Denafrips Venus 2 & DDC?

[Wheat King]

Howdy all!

 

I've recently ordered a Denafrips Venus II to replace a Gustard x20 Pro DAC/Singxer SU-1 DDC combo.

 

I'm curious to understand if it would be worth keeping the Singxer SU-1 to connect to the Venus. 

 

I've made a number of upgrades to the SU-1:

- installed an SBooster power supply module
- replaced the audio board voltage regulator with a Sparkos Labs Discrete Regulator
- replaced the 5 capacitors on the audio board with low ESR Panasonic ones
- installed an SR Orange Fuse
 

Has anyone paired a DDC with their Venus?

[Wheat King]

Thanks Todd!

 

[Wheat King]

On 3/13/2021 at 4:04 AM, musicguy said:

If you can give updates on time of order and shipping.  I am looking at this dac also.  I have a singer su-6 now.

 

I placed the order on their website on March 1. This was during a 3 week holiday period so Alvin didn't reply back until March 11.

 

I had indicated I wanted a black unit and Alvin informed me that there was backlog of orders for the black units but if I wanted a silver one, it could be ready within a week. I opted for a silver one.

 

Today (Mar 16), I received a notice from DHL to expect the shipment to arrive on March 23. 

 

I will try the Venus both with and without my Singxer SU-1 and report back here.

[Wheat King]

So the Venus arrived today (March 19), a full four days ahead of schedule! DHL always impresses me.

 

It’s been swapped into my system and I’m listening to it now. Still early days to give it an in-depth review. I plan on listening to it without the Singxer for awhile to get a feel for it’s sonic presentation, then add the Singxer. After that, I’ll swap the Gustard back in.

 

Initial impression? I’m grinning from ear to ear.

[Wheat King]

I've spent the last couple of afternoons doing some serious listening to the Venus vs Venus + Singxer SU-1. Basically I was comparing running the signal from my dedicated audio pc into the USB input of the Venus versus running the USB signal into the Singxer, then into the Venus via its I2S port.

 

Backstory: I replaced my 10 year old Martin Logan Spires with new Coherent Audio GR12's, which are hand-made (and tuned) in Canada. I immediately noticed that my digital files didn't sound right anymore? I don't know if what I was hearing was digital smear or glare but whatever it was, I couldn't hear it before. So I decided to upgrade my DAC, hence the Denafrips Venus purchase.

 

For the test, I listened to Jazz at the Pawnshop, DSD64 as I am very familiar with it (and I love listening to it). I should mention that I have modified the SU-1, so it is not a stock unit.

 

After a couple of afternoons of focused listening, switching back and forth, I could not hear a difference between the Venus and the Venus/Singxer combo. The addition of the Singxer SU-1 did not improve the performance but it didn't degrade it either.

 

I then swapped back in my original combo (Gustard x20Pro/Singxer SU-1). The smear was back. Until then, I had not appreciated just how much better the Venus was. It did everything better. I'm a musician so I can only describe the music as I understand it. The notes were more clearly defined and retained their decay longer. Not sure if that description resonates with anyone else?   

 

At almost 4x the price, one would expect better performance, I suppose. 

 

 

 

[Wheat King]

19 hours ago, musicguy said:

Question.    Yes your Venus is better than your Gustardx20.  I have a Gustard x22.

 

At 3x the price.  Would you say its a HUGE jump in sound or maybe 20%

It was much greater than 20%. After upgrading my speakers (to Coherent Audio GR12’s), there was noticeable digital smear on some tracks (not all admittedly). There is none with the Venus.

 

How much of an improvement you will hear will depend on how highly resolving the rest of your system is, I suppose.

[Wheat King]

3 hours ago, musicguy said:

Ordered my Venus II,  now the wait.  Anyone know how long the shipping is taking to North America?

 

 

Mine took one week.

[Wheat King]

This may help:

Venus Manual