Started with an Ares. Moved up to the Pontus and currently using a Terminator Plus. The step up from the Ares to Pontus was huge and definitely worth the difference in $$$ to me. Better everything; sound stage, detail, musicality all improves considerably. If you were to get an Ares you’d probably end up moving up the line so my advise would be to start with a Pontus, assuming it’s in the budget.
??? Denafrips Pontus 15th vs Ares 15th.???
Ground up rebuild of my end of life system nearly complete..
Furman PST-8 > Dedicated & optimized Lenova Thinkpad 1i > Pangea Premier SE USB cable (6% silver plated OFC) > Pathos Classic Remix Mk.II ( 1962 Amperex Holland Orange Globe 6922 & Nordost Red Dawn Leif power cable) w/HiDAC Mk.II module (ESS 9018) plugged into an APC H10 stabilizer/surge protection> Tellurium Q "Black II cables & BiWire jumpers > ProAc Response D2D (latest build )...
I want to add a more organic,warmer DAC & have narrowed it down to one of these 2 Denafrips R2R DACS...
I am not a super critical listener,more a music lover who revels in everything that is happening in a song..Sometimes I focus on specific instruments or listen for the super low level details but I'm not anal about that..I do love a wide,deep soundstage...
My budget would allow for the Pontus 15th.but I'm unsure if I am the kind of listener who will really notice the difference between it and the Ares 15th..I realize the Pontus is a considerable step up in price,build quality & parts but don't want to throw $ at something I wouldn't really benifit from when I could get 90% of it's performance for many hundreds of $ less...
I guess I'm looking for validation that my system is capable of extracting the benifits of the more expensive DAC & I won't have to rack my brain to actually hear it..So Audiogon'ers,what is your opinion on this matter?
Thanks much,take care & happy holidays to you & yours...
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@calieng I really like that Cyan but the automatic input switching problems reported make it a no go..You do have a point about the size & weight of the PII,man that thing is a BEAST! |
I only use one input with the Cyan 2 - the I2S so it is not an issue for me. One thing to keep in mind with Denafrips is the ladder resistors directly drive the output. So you want to use the balanced outs. The single ended is not as good as it runs on half ladder only. If you must use single ended then Holo Audio Spring 3 or some other DAC with discrete circuit to drive the output. I can also highly recommend the Fezz Audio Equinox tube DAC designed by Lampizator. The version I have is the single ended only model. Sounds amazing for the price. But is not R2R if that matters. |
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