MHDT Orchid v Denafrips Pontus


I've had an Orchid in my system for going on 3 years now. It's a great DAC, does exactly what I bought it for, which is present music in a natural, non-fatiguing way. I've tube rolled with it, used a couple of different digital cables, one of which did provide slightly more detail (Audio Art D-1SE2). I'm Denafrips curious though and would like to see if someone has had both. From reviews, I'm wondering if the Pontus would keep all of that R2R goodness and present more detail than the Orchid. Thanks!

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Thanks for the reply. Did you use the balanced connections? I don't know how much of a difference it would make. Perhaps you also tried single ended. None of my gear is balanced. I understand the Pagoda is a very different animal from the Orchid as well. 

Grannyring modified my Orchid and it opened up and got a bit quicker. I'm doing a shoot out with it vs. Holo Audio May this Sunday. I am going to be sorry I arranged that, I bet, but I really like that Orchid.

I have the Orchid with a WE396A tube and recently acquired a
Pontus II. I really like the Orchid a lot, but the Pontus like Ozzy said,
adds more resolution at the top end. Vocals are a bit more forward
and crystal clear. I seriously considered doing the Grannyring 
upgrades, but in the end decided to get the Pontus II. That being
said, I can't part with the Orchid just yet.  

 



 

The Pontus ll sounds fine using single ended RCA's. My integrated doesn't have balanced inputs, so it's RCA's for me.

Although I'm sure SQ would improve with balanced. 

With the pagoda I used rca Inputs and rca to the preamp. With the Pontus I am using balanced in from the streamer, still rca to the preamp.