Denafrips Dac

Dev.R

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Hi, Anyone using / heard Pontus or Terminator dac. Can you please share your views about it.
Cheers.
 
Hi, I've been using the Terminator for over a year. I upgraded from a Northstar Design Supremo DAC, a highly regarded dac, and the improvement is very significant. Apart from being very resolving and musical sounding, I find the multiple inputs, including ses/EBU and i2s very useful and if you have sources that can output in these modes, they will offer a further improvement in sq and musicality. Do read the 6moons review for more in-depth analysis.

Best wishes
 
Do read the 6moons review for more in-depth analysis.

Yes sir, I have read the reviews and everything I read about Denafrips seems to be positive. Does this dac really live upto the rave reviews .
Any downside you have noticed?
Thanks.
 
I'm also interested in denafrips pontus. How is denafrips pontus compared to schiit gungnir and yggdrasil?
Currently I own schiit bifrost multibit for my stereo setup.
 
I'm also interested in denafrips pontus. How is denafrips pontus compared to schiit gungnir and yggdrasil?
Currently I own schiit bifrost multibit for my stereo setup.

According to the reviews , Pontus is compared to the Yggy and many say the Chinese dac is way better. Only issue is the waiting period for Denafrip dacs . Seeing the problems in China, I think you have wait even longer.
 
I'm also interested in denafrips pontus. How is denafrips pontus compared to schiit gungnir and yggdrasil?
Currently I own schiit bifrost multibit for my stereo setup.

Have Heard most Multibits from Schiit, except Yaggy ; owned Gumby for more than a year.
Recently auditioned the denafrips Ares2 at home & was totally impressed by the Tonality and presentation. It fits perfectly with the type of sound I was looking for. It's close to Gungnir but a bit more flexible, fluidly (for lack of better word). Of course on AB comparison Gumby will have its Strengths. The preference may be subjective, but I definitely liked Ares2.

Anyways, ordered Ares2 right away! Personally speaking ; it hasn't happened quite often that, I couldn't live without certain device in audio chain after listening , but Ares2 and Freya+ clearly standout.

No wonder Audiogon user reviews are quite superlative for denafrips DACs but SBAF forum favors Schiit products in comparison. Venus should easily be better than Yaggy as far as Agon reviews go, but unless you listen you can't be sure. Pontus doesn't have good reviews per se (mostly mixed reviews) , so from Ares2 the next jump should be to either Venus or Terminator. The incremental upgrade may not be very good penny wise but most of the times it never will be as far as my experience goes.

@op I haven't heard either Venus or Termi but if it's 3x or even 2x of what Ares2 offers, it's probably the best DAC from the price point. I'd gladly upgrade next year to either one of the two. Ares has already a version 2, so I'm expecting version 2 for other DACs from denafrips in coming months. I don't think you'll go drastically wrong with Either one of Denafrips DACs.
 
Hi, I've been using the Terminator for over a year. I upgraded from a Northstar Design Supremo DAC, a highly regarded dac, and the improvement is very significant. Apart from being very resolving and musical sounding, I find the multiple inputs, including ses/EBU and i2s very useful and if you have sources that can output in these modes, they will offer a further improvement in sq and musicality. Do read the 6moons review for more in-depth analysis.

Best wishes
Hi Fiftyfifty

Where did you buy the Terminator dac? I see that its from Singapore. Any leads?

EDIT: I saw you later message and had a word with Mr Sugumar. Thanks for sharing his number here.

Thanks
 
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No wonder Audiogon user reviews are quite superlative for denafrips DACs but SBAF forum favors Schiit products in comparison. Venus should easily be better than Yaggy as far as Agon reviews go, but unless you listen you can't be sure. Pontus doesn't have good reviews per se (mostly mixed reviews) , so from Ares2 the next jump should be to either Venus or Terminator. The incremental upgrade may not be very good penny wise but most of the times it never will be as far as my experience goes.

Since you bought in SBAF, here is my impression of that forum. They are generally heavily biased towards Schiit products. Any non-Schiit product that gets respect there is probably excellent.
 
Have Heard most Multibits from Schiit, except Yaggy ; owned Gumby for more than a year.
Recently auditioned the denafrips Ares2 at home & was totally impressed by the Tonality and presentation. It fits perfectly with the type of sound I was looking for. It's close to Gungnir but a bit more flexible, fluidly (for lack of better word). Of course on AB comparison Gumby will have its Strengths. The preference may be subjective, but I definitely liked Ares2.

Anyways, ordered Ares2 right away! Personally speaking ; it hasn't happened quite often that, I couldn't live without certain device in audio chain after listening , but Ares2 and Freya+ clearly standout.

No wonder Audiogon user reviews are quite superlative for denafrips DACs but SBAF forum favors Schiit products in comparison. Venus should easily be better than Yaggy as far as Agon reviews go, but unless you listen you can't be sure. Pontus doesn't have good reviews per se (mostly mixed reviews) , so from Ares2 the next jump should be to either Venus or Terminator. The incremental upgrade may not be very good penny wise but most of the times it never will be as far as my experience goes.

@op I haven't heard either Venus or Termi but if it's 3x or even 2x of what Ares2 offers, it's probably the best DAC from the price point. I'd gladly upgrade next year to either one of the two. Ares has already a version 2, so I'm expecting version 2 for other DACs from denafrips in coming months. I don't think you'll go drastically wrong with Either one of Denafrips DACs.
Hi,

Wished to check how much did the Denafrips cost you inclusive of duties and GST?

Thanks :)
 
Same questions here, the custom duty is making me tremble hence I haven't pulled the trigger on the Ares II. Didn't know there was a V2, what is the difference between the 2. I'll probably have a look at the reviews if there are any.
 
I have had a chance to listen to Terminator in three different Speakers/Amplifier Combinations . While it showed it strength in performance aspects like better lows/Mids/Clarity and stability in the imaging etc, I felt it fails to connect to the Music. I would not call it clinical though
 
I have had a chance to listen to Terminator in three different Speakers/Amplifier Combinations . While it showed it strength in performance aspects like better lows/Mids/Clarity and stability in the imaging etc, I felt it fails to connect to the Music. I would not call it clinical though
Partly agree with you , Don’t know how long was your listening session. After 2+ hours of warm up, the Terminator is a different beast, but still I would prefer the Yggy when it comes to Musicality.
 
Partly agree with you , Don’t know how long was your listening session. After 2+ hours of warm up, the Terminator is a different beast, but still I would prefer the Yggy when it comes to Musicality.

In my setup, I definitely prefer the terminator over yggy... I felt it to be better in almost all aspects including musicality... Yes.. it needs good warm up time though...
 
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