Popular Post audiofool1982 Posted January 15, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted January 15, 2021 I am a tube lover and both my preamp and power amplifiers (mono blocks) are tubes. There is something about the tube sound that draws me in to the music. It makes me focus and enjoy the music and relax. Just to give you some perspective of what kind of music I listen to mostly , here is a sample from one of my playlists: I got a fantastic opportunity to try/demo the Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC at my home with my equipment. There are plenty of reviews and YouTube videos explaining the various features of the DAC, the differences between the PLUS version and the regular terminator, hence I am not going to go into any of those details. I am not really good at writing long reviews. So I am going to keep it short and give my humble opinion in a few bullet points. These are just my personal opinions, based on my ears, music preference and other gear choices. So take it with a grain of salt: 1. I strongly believe Synergy between your equipment is extremely important. My Preamp, Poweramp, speakers (at the time of my testing), interconnect cables are all Von Gaylord Audio components (Yes I am in love with VG components). I wanted a DAC that would gel well with my equipment. Denafrips TP (terminator plus) was a perfect match. 2. The female vocals were beautiful, natural and were delivered with ease. The song "That wasn't me" by Brandi Carlile is a perfect example of what I am talking about. The clarity in the voice was more like watching a 8k movie, if you know what I mean. It brought a smile in my face. 3. The sound stage was magnificent. Try "Liberty" by Annette Ashvik. The little squeaky crackles that you hear literally made me turn my head to see if someone was opening a door. I should say the sound stage got wider and the instruments were clearer and were placed exactly where they were supposed to me. I must attribute this to the super accurate ultra low noise OCXO clock present in the DAC and its implementation. Over the period of time, Ive come to realize that a good clock makes a big difference in providing a wide expansive sound stage. I am not a very technical person, but I believe upgraded power supply helps reduce audio signal contamination and probably contributes to the big sound stage as well. 4. The Denafrips has a variety of inputs which makes it very versatile. I like SPDIF better than USB. For my type of music choice (Female Vocal Jazz), I feel SPDIF offers a much more romantic, full bodied sound. USB is much more detailed but I still listen to SPDIF most of the times. However SPDIF was limited to 192Khz. When I had the Denafrips TP, I did not have a way to test I2S as I didn't have a source that delivers I2S output but now I have a Antipodes CX - EX with a P2 and the P2 has I2S output. I wish I had the Terminator Plus now to test it and possibly compare the P2 with the Denafrips Gaia 5. The bass was spot on. It was neither bloated nor anemic. Listen to the first 45 sec of Couleur Cafe on "Musica Nuda" and you'll know what a double bass should sound like. You'll know how to distinguish anemic sound from bloated bass. The Terminator Plus delivered the perfect bass. Lower level detail was incredible. 6. Instrument separation is another strong point of this DAC. My song of choice to test this is "Dream a little dream of me" by Louis Armstrong. Overall the DAC is beautiful, heavy, well machined, has lots of connectivity, has an amazing clock and very reasonably priced. Alvin's responsiveness and customer service is top notch. It provides a very clean, non-colored output. So If that's what you want, this DAC is for you! That being said, if you ask me, what DAC I own now, its a Lampizator Golden Atlantic TRP. wouterk and Topk 2 Link to comment
audiofool1982 Posted January 15, 2021 Author Share Posted January 15, 2021 I had the lampizator amber 3 DAC when I tried the Denafrips. I was able to upgrade to the ga trp through the “trade up” program that lampizator offers. So I ended up doing it. I still think for the music that I listen to, tubes are great! Tubes do produce some distortion but it makes me enjoy the music. It makes me relax, so stuck with the tubes. However I am now curious to try the Denafrips with the Gaia if I get another opportunity. mevdinc 1 Link to comment
audiofool1982 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 Great YouTube review. However I am not sure if I'd categorize Denafrips TP sound as "Analog like" sound. The DAC sounds very clean without adding any color, however I (IMHO) feel it has to be a little more warmer to be categorized as "analog like". May be since I've heard the Lampizator GA TRP which in my opinion is very analog sounding, I feel this way. Again its just my perception. Link to comment
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