Musician pegasus DAC or Denafrips Aries 2

@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.

@soix 

Yes, the Pegasus is cheaper than the Pontus because it's made cheaper.  Much cheaper.  Half the cabinetry.  Half the power supply.  Just for openers.  And as for the resister ladder: Is it the same?  How do you know?  Just because they look the same?  Did you put a meter on each of the resistors?  Could the resister ladder be Denafrips rejects?  Is the FPGA programming that controls the conversion exactly the same?  Are the clocks identical?  What do the analog sections look like?  Are they identical?  And exactly what is the exposed transformer radiating?

The reason I pay such little attention to reviews is that they are written by people like you.  People who know little about what's actually going on inside a component.  And if you're any example they are willing to overlook what is a clear breach of ethical standards.  I give you clear evidence of a payoff and you ignore it.  Finally, most commercial reviews these days are simply recitations of multiple audio platitudes.  To me that boils down to: "This week I really like this one."  

Looks like you're still smoking from the same stash.

Well, @melm as a long-time reviewer I’ve long since learned to not wrestle in the mud with a pig, because the pig likes it. So, I’ll start with this from Soundnews.net with the assertion of the resistor ladder architecture...

This is exactly where Musician didn’t spare a dime and put the highest grade 0.005% precision resistors, the same ones you will find in the flagship Denafrips Terminator (~$4500) and Venus DACs (~$3000) and also in the uber-high-end Rockna Wavedream ($6600).

Now, I’ll plead mea culpa for not doing the primary research on whether this is true or not, but if I’m a betting man I’ll put my $ on him versus you. Why? Because he’s a legit reviewer who has his rep on the line with everything he says, as opposed to you, who brings no primary research to the party and just spews out whatever he thinks with no accountability. Where’s your proof? And, as per the power supply, it’s not always how much you throw at it but how it’s implemented, so I’m taking that away as a deficiency. Even the Musician Aquarius and other much more expensive competitors use one toroid as a power supply. It’s more about total implementation than the number of toroids included in a power supply.

Now, as to your assertion that reviewers are compromised, the Youtube yahoos that were apparently given a “free” sample actually called them out on it and didn’t hide it. So, to me, that actually shows the credibility of the audio reviewer community. And if you think reviewers are all compromised, why don’t you get off your ass and start writing reviews that are “superior” to everything else out there. Oh wait, lemme guess, because it’s SO much easier to sit back and be an armchair quarterback and criticize everything else out there.  But, that aside, I encourage you to even try to become an actual reviewer at an accredited site.  Go ahead.  My bet, they wouldn’t even consider you given your proclivity to ignore objectivity.  And, oh yeah, have you even heard one of these devices?  Yet you have such strong opinions.  Not what the OP was looking for here — bottom line.