New D/D Converters from Denafrips

[orosie]

Woohoo!  

 

 

[Blake]

Congrats!  I see you have the clock out synced up as well.  Once things have settled in, let us know your thoughts.

 

 

[sig8]

I am listening to 705.6 PCM for the first time from Gaia/T+ combo. I have goosebumps.

 

It is not even fully settled-in, less than 48 hours on it. Power supply in the server is few hours old,...................still.

 

I don't know how it will sound when I go directly to T+ and do 1411.2.

[Koso]

One technical question. Iris and Gaia has no on/off (or standby) button? If it is so, why?
Just waiting for my Gaia (should arrive in few days) and noticed this from the photos.:-)

[Abyss Man]

8 hours ago, Koso said:

One technical question. Iris and Gaia has no on/off (or standby) button? If it is so, why?
Just waiting for my Gaia (should arrive in few days) and noticed this from the photos.:-)

Not required as they use relays to detect incoming voltage. In fact be happy there is one less fuse to worry about or an on/off switch to worry about. No fuse is the best fuse.

 

 

[matthias]

1 hour ago, Abyss Man said:

No fuse is the best fuse.

 

+1000 😄

 

Matt

[richard_crl032]

9 minutes ago, matthias said:

 

+1000 😄

 

Matt

 

-1001 for the relay which is much worse than fuse.  Nothing wrong with having fuse and absolutely not needing rebadged exotic fuses from oem producing millions.  Cheers.

[Koso]

14 hours ago, Abyss Man said:

Not required as they use relays to detect incoming voltage. In fact be happy there is one less fuse to worry about or an on/off switch to worry about. No fuse is the best fuse.

 

 

OK, sounds reasonable. I was just little bit confused by photos online, where there is on/off symbol on some, while “setup” label on others under the same Gaias button. So there must have been some reason Denafrips changed this button.

 

[Abyss Man]

5 hours ago, Koso said:

OK, sounds reasonable. I was just little bit confused by photos online, where there is on/off symbol on some, while “setup” label on others under the same Gaias button. So there must have been some reason Denafrips changed this button.

 

Hi Koso,

Sorry but I never quiet paid attention to this difference. Drop Alvin a mail, he will help you clear your doubts, and congratulations on your new toy. Have fun.

 

[hoppy100]

Hello all, have any users of the Iris or GAIA had problems with the Iris not playing DSD files to their terminator dac? I have had issues with this.  If I change from PCM hi-res files to DSD files, I get a loud static type fax noise that stains my speakers until the volume is lowered. Very scary!!!

I tried it on HDMI I2s and I2s-C with the same results.

It seems like my unit is not performing properly, as one should not have to change the settings on the Iris to play DSD files and scrolling through the terminator I2s settings doe not find a combination that will play the DSD files properly through the Iris. But, bypassing the Iris and going USB straight from source the DSD files play flawlessly. To trouble shoot, I connected a old source with HDMI I2s (PS audio standard) out directly to the terminator and it plays DSD flawlessly without changing the settings on the terminator.

I have contacted Alvin, but as of yet we have not been able to figure this out.  I was curious if any other users have had this experience?

Your thoughts would we kindly received,

Cheers

[sig8]

I have this issue with my Gaia, but only if I try to send DSD512 upsampled files to Gaia, DSD256 and lower play fine.

 

If I send DSD512 directly to T+, it is OK. I am told that I will get a new firmware tomorrow, that will probably fix this issue.

[hoppy100]

Hello @barrows, thanks for your response.  I can't get any DSD playback no matter the file size. Can I ask who you addressed this with so I can check to see if my Iris can be updated to work properly.  Alvin has not responded with a fix for this yet.  But, they is a time difference in Singapore to his credit.  He has been great in trying to solve the Iris issue.

 

Cheers

[orosie]

Hey Hoppy,

 

Running Iris into TPlus, with a mix of PCM and upsampled DSD up to 512.  Zero issues here.  Also running clock cables from TPlus to Iris with fantastic results.  Sorry to hear you are having issues.  

