Denafrips Ares II

the ares 2 was part of my big dac shootout i conducted the first half of this year - tried some 25 well reputed dacs as i implemented streaming into my system 

the ares 2 is a spacious sounding dac with extended treble and bass, and lots of features (os/nos, xlr etc etc), it is a great value for the money - though as on all dena dacs the leds are a pita (can barely see them)

in my system, i found this dac to be lacking a little in treble refinement compared to others i liked better - this can be heard in sibilance on vocals (yes i tried different inputs and cables :) )

moving to the pontus improved this critical aspect for me, sound definitely had a family resemblance but more subtlety in handling of treble region and also a slightly silkier midrange

also (still) have the jolida/black ice tube dac - this is not nos (burrbrown 24 bit 1798 dac chip), but it has a tube output stage... the advantage of this one is a volume control (non remote control) as well as the ability to tube roll - overall this one sounded a little sweeter more relaxed to me than the ares 2 on a/b comparison (volume controlled of course)

So are you saying you liked the Black Ice better than the Pontus and the Ares? 

So are you saying you liked the Black Ice better than the Pontus and the Ares? 

@jc51373 

pontus and black ice >> ares 2

pontus vs black ice... lateral ... slightly different presentation, one not clearly better than the other (note my black ice is upgraded by wally/chris j)

Thanks...What upgrades does your Black Ice have?