I joined and am now posting because I am interested in the Terminator.

Alvin, you stated that when you had finished the break-in of the Terminator you were going to compare it with a TotalDac. Have you gotten around yet to making the comparison? If you have, I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Yes, that would be an interesting comparison.

[alvin1118]

Ok, I have not had any response yet from Alvin.

 

But I did talk to Claudio De Pasquale who is the organizer of the Denafrips Terminator tour here in Italy.

 

In response to all of my above questions, Claudio told me this:

 

1.In the event of a faulty cap (or any other problem), Denafrips will send out a whole new main board.  - ✔

 

2. The Terminator is of modular design, meaning that any and all components can be substituted by the end user at home. There are three main circuit boards and they are not soldered, they are connected by pins making any changes (either to correct problematic issues or to take advantage of future upgrades) very simple.  - ✔

 

3. Firmware updates are very easy to effect using a program which is found on the Denafrips website. Claudio has already updated the firmware one time and he said it took only a couple of minutes to do so.  - ✔

 

4. With respect to eventual MQA implementation, he does not know if Denafrips is even considering it.  - ✘ MQA will not be supported

 

I am posting Claudio's replies for the benefit of those, who like me, like to know right away (lack of patience??)

 

Alvin, if there is any discrepancy in that which Claudio reported to me, please let us know.

 

So, it would seem that Denafrips has thought of everything (at least with respect to the Terminator) and that this DAC is seriously future proofed.

 

To me, this is good news indeed

 

I have been told that I will be receiving the demo Terminator on or about the 12th of September.

 

Peter

 

 

 

Hi Peter,

 

These information are 100% correct. I'm available on facebook/whatsapp. Shall contact you so that i can response promptly  ;D

[lallygagger]

Hi Peter,

 

These information are 100% correct. I'm available on facebook/whatsapp. Shall contact you so that i can response promptly  ;D

 

Thanks, Alvin

 

Everything I have read about the Terminator makes it seem like like one hell of a product, sonically. The information that you and Claudio have provided me... especially the fact that is a modular design, and thus future proof...  is the icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.

 

One of the people whose opinions I respect is Vince Saw. Vince,who owns a hi-end shop in Malaysia and he has had the opportunity to hear and to own many fine systems. He now owns and is extremely happy with the same speakers and integrated amplifier that I own. So it is natural that I would respect his opinion.  ;)

 

A few days ago he received a Terminator which you sent him and he is absolutely ecstatically happy with it.

 

I forwarded him Claudio's information, but I was sure that he must have know already that it is modular. He had read it somewhere but had forgotten, and he says that it feels good to know that it is possible to always be at the forefront of new technology.

 

I, however, had not read it anywhere. It is not on your Terminator webpage. I am wondering why you do not mention it there. Modular design is a great selling point.

[alvin1118]

Thanks, Alvin

 

Everything I have read about the Terminator makes it seem like like one hell of a product, sonically. The information that you and Claudio have provided me... especially the fact that is a modular design, and thus future proof...  is the icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.

 

One of the people whose opinions I respect is Vince Saw. Vince,who owns a hi-end shop in Malaysia and he has had the opportunity to hear and to own many fine systems. He now owns and is extremely happy with the same speakers and integrated amplifier that I own. So it is natural that I would respect his opinion.  ;)

 

A few days ago he received a Terminator which you sent him and he is absolutely ecstatically happy with it.

 

I forwarded him Claudio's information, but I was sure that he must have know already that it is modular. He had read it somewhere but had forgotten, and he says that it feels good to know that it is possible to always be at the forefront of new technology.

 

I, however, had not read it anywhere. It is not on your Terminator webpage. I am wondering why you do not mention it there. Modular design is a great selling point.

 

Hi Peter, Is the Terminator with you now ?

[lallygagger]

Hi Peter, Is the Terminator with you now ?

 

Yes, Alvin, it is now with me...

and what a fine piece of audio equipment it is.

They are going to have to come to my house armed to the teeth to get it away from me, I think    ;)

[lallygagger]

Hi Alvin,

I am not on Facebook, but I do have WhatsApp. So if you send me your phone number (if that's allowed on this forum) we can chat that way... more directly.