[hoppy100]

@orosie So glad to see that the Iris is working properly with the Terminator plus. I am using the terminator not plus and there is some communication issue. I have suspected I may have received a bad Iris for some time now, but have been patient and trying to work the issue with Alvin.  But it is promising that the unit you received works as expected.  Enjoy!!!

Hopefully I will be able to soon.

Cheers,

[Audionotes]

Anyone have any insights on the new Hermes? Difference between Iris, Hermes and Gaia from a SQ perspective?

[Koso]

Gaia is at home!

Gaia has replaced my previous (pretty good for the money) Matrix Audio X-Spdif 2. Mainly use as USB to AES/EBU conversion from Aurender N100H to Simaudio Moon 380D DSD dac.

Just first impression (right out of the box, after just one hour of listening):

- impressive compared to X-Spfif 2

- sound is more airy, more analog like

- deeper, more holographic soundstage

- more realistic voices

 

Will update my findings after couple of days...

 

 

 

 

 

[sig8]

I am having trouble running Gaia and T+. All I get is static. It started with not being able to play DSD 512, so Alvin sent me a new Firmware update for Gaia, and T+. I installed all correctly, now all I get is static, at all sample rates in DSD and PCM. I am running HQP on Audiolinux. I am afraid I might loose a speaker or something. 

 

Anyone having any similar issue. It is not looking good at this moment.

[richard_crl032]

On 9/18/2020 at 2:41 AM, Koso said:

Gaia is at home!

Gaia has replaced my previous (pretty good for the money) Matrix Audio X-Spdif 2. Mainly use as USB to AES/EBU conversion from Aurender N100H to Simaudio Moon 380D DSD dac.

Just first impression (right out of the box, after just one hour of listening):

- impressive compared to X-Spfif 2

- sound is more airy, more analog like

- deeper, more holographic soundstage

- more realistic voices

 

Will update my findings after couple of days...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Why not Aurender directly to Moon 380D already with usb input instead of matrix or gaia ?

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

[Koso]

5 hours ago, richard_crl032 said:

 

Hi,

 

Why not Aurender directly to Moon 380D already with usb input instead of matrix or gaia ?

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

 

Hi Richard.

Frankly, sound is quite good when Aurender goes directly to Moon DAC, but best sounding input on Moon is AES/EBU, and I wanted to use it.

I decided to go for Gaia DDC for several reasons.
First of all, my budget for sound improvement in my setup is limited. So going for noticeable higher streamer or DAC model is not an option right now (price increase on models I like is too high, way beyond Gaia budget).
On my Moon 380D DAC USB is not best sounding input and USB output on Aurender N100H is not best usb output out there (compared to higher Aurender model for example).

So I decided to add some gadget to existing setup.
I have already tested adding cheap DDC (Matrix Audio X-Spdif 2), which was audible improvement, so I knew this way works. I was lookig for high end DDC, which is versatile enough and could be used in the future too. So when I discovered Denafrips Gaia, my search for top DDC was done. Not only it has USB to AES/EBU conversion, which I needed, but Gaia has plenty of inputs/outputs combination unparallel to any other DDC I know. It has fully galvanically isolated inputs, which is great. And finally, it has also I2S outputs (both HDMI and RJ45 connectors), so it is quite future proof, because I am considering to go for some top R2R DAC in the future (Denafrips, Holo Audio or Aqua Acoustic) and it is common that I2S input is best sounding input on such DACs.
At the end built quality, great specs. and versatility was winner combination for me.

 

And finally it works. Sound quality with Gaia is elevated to another level.

 

 

[richard_crl032]

1 hour ago, Koso said:

 

Hi Richard.

Frankly, sound is quite good when Aurender goes directly to Moon DAC, but best sounding input on Moon is AES/EBU, and I wanted to use it.

I decided to go for Gaia DDC for several reasons.
First of all, my budget for sound improvement in my setup is limited. So going for noticeable higher streamer or DAC model is not an option right now (price increase on models I like is too high, way beyond Gaia budget).
On my Moon 380D DAC USB is not best sounding input and USB output on Aurender N100H is not best usb output out there (compared to higher Aurender model for example).

