Denafrips R2R DAC (plays 512 DSD) reviewed as giant killer

[coach65]

Thanks, I'm hoping to have my Pontes and Zen mini up and running soon.

[butifull01]

I made movies about Venus (about $ 2,900) vs Trinity (about $ 65,000).

 

Venus and Terminator are also much worse than Trinity.

 

But as my thought, the most cost effective DAC is terminator, next Venus.

 

Please check it by yourself~!

 

Enjoy~!

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-54

[Doak]

4 hours ago, butifull01 said:

I made movies about Venus (about $ 2,900) vs Trinity (about $ 65,000).

 

Venus and Terminator are also much worse than Trinity.

 

But as my thought, the most cost effective DAC is terminator, next Venus.

 

Please check it by yourself~!

 

Enjoy~!

 

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/taiko-audio-sgm-extreme-the-crème-de-la-crème.27433/page-54

So.... does one NEED to be using the Taiko SGM for your "cost effective" assessment to hold?

 

[Dev]

5 minutes ago, Doak said:

So.... does one NEED to be using the Taiko SGM for your "cost effective" assessment to hold?

 

 

Yes, you do 😶 That WBF thread is all about SGM servers and nothing else. One must be crazy to compare a $4k to a $65k component.

[butifull01]

I have 8 DACs.

 

Although I do DAC comparison test with SGM Extreme, 

 

other DACs are much worse than Trinity DAC.

 

Only Terminator and Venus are increased their sound quality.

[Kotra]

It seems that some people can compare audio quality of components with YouTube videos!!

Amazing skills 

[matthias]

5 hours ago, Dev said:

 

Yes, you do 😶 That WBF thread is all about SGM servers and nothing else. One must be crazy to compare a $4k to a $65k component.

 

Comparings DACs with the same server is like comparing cartridges with the same turntable.

According to the Source First principle the server or turntable is much more important for the SQ than the DAC or cartridge.

So one can save money with buying a very good server and a less expensive DAC.

 

Matt

 

[Abyss Man]

Hi Guys,

Anyone still using a DDC? I have ditched mine and am wondering if anyone has tried any other configuration? Thank you.

[Cyrus]

My 'review' of the New DSP Board is now live.

 

https://dsp-board-denafrips.blogspot.com/

 

Please note: USB In (only) and NOS.

 

Post here, or message me, if you have any questions from the write-up / review.

 

[Dev]

Has anybody tried the M-scaler with the Termi yet ? The new DSP board's USB board sounds so good, I am starting to think that the performance of the DAC is probably being maxed out.

[MhtLion]

On 8/5/2019 at 9:38 AM, alvin1118 said:

Here you go, the changes log:

https://www.thesycon.de/usbaudio/TUSBAudio_history.txt

 

 

Interesting..  The log mentions about the Spy tool..  Well.. it sounds like a spy tool.

 

* New: added latency reported by the device latency control to the Spy tool statistics

[roberto2]

A great review in french:

http://www.audiophile-magazine.com/bancs-d-essais/denafrips-terminator/

[Abyss Man]

Totally deserved.

 

[Cyrus]

@roberto2  Thanks for sharing the review.

[WilliamWykeham]

On 9/4/2019 at 12:41 PM, Dev said:

Has anybody tried the M-scaler with the Termi yet ? The new DSP board's USB board sounds so good, I am starting to think that the performance of the DAC is probably being maxed out.

 

Yes I got it working to great result - read about here if I’m allowed to link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/denafrips-terminator-the-king-of-r2r-dac.851085/page-33#post-15138748

 

I ordered an mscaler after this experiment.

[cordobaman]

Hello @alvin1118

I have a modest Budget and considering the a ARESII. I saw a note in the manual,  they do not recommend using both balanced and unbalanced Outputs at the same time. I currently do that with my Auralic Altair, using one set for my amplifier and another set goes to a whole home audio system. What are the ramifications of using both?

 

I would be using the usb output of the Auralic Altair into the ARESII. It requires a “Linux based” DAC for the Altair to recognize it. Do you anticipate any issues using your DAC with my Altair?

 

Lastly, could you please confirm that the ARESII has the upgrade to eliminate ticks or pops during clock changes.

 

Thank you very much!

[cordobaman]

On 10/4/2019 at 7:25 PM, cordobaman said:

Hello @alvin1118

I have a modest Budget and considering the a ARESII. I saw a note in the manual,  they do not recommend using both balanced and unbalanced Outputs at the same time. I currently do that with my Auralic Altair, using one set for my amplifier and another set goes to a whole home audio system. What are the ramifications of using both?

 

I would be using the usb output of the Auralic Altair into the ARESII. It requires a “Linux based” DAC for the Altair to recognize it. Do you anticipate any issues using your DAC with my Altair?

 

Lastly, could you please confirm that the ARESII has the upgrade to eliminate ticks or pops during clock changes.

 

Thank you very much!

 

Alvin got back to me quickly with answers via email.

Basically all is good except since the balanced/unbalanced outputs are shared, so using simultaneously would diminish sound quality (I'm guessing for the "Why not Wye" reasons).

 

Order placed!

[mikicasellas]

Has anyone in this group updated the firmware update of your Terminators ?

[StreamFidelity]

2 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

Hat jemand in dieser Gruppe das Firmware-Update Ihrer Terminatoren aktualisiert?

I didn't find any firmware on support page. Did you mean USB-Driver? 
This is the latest for New DSP Board 2019.05.30: Thesycon USB v4.67.0. It works very stable with lowest latency.

[mikicasellas]

No Sr. :

 

https://www.denafrips.com/firmware-update?fbclid=IwAR2gNBzmX56g6kYV_dd-kNP_ocZEMlqIrZM-e-m9JiW8mEwUSmExiYAhiIg

 

Both for Ares and Terminator

 

 

[alvin1118]

Thanks @cordobaman. Appreciate it. 

 

Yep, the new firmware was released to fix some bugs. Ares II / Terminator shipped after 15th Sept already come with the new firmware.

 

Firmware guide can be found here: https://www.denafrips.com/firmware-update

 

Hope this helps!

 

Many thanks.

 

Yours sincerely,

Alvin

www.vinshineaudio.com

[rothosand]

4 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

Has anyone in this group updated the firmware update of your Terminators ?

Yes, a couple of weeks ago, because after installing the new DSP board, I had problems with certain DSD files...

 

The upgrade procedure is very straightforward.

[mikicasellas]

51 minutes ago, rothosand said:

Yes, a couple of weeks ago, because after installing the new DSP board, I had problems with certain DSD files...

 

The upgrade procedure is very straightforward.

 

 

What strengths and weakness are you finding VS the last firmware (not the last board) ?

[Dev]

39 minutes ago, mikicasellas said:

 

 

What strengths and weakness are you finding VS the last firmware (not the last board) ?

 

The original firmware that came with the new DSP board has some issues with certain DSD files and what appears to be some kind of minor distortion in between the songs. The update fixed them. I think the update also sounds a bit better than the original.

[StreamFidelity]

19 hours ago, mikicasellas said:

Has anyone in this group updated the firmware update of your Terminators ?

 

Thanks for this tip! I'm using Denafrips Terminator with HQPlayer (USB connected) as renderer. Mostly I hear with convolution on / poly-sync-ext2 / ASDM7EC / 44.1 / 16/ 2 -> 12.288M (DSD 256 x 48) / 1 / 2. 

 

After the update, the sound has become clearer and more precise. No worlds but audible. Great support from Denafrips! 👍