 

Peter

[alvin1118]

Tour update

 

Ares with Kevinsin now

Pontus with gs11tan.

 

Close 1st queue for Ares.

[Weichiun]

Tour update

 

Ares with Kevinsin now

Pontus with gs11tan.

 

Close 1st queue for Ares.

 

Alvin, please add me to the tour for pontus and Ares. Thanks.

[MusicEar]

Hi Alvin,

Please add me to the demo tour for Ares. Thanks

Guy

[Tiagasian]

Alvin add me to the Ares tour also , thanks

[alvin1118]

6moons review is out, http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/denafrips/1.html

 

Terminator won itself a Blue Moon Award.

 

Finally the hard-work pays off. Thank you so much for the supports, much appreciated!  ;D

[alvin1118]

Pontus is with me, Deklan please contact me to continue the tour  :)

[bluepill193]

Alvin is the Pontus tour still on? I would like to join. thanks

[rickysio]

Had the Ares loaner set up prior, finally got around to posting:

Physical:

- Cones instead of normal feet

- Rigid chassis, solid build

- Muted red LEDs

 

Sound:

- Bottom based foundation

- Lightly warm tonality, sounds slightly 'slow' - lacks the snap some electronic artists like Felix Laband demands

- Slight sweetness in mids

- Slight bloom in midbass

- Slight hint in vocals

- Rather intimate staging

- Unbalanced sounds slightly smoother, with slight increase in midbass

- Won't make you love music you didn't like before, but definitely doesn't get in the way of enjoying it.

 

Thanks to Alvin for his generosity and patience.

[alvin1118]

Thanks @rickysio.

 

Here is the Eric's HiFi Blog review of bigger brother Pontus. Thanks @watchdog!

 

http://singaporehifi.blogspot.sg/2017/09/denafrips-pontus-r2r-dac.html?m=1

[Rachael]

Hi Alvin, I would like to join the Pontus tour.

Thank you.

Regards,

Allen

[wbjia]

Had the Ares loaner set up prior, finally got around to posting:

Physical:

- Cones instead of normal feet

- Rigid chassis, solid build

- Muted red LEDs

 

Sound:

- Bottom based foundation

- Lightly warm tonality, sounds slightly 'slow' - lacks the snap some electronic artists like Felix Laband demands

- Slight sweetness in mids

- Slight bloom in midbass

- Slight hint in vocals

- Rather intimate staging

- Unbalanced sounds slightly smoother, with slight increase in midbass

- Won't make you love music you didn't like before, but definitely doesn't get in the way of enjoying it.

 

Thanks to Alvin for his generosity and patience.

 

Hi Ricky

 

"- Slight hint in vocals" ... what does that exactly means? thank you

 

Robin

[MusicEar]

Had the Ares loaner set up prior, finally got around to posting:

Physical:

- Cones instead of normal feet

- Rigid chassis, solid build

- Muted red LEDs

 

Sound:

- Bottom based foundation

- Lightly warm tonality, sounds slightly 'slow' - lacks the snap some electronic artists like Felix Laband demands

- Slight sweetness in mids

- Slight bloom in midbass

- Slight hint in vocals

- Rather intimate staging

- Unbalanced sounds slightly smoother, with slight increase in midbass

- Won't make you love music you didn't like before, but definitely doesn't get in the way of enjoying it.

 

Thanks to Alvin for his generosity and patience.

 

If you using Aries streamer, do you encounter loud hissing noise coming out when you boot up both Aries and Ares together?

[kelvinsin]

If you using Aries streamer, do you encounter loud hissing noise coming out when you boot up both Aries and Ares together?

I got same issue for mini with ares

[rickysio]

Hi Ricky

 

"- Slight hint in vocals" ... what does that exactly means? thank you

 

Robin

 

I feel that vocals are more forward, but not significantly.

[wbjia]

I feel that vocals are more forward, but not significantly.

 

thank you!

[zeee]

Yes, that would be an interesting comparison.

 

hi!  alvin, was there a comparison with totaldac?

[Eric Teh]

hi!  alvin, was there a comparison with totaldac?

 

Not yet ! I am in the midst of writing a review for the Terminator. My personal DAC is the Totaldac D1-Six. Is there any specific thing you want to find out ?