So I decided to add some gadget to existing setup.
I have already tested adding cheap DDC (Matrix Audio X-Spdif 2), which was audible improvement, so I knew this way works. I was lookig for high end DDC, which is versatile enough and could be used in the future too. So when I discovered Denafrips Gaia, my search for top DDC was done. Not only it has USB to AES/EBU conversion, which I needed, but Gaia has plenty of inputs/outputs combination unparallel to any other DDC I know. It has fully galvanically isolated inputs, which is great. And finally, it has also I2S outputs (both HDMI and RJ45 connectors), so it is quite future proof, because I am considering to go for some top R2R DAC in the future (Denafrips, Holo Audio or Aqua Acoustic) and it is common that I2S input is best sounding input on such DACs.
At the end built quality, great specs. and versatility was winner combination for me.

 

And finally it works. Sound quality with Gaia is elevated to another level.

 

For me with loads of preferred dsd music, aes_ebu is not preferred. Moreover, my equipment does not have dual aes_ebu for dsd and upgraded Tplus lost one of the aes_ebu unlike standard Terminator which can ... 

 

Cheers.

 

Richard
 

 

Hi koso,

 

Make sense now and only what you heard matters cos nobody else have your equipment, cabling, music genre and most importantly, room.

 

For me with load of preferred dsd music, aes-ebu is not an option and Tplus lost 1 of the 2 aes_ebu inputs and dual aes_ebu for higher bitrate dsd is also not possible.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

 

 

[Blake]

I was hoping Srajan at 6Moons would compare the Phoenix, Gaia and some other D/D converters.

 

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/denafrips6/4/

 

 

While the review is not yet finished, in his review of the Denafrips Avatar, Srajan notes that he did compare the Phoenix, Gaia and through extrapolation to another review, the Mutec MC-3+ USB.  While the comparison was not perfect in that he compared Phoenix going to the Terminator Plus usb input, whereas the Gaia was going in to the Terminator Plus I2S input (there was no way around this since Gaia doesn't have USB output, and the Phoenix only has USB output), the ranking of best sonic performance was:

 

1. Terminator Plus + Gaia with the Terminator Plus "clock out" feature engaged upstream to the Gaia.

2. Terminator Plus + Phoenix

3. Terminator Plus + Gaia without Terminator Plus "clock out" feature engaged. 

4. Mutec MC-3+ USB 

 

 

[sig8]

Anyone using Audiolinux/HQPlayer combo with TPlus or TPlus + Gaia combo.

 

I would appreciate if few people who are on this thread can report the operating system and playback software being used with TPlus.

 

There is some issue using Audiolinux with TPlus and Gaia. I tried all pin-out combination for HDMI, nothing quite works, so forced to use Win10 for now, until Alvin can figure-out the issue.

 

Thanks.

[Koso]

GAIA REVIEW UPDATE:

I’ve promised that I will report my findings after Gaia settles a little bit in my system. 

I am only at one third of burn in time period (roughly 300 hours is recommended by Denafrips), but I just can’t resist to share that sound quality of GAIA is still improving. As I wrote before, initial impression was very good, but just after a week of continual using I am really impressed.

It is almost unbelievable how big improvement can this DDC bring to already decent digital setup (Aurender N100H streamer + Simaudio Moon 380D dsd DAC). What I wrote before is still truth, but somehow multiplied and even more refined.

Sound is even more relaxed, soundstage and space around instruments has even more natural feel. The effect of “disappearance” of speakers is even closer to ideal (...to achieve this in my listening space, smaller square shape room, is very challenging).
EVERYTHING is more realistic! Voices and acoustic instruments are just THERE. 
Great job Denafrips!!

 

[Blake]

Enjoyed reading your report @Koso.  Glad to hear the Gaia is working out so well!  

[HifiHandyman]

This seems like a silly question, but with normal operation, is the “PHASE” LED on or off?  I’ve read that section in the manual and take it to mean the LED is on for normal operation.  Is this correct?  Please help.  My unit is the Denafrips Venus II.  Thanks very much!