Just about to pull the trigger on Pontus 15th ...

@mattw73

Kinda was in same boat and from my understanding they ran outa of a copper wire used in the production of the Pontus 15.

Anyway mine shipped out 3/13/2025 and arrived 3/17/2025 so hopefully you get it soon. Even without burnin it’s sounds much better than the Ares ii it replaced.

The wait was worth it. @audioman58 was helpful and kept me informed of delay and just one of those bad timing situations. The popularity of the Pontus 15 and tariffs caused a surge in orders.

@2psyop the only advice I can offer is make sure you buy from A authorized dealer. Denafrops will not honor warranty or repair a unit bought from nonauthorized dealer. Sure might save a few bucks but if unit is faulty or ever needs repairs the will not be of any assistance.

I received an email that the Pontus 15th is on its way 2 days ago. Denafrips HQ did not ask me for any extra shipping fees. FED-X International sent me a tracking number..no mention of additional fees. I don't know if I will receive some type of tariffs bill or if Denafrips ate the any additional charges. 

The Pontus will be replacing a RME dac in my living room. But I'll be replacing other components in this room with better equipment I've had set up in a spare bedroom..the turntable room I have abandoned since finding digital streaming too convenient to ignore. I've had various dacs since the 90's & really enjoyed the RME. The PEQ functions have been invaluable in my wonky shaped living room. Between a UMIK & REW software I've been able to get the best out of most speakers using the RME Dac's bonus functions. The speakers I'll have in my living room now don't need the EQ functions of the RME. A great dac but lacks the space & depth as some other more "analog" sounding dacs I've had in the past. The RME is transparent & has some great qualities..so I'm interested to see how differently I perceive the Denafrips. 

Another happy Denafrips owner here. I have the lowly Pontus II, but it sounds damn good to me.

@ozzy62 @mattw73 @klipscher @curiousjim @jastralfu @2psyop

Does the high output impedance of 1,250 ohms from the Denafrips DAC ever bother you in terms of impedance matching? The Harmony DAC has an identical measurement, but the µDAC brings it down to 80 ohms. I have a preamp with an input impedance rated at only 10k so I am concerned about the matching.  Thx.

@lanx0003 I wasn't aware of the Denafrips output Z but that is indeed pretty high for a dac, source, of even most modern tube preamps. 

I only received the unit a couple days ago on Monday..which was quick considering I received an email it was being shipped from China at midnight on Thursday. But since I've been concentrating on "breaking in" the Pontus I haven't given it the rounds on multiple preamps I own. I initially plugged the Pontus into this old Assemblage L1 one tube preamp that's been upgraded to the gills with high end parts & bypass caps thru in thru. I just had to mention this unknown preamp because I find it stupid good & it makes me question some more expensive pre's I have. But anyway, I haven't a clue of any of its specs. I only used it for maybe an hour & didn't notice any frequency, noise, or other issues I've encountered with impedance mismatches in the past. 

I've been running the Pontus with an Icon Audio LA4 MKiii Sig tube pre ever since; as I was thinking this is the preamp I'll be trying to pair long term. The LA4's input Z is spec'ed at "Greater than 50k ohms".  I've been inside this preamp but didn't take notice to what's going on after the input jacks or volume pot reading. I haven't detected any issues of mismatch but I've been focusing on other things when listening to the 15th. I also have only used the single ended outputs on the Pontus. 

I honestly don't think I've ever experienced a mismatch between a source or dac & preamp before. I've definitely encountered it between preamps & amps in the past. I've actually seen a YouTube reviewer & a commentor somewhere else complain that the Pontus was kinda bright...lacking some bass. Makes me wonder if they were maybe having mismatch issues? 

I do have some other issues with this dac I can complain about & share. First off the unit has 3 feet..which are kinda rough & definitely able to scratch things due to this Dac's hefty weight. She is solid. The dac comes with these little rubber pads to push into the bottom of the feet. My pads don't stay in..2 of them fall out whenever I lift the dac to move it. Not an issue when it gets to its final resting place. But I guarantee they will fall off & get lost at some point..pretty crappy for a $2k device. 

This next issue is a little bigger & one I haven't gone to the next step to fix. The RCA outputs on the rear. None of my regular sized RCA cables will push all the way in for a proper fit. It just won't push in all the way like something is blocking it..the grounding clasps of the connectors is only getting maybe a quarter way on. I found some Blue Jeans connects I had from back in the day. Ones I never really liked as the have the long connectors/longer cinch with a shorter pin. So the rca connectors on their Pontus are not going to work for me. I'm going to have to address this with Frips people. Another pain in the ass & unacceptable for a $2k device. I've only experienced this RCA jack issue once before..with a Chinese manufactured brand. I had to replace the jacks..the plastic inside the jacks weren't evenly bored out. Lame. 

My 3rd issue is a sound quality one..though this is with the rca coaxial input. Now I use a Neotech NEVD-2001 cable. Not overly expensive but I'll just say that after experimenting with digital cables cheaper & more expensive I highly recommend this Neotech model. It's proper good. You can buy the cable itself from a couple different sellers but the Neotech manufactured cable comes with some impressive connectors. I wish I could find them for DIY cables. 

Also I've only used the Pontus with a streamer & it's coaxial input. I've tried probably 12 different streamers over the last couple years under the $1600 mark..looking for a budget standout. The Zen Stream & Primare Prisma NP5 are the 2 I've held onto. I've only used the Zen Stream with the Pontus. I have 3 12v power supplies..an Sbooster, IFI Elite, Super Farad 3. Farad sounds the best with the Zen but I use it elsewhere now so I've settled with the IFI PS with the ZEN. 

Granted this dac hasn't broken in. But with coaxial input I'm not impressed. Veiled & dark. Some decent depth & stage but overall sound is meh. I chalked it up to break in period. But this morning I figured I would tried a USB cable. Completely different dac. The blanket was lifted. Everything from top to bottom, inside & out is better. Clarity & high frequencies. Dac at least is showing some good promise. Now I've never had issues using the coaxial on the Zen Stream in the past & honestly it's my output of choice on it. But I will try the Prisma later. I think it sounds better anyway but I also know that the coaxial output on the Prisma is a little hotter. I've had to dial back the input on it with my pro audio dac. So maybe the Denafrips just needs more juice going into it's coaxial. But so far the coaxial & USB input seems like 2 different dacs. 

The USB allows the dac to use its superior clocks if I understand things correctly. But I don't recall the Zen ever sounding that bad with other dacs & coaxial connection. It could be this "break in" that I've been warned of..& that I shouldn't even critically comment on this dac til at least a couple weeks of heavy usage. USB sounds good. But I'll comment more in a couple weeks if interested. I need to see about these RCA jacks. I'll take a closer look at it when I get a chance..pop the top on this joker & see what's doin'. If I keep this thing long term I'll probably invest in a streamer with i2S output instead of a DDC. I'll have to see how this plays out.