For about 15 years I have been using the PS Audio Digital Link III in my main high-end system. I have always found its sound quality to be excellent - warm and analog sounding. However, due to some major equipment failure I ended up upgrading most of my system. All the new equipment was delivering significantly better sound quality and resolution. I determined the weak link in my upgraded system was my old PS Audio DAC. So, through some serendipity I ended up with a Denafrips Pontus II.
To answer tonyjack's question directly, yes the much newer DAC sounds SIGNIFICANTLY better than the old PS Audio DAC.
Here are the details: I wasn’t prepared for how much difference this new, to me, DAC would make. It’s so different I’m struggling a bit with what I’m hearing. What hit right away is a wider and deeper sound stage and especially a significantly taller one. Probably the most notable improvement over the PS Audio Digital Link III is the imaging - much more precise and stable. Highs are more extended but sweet. Bass is faster but not quite as extended. I’ve always been a bit bothered that cymbals never quite sounded like cymbals, too crashy. Now they totally sound real. OMG, piano is so much more lifelike. The catch, this Denafrips Pontus II is not as warm sounding as my PS Audio which surprises me some as all the reviews talk about the Pontus being a touch on the warm side of neutral. PS Audio is like a warm blanket, maybe less accurate but more relaxed - perhaps too much so? I fiddled and fiddled with my subwoofer to add a bit of mid-bass warmth to the Pontus, which the PS Audio DAC has in spades.
This new DAC lets me hear much deeper into the recording/music. It’s definitely better with complex music or passages. It better keeps the elements separated instead of mushing them together. It also makes terrible recordings sound bearable. I’m hearing details I never noticed before. But it’s for sure a little leaner sounding than the PS Audio. It’s not so much the lowest bass but the mid bass that the PS Audio emphasizes more. I suspect the PS Audio is less accurate but I got very used to that warmer sound signature. As I said, I’m trying to adjust my frame of reference. As I said, wasn’t expecting it to be this different. So, like many things audio, there is a notable difference when changing from an older PS Audio Digital Link III DAC. Whether the difference is an overall improvement or just different will depend on your room, your system and your tastes and priorities in music and music reproduction. With my successful sub-woofer tweaks I have decided to keep the Pontus II, the improvement in sound stage and more realistic reproduction of details, especially percussion and voices, is too good to pass on. But the PS Audio DAC was very impressive in comparison and I prefer its rounder top end and mid bass warmth.