Denafrips Pontus DAC Impressions

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Hands, Sep 18, 2017.

  1. Telstar

    Telstar Bottom 1% of posters on SBAF

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2018
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Italy
    Yes I think that is the issue. And lack of isolation. I have had a f-1 retrofit in my dac, powered from within and it was a major improvement. Singxer drivers are also better than generic xmos.
     
  2. Telstar

    Telstar Bottom 1% of posters on SBAF

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2018
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Italy
    I have a good affinity with SE opinions, not complete, but let’s say 66% to 75%.
    His review and comparisons of my current speakers (Albedo Aptica) was spot-on and he kept the other model for a few months in his place for a reason.

    PS dunno why multi-quote didn’t work with safari on iPhone.
     
  3. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2017
    Likes Received:
    384
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Poland
    I know these. Not a ceramic alike sound in 100% and that's good.
     
  4. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    Likes Received:
    392
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Grand Rapids, MI
    This is really good to know!!! I will be there with my buddys from David Michael Audio. I'm definitely going to spend a lot of time in the Gingko room. I really like my Ares and I traded my Bifrost Multibit with Schiit installed Gen 5 USB upgrade for it. I much prefer the sound of the Ares. I compared the Ares with my Holo Spring Level 3 in my stereo with Singxer SU-1 for I2S. I felt like the Ares put up a very, very good fight. I wanted to upgrade the Ares for a Pontus but now I'm a bit nervous.
     
  5. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2016
    Likes Received:
    392
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    Grand Rapids, MI
    Unfortunately I did not spend any time in the Ginko room. Something about their presentation bothered me and I was disinterested to talk with them. They had a pretty poor setup overall.

    Has anyone else ended up with a Pontus recently? I will be selling my Ares soon and replacing it with a Pontus. I am very, very happy with the Ares but I now yearn for something of higher caliber for my office setup. I already have a Holo Spring KTE L3 and Singxer SU-1 for my home stereo. I have brought it to my office and I'm using it now, but I just want to have something different to play with. The Spring sounds really fantastic on headphones, and maybe a bit better than with my stereo. I will have to decide which of the two to keep in my stereo.
     
  6. Telstar

    Telstar Bottom 1% of posters on SBAF

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2018
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Italy
    Looking forward to your comparison.
     
  7. dastereo.ru

    dastereo.ru New

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Moscow, Russia
    --------
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2018
  8. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Honest question. How did you decide to buy the Pontus when you were very very satisfied with the Ares? The Pontus is over a $1000 difference. Perhaps you should have kept the Ares for a blind test to see if you found any discernible differences. I really don't see how the 2nd up product could be such a higher calibre difference over the base product that Denafrips has offered.
     
  9. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,750
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    Home Page:
    New Toy Syndrome says otherwise!!
     
  10. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Curious about those comparisons, more curious about what preamp/volume pot. you managed to pair it with, I have the Ares I'm just patiently doing research and inquiring of what volume controllers work with Denafrips.
     
  11. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
    Ares has an output impedance of 2k I think for single ended, that is rather high, so a TVC which lowers the output impedance with attenuation is a good choice, worked well for me. I did not try anything else.
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2018
  12. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Nice thanks, coincidentally today I just found out about Transformer Volume Controls today as well, it seems to be a good candidate for impedance matching, and from the reviews I've seen they are good at low volume unlike active pre-amps. The one from Promitheus audio http://www.promitheusaudio.com/frontpage.html looks promising and seems "reasonable" at $480, of course that is what you get in the audio world. May I ask the TVC you have? And what do you think of the Promitheus models in your opinion.
     
  13. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
  14. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Tried to match your pre-amp with your post, any of these? https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=music+first

    Yes one volume knob is preferable, to the two knobs is "nice" if you want to adjust the stereo image or tweak the balance which should be perfect in the first place when rotating the knob. Preferably I'm trying to keep the monitor control sub $700. Or at least less than the Ares.
     
  15. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
  16. trung225

    trung225 Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2015
    Likes Received:
    123
    Trophy Points:
    43
    With 2k Ohm output impedance of Ares, you should be careful when using TVC (or AVC) attenuation. Many popular TVCs and AVCs have around 80H input inductance, which is only 10k Ohm input impedance at 20Hz. It will be pretty low for 2k Ohm output impedance of Ares.
     
  17. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Funny, I thought I was doing a favour for myself looking into AVSs. I thought the consenus was it avoided impedance mismatch issues. I'm getting a lot of feedback here for considering the impedance mismatch issue here for passive preamps. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/impedance-matching-for-dacs-and-amps.717886/page-3
    Feel free to chime in about your thoughts on why transformers would also be a problem. I'm getting close to finding the perfect preamp for my setup but I'm not sure if I'm there yet.
     
  18. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    Actually according to this http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1207/audiophile_gift_2007.htm
    It says "The knob on the left controls input selection, while the knob on the right is a 24 position volume knob."
    So in the end I believe the right knob uses volume control for both channels. I also swore I thought they were controlling separate channels.
     
  19. Reggy

    Reggy New

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jun 12, 2018
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Location:
    Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
    If any of my friends found out I bought a $4K volume controller they'd tell me to give my head a shake. It's only as high a price as it is because some people have more money than brains. I don't see it worth anymore than about $800 IMO. You can thank placebo bias and compensated hyped up reviews for that.
     
  20. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,115
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A Cell
    If there is the risk of your friends telling you to give your head a shake and if you think it is only worth $800 then there are only two solutions, try to convince someone to sell it for $800 or don't buy it.
    The rest is a matter of opinion and we are all entitled to our own.
     

Share This Page