??? 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...
@calieng 1st Ive read about Pontus ll+ compromise using single end outs. What % downgrade would you put this at compared to balanced outs? Ive also read i2s is a much better connection from source. Pontus+ has been on my short list but I may have to axe it since these two factors are a no go for my system. Thanks
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I had the Pontus 15th into a balanced input for Woo Audio WA33 and it sounds wonderful. I am now waiting for LTA Aero DAC order for that system. I would say the single ended out is 10% to 20% less than the balanced out with Denafrips depending on the equipment connected to. In comparison the Holo Audio Cyan 2 is hard to tell a difference, Maybe single ended out is 5% less than balanced out. The Holo Audio DAC has a circuit after the R2R ladders to convert balanced to single ended so both sides of the ladders are still used. Denafrips just taps pin 3 of the balanced out to the single ended connection so only half ladder is used. As for the connections I2S is the best on Denafrips. USB circuit is not as good in my experience. Maybe 10% less. |
