Thanks for the nice video. A small correction about Denafrips. Denafrips is also a Chinese company and produce their DACs in China, but are sold via a Singapore webshop.
Finally someone who can clearly explain the difference between the R2R and Delta Sigma DAC with the Tube Amp vs Solid State Amp analogy. I now basically know what to expect if I buy a Denafrips DAC. Nice job William 👍 Now I'm wondering if an R2R DAC would mesh well with say a LYR 3 Hybrid Tube amp or a Burson Soloist 3XP which uses Opamps and has a nice warm flavor? I'm curious if a Denafrips Ares II or Pontus II might be overkill with those amps? Maybe a punchier DAC like the Bifrost 2 would have better synergy with them? This is a never ending experiment
The Audio-GD is a true oversampling (NOS) dac this mean no oversampling at all. The denafrips have a small amount oversampling in NOS mode! To compare them in NOS mode you need to set the sampling mode to 2x on the Audio-GD. A true NOS dac is also preferred if you want to oversample with software in the computer.
Thanks for the review. I'm interested in purchasing the Pontus II, but will run it into a Woo Audio WA2 which is an OTL SET tube headphone amplifier - it only accepts RCA, and I wanted to make sure the RCA outputs from the Pontus II weren't less in quality than the XLR outputs. Would you be able to comment on that? Some say you don't get the full potential of a DAC which has XLR outputs if you only use the RCA.
I ran the RCA outputs into the Wavebourn Edelweiss-3 Power Amp Plus (Tube Amp), and thought it sounded outstanding. Although I did not compare the RCA and XLR outputs into the same amp.
Fantastic and thorough review! I have the r8 mk2 and it is superb. Have you thought about comparing the Denafrips Athena and the Audio- Gd he1 mk2 preamps? I think that could be another interesting comparison at a similar price point. Cheers
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Well, in that case, I hope you get offered the chance to do that :) It’s good to see people, like yourself, shedding light on some of these underrated products that would otherwise be lumped into the ‘made in China’ mindset. Keep it up 👌
Interesting video. I've had the Pontus II for about 6 months. In all honesty, I can't tell any difference between my Pontus and D/S dacs like the Topping D90, Gustard X20 Pro, and RME ADI-2. I use my dac as part of my PC audio system, so maybe I'd hear more differences if I ran something like a strictly music listening setup. I'm probably going to sell my Pontus and pick up the new FiiO K9 ESS. One nice perk about the Pontus is it has great resale value and a transferrable warranty.
I find the Topping D70S MQA to sound very similar to the Pontus. Just not as good. To me the D90 sounds very different. Much drier, and analytical sounding. Are you listening with headphones, or speakers? I have to use some pretty good headphones to hear the difference. By the way. I'm supposed to have the Filo K9 coming in for review very soon.
@@MadMaxx1977 A great pair of speakers from what I have heard about them. Although I'm not sure if you would hear the very small differences between high end dacs the way you would with a $3K to $4k pair of headphones? Headphones take room acoustics out of the equation, and really bring out the details.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 I think you're right about headphones vs speakers. I worked in talk radio for 6 years. After wearing headphones 8-12 hours/day, 6 days/week, I can't stand them anymore. 😂 Now, I just like to listen to my music and play games with speakers.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Hi,I'm looking to replace my Topping D90 with Denafrips Ares II,do you think an R2R dac would be better for rock/metal? I use the D90 with Parasound P6 and A21 amp and I'm looking for a warmer / metier sound!
Hello. Do you have the opportunity to compare DENAFRIPS PONTUS II and Musician Pegasus ? I'm not asking for a review. What do you think about Musician Pegasus ? Thank You.
Thanks for the comparison. How do you find the latency between the two? I found from some reviews, Denafrips Ares II has latency about 200-250ms. How about Pontus & R8?
I believe the Denafrips is also Made in China, but marketed exclusively via Vinshine in Singapore.
Thank you for a helpful and informative comparison.
Thanks for the nice video. A small correction about Denafrips. Denafrips is also a Chinese company and produce their DACs in China, but are sold via a Singapore webshop.
Thank you, I did not know that.
