Musician pegasus DAC or Denafrips Aries 2

As for the Pegasus being on the level of the Pontus, I don’t know what @soix is smoking. There seems to be a lot of smoke regarding this brand.

Ok @melm, fair enough. I can just tell you that my Pegasus works fine, sounds excellent, and is built like a brick sh*thouse. Perhaps you can explain to us — specifically — what build quality and sonic characteristics make the Pontus superior? Have you even heard the Pegasus? Read the review on Soundnews.net and others. Either they’re all smoking something or they’ve trashed they’re credibility. As a reviewer myself, I know reputation is everything and that’s not worth ANY free product (and yeah, I got some free stuff but wouldn’t give a positive review for it), but you may not understand that. What reviews have you written/published? Know of what you speak before you try to trash a manufacturer or reviewer. Come on. Pony up. What’s your basis for any of your assertions? Writing crap online with no justification is one thing, but when you have real accountability as most professional reviewers have, well, it’s a bit more involved. So please, regale us with your evidence and/or actual listening experience to support what you’re asserting.  Otherwise, your post is worthless. 

I want to hear all aspects about both DACs built, service, who to buy from, and most imp. sound quality. Not interested in hearsay. I have read about both products. Made in the same manufacturing building, not unusual for China. compared to this and that. Also about reviewers been paid for a good article. Maybe @soix can chine about that. But what interest me more is real experience and comparisons. And BTW I'm using my Node 2i as streamer vs replacing the Node with a streamer/DAC unit.

@soix 

Well, your DAC may be "built like a brick sh*thouse" and it may sound OK.  But as for your ridiculous comparison with the Denafrips Pontus, I'll just inform you that for one thing the Pontus has a far more serious power supply, really supplies.  The Pontus has DUAL O-ring transformers.  One is part of the digital power supply; one is part of the analog power supply keeping those two very different systems completely separate.  This compares to the single transformer in the Pegasus serving all circuits digital and analog.  Moreover, in the Pontus these transformers are completely screened from the sensitive electronics in the upper chamber.  The transformer in the Pegasus, by contrast, is open and in proximity to all the circuits.  I could tell you more, but if you didn't even know this, and it's very easy to know, and value the difference I'd be wasting my time.

As for reviews, I usually have little use for them.  But as for Vitalie reviews in Soundnews.net, I was once convinced to waste my time reading his 8000 word "The One to Beat: Gustard X26 PRO DAC Review" wherein he claimed this is the world's best DAC.  It wasn't then; it isn't now.  Perhaps he says this about every DAC.  I don't regard Vitalie or his one-man rag to be a serious factor in the audio world.

As for the ethical failure in giving DACs to reviewers to keep, and the lack of support even to reviewers, you might have a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH0MY044X8Q&t=3s.  These guys really know their stuff.

Now tell me @soix, really--just between us, what were you smoking?
 

You might find this video interesting. If it were my money I’d go with Ares for the stellar reputation of Vinshine Audio and the amazing resale value of Denafrips dacs. I’ve been trying to buy a used Ares 2 for my home office. Even the ones listed at only $50 less than retail are snapped up in less than a day. Sometimes the used market speaks more truth than any reviewer Just sayin’

Well @melm, I’ll give you the power supply, but the Pegasus benefits from using the same resistor ladder that’s found in the considerably more expensive Venus and Terminator DACs. Oh yeah, and the Pegasus is $700 cheaper than the Pontus ll. I can’t speak to the YouTuber’s experience, but if you read the feedback from people who actually bought the DAC and needed service, Aoshida (the importer) has been very responsive and has received very high marks.

As far as the Soundnews.net review, as far as I see he never called the Gustard the world’s best DAC nor is it the highest rated DAC he’s reviewed, so you’re just misstating facts here. “The one to beat” was only used in the tag line, and if you read the review that pertains more to oversampling delta-sigma DACs at the price and not DACs overall. Regardless, trying to discredit his reviews on this one minor point is just silly and indicative of you not knowing a rigorous and useful review when you read one. You obviously have never written a professional review, so I wouldn’t expect that you’d know a good one when you read it. Plus, the OP is looking for people who’ve actually heard/used the products in question. Have you?

As far as paid reviews, that’s non-existent as far as I know. Having written reviews for over 15 years for the Soundstage Network I’ve never heard of such a thing. If I ever got a review product for free I didn’t know about it until after the review. I’m not thrilled that Musician offered those Youtube yahoos a free sample (I’ve seen their reviews, and if you buy anything based on their so-called “reviews” you deserve what you get), but the fact is that a reviewer’s hard-earned reputation is paramount, and I highly doubt many would sacrifice that for a “free” product. That’s the bottom-line reality of it. Those who think product reviews are largely corrupt are, in my experience, sorely mistaken. We do it because we love listening to fun gear and writing hopefully useful reviews, not to get free samples.