Finally someone who can clearly explain the difference between the R2R and Delta Sigma DAC with the Tube Amp vs Solid State Amp analogy. I now basically know what to expect if I buy a Denafrips DAC. Nice job William 👍
Now I'm wondering if an R2R DAC would mesh well with say a LYR 3 Hybrid Tube amp or a Burson Soloist 3XP which uses Opamps and has a nice warm flavor? I'm curious if a Denafrips Ares II or Pontus II might be overkill with those amps? Maybe a punchier DAC like the Bifrost 2 would have better synergy with them? This is a never ending experiment
The Audio-GD is a true oversampling (NOS) dac this mean no oversampling at all. The denafrips have a small amount oversampling in NOS mode! To compare them in NOS mode you need to set the sampling mode to 2x on the Audio-GD. A true NOS dac is also preferred if you want to oversample with software in the computer.
Thanks
Tried the Musician Pegasus?
Thanks for the review. I'm interested in purchasing the Pontus II, but will run it into a Woo Audio WA2 which is an OTL SET tube headphone amplifier - it only accepts RCA, and I wanted to make sure the RCA outputs from the Pontus II weren't less in quality than the XLR outputs. Would you be able to comment on that? Some say you don't get the full potential of a DAC which has XLR outputs if you only use the RCA.
I ran the RCA outputs into the Wavebourn Edelweiss-3 Power Amp Plus (Tube Amp), and thought it sounded outstanding. Although I did not compare the RCA and XLR outputs into the same amp.
Fantastic and thorough review! I have the r8 mk2 and it is superb. Have you thought about comparing the Denafrips Athena and the Audio- Gd he1 mk2 preamps? I think that could be another interesting comparison at a similar price point. Cheers
I review what is sent to me on loan for review. I usually don't get much of a choice. Just do you want to review this, yes, or no?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Well, in that case, I hope you get offered the chance to do that :) It’s good to see people, like yourself, shedding light on some of these underrated products that would otherwise be lumped into the ‘made in China’ mindset. Keep it up 👌
Interesting video. I've had the Pontus II for about 6 months. In all honesty, I can't tell any difference between my Pontus and D/S dacs like the Topping D90, Gustard X20 Pro, and RME ADI-2. I use my dac as part of my PC audio system, so maybe I'd hear more differences if I ran something like a strictly music listening setup. I'm probably going to sell my Pontus and pick up the new FiiO K9 ESS. One nice perk about the Pontus is it has great resale value and a transferrable warranty.
I find the Topping D70S MQA to sound very similar to the Pontus. Just not as good. To me the D90 sounds very different. Much drier, and analytical sounding.
Are you listening with headphones, or speakers? I have to use some pretty good headphones to hear the difference.
By the way. I'm supposed to have the Filo K9 coming in for review very soon.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 I'm using a pair of LS50 Metas. I'll be very interested in your K9 review!
@@MadMaxx1977 A great pair of speakers from what I have heard about them. Although I'm not sure if you would hear the very small differences between high end dacs the way you would with a $3K to $4k pair of headphones? Headphones take room acoustics out of the equation, and really bring out the details.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 I think you're right about headphones vs speakers. I worked in talk radio for 6 years. After wearing headphones 8-12 hours/day, 6 days/week, I can't stand them anymore. 😂 Now, I just like to listen to my music and play games with speakers.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Hi,I'm looking to replace my Topping D90 with Denafrips Ares II,do you think an R2R dac would be better for rock/metal? I use the D90 with Parasound P6 and A21 amp and I'm looking for a warmer / metier sound!
Curious about older Audio-gd DACs. Have you tried an NFB-10/SE before by chance?
No, the only Audio-gd components I have tried are the R-8 MKII dac, and Master 9 amp, which I use as a stack.
Hello. Do you have the opportunity to compare DENAFRIPS PONTUS II and Musician Pegasus ? I'm not asking for a review. What do you think about Musician Pegasus ? Thank You.
Sorry, have not heard it.
Thanks for the comparison. How do you find the latency between the two? I found from some reviews, Denafrips Ares II has latency about 200-250ms. How about Pontus & R8?
R2R seem to have large latency
@@varislew584 Not all of them, as far as I know, Holo Audio Dac do not have significant latency, but the price is out of reach for me..hahaha..
the denafrips pontus II 12th-1 can further be improved by adding the DDC Denafrips Iris 12th!
Apple Music lossless
I hope you get loaner from Musician Audio! My Draco beats my Pontus II in most areas. I like Draco much I order the Pegasus too.
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