Article: Denafrips Terminator II Review and Comparison

[Cakes]

I was looking at the May KTE but the price to the UK was simply beyond my budget at that time.

 

So I spoke to Alvin and Vinshine - always an excellent experience - about the T+ and the newly arriving TII and he helped convince me to go with the TII. I knew about the long burn in process but right away I could see how much it exceeded what my VEGA G1 could ever do. Right away the whole musical experience felt that much more engaging, less fatiguing, and in the balance of changes everything that arrived was positive, and all the 'deductions; in the sonics felt equally as important too. It was only then - once I'd got to terms with the absence of some sonic traits - that I realised how much more natural the R2R sound from Denafrips was compared to the Auralic.

 

A few weeks later I managed to get hold of a Hermes DDC, and adding TII clock out was another real enabler to bring my front-end nearer to what the TII could deliver. Hugely worthwhile upgrade, and now my Aries G1 streamer with Hoer-Wege PSU upgrade and fantastic cables sounds equally as good through streaming as I could ever get via ripped FLACS.

 

TII was a great step up for me - adding the Hermes DDC and adding excellent USB, i2S and clock cabling has shown me just how good this DAC is.

 

Can't imagine needing to upgrade for a long time - one happy customer here

[Cakes]

Sorry. No @Egill23 - never had the chance to hear a TI - read enough about them, but when I was ready to spend that much on a DAC my timing just nudged me into the TII incarnation. Also only bought the Hermes some weeks after the TII arrived, enough time for the unit to burn in. The DDC was 100% worth it, I'd never go back (haven't even done an A-B after time as it was very noticeable from the start. The Hermes looks possibly like the sweet spot for the slightly budget conscious as the better clocks of the much more expensive Gaia are seemingly negated with the TII Precision OXCO clock out. TII and Hermes is a great combination - not sure how it compares with T+ alone, but it's certainly cheaper...

 

I'm sure there will be more reviews forthcoming that compare the two Terminators, but for now we have Chris' write up above which does seem like a very positive summary for the new model. So much of the T+ tech is put into in the much later released TII that my thinking is it's again the sweet spot for the slightly budget minded.

 

Surely a T+ mk II beckons soon to make a bit more daylight between the models again...but for now I think the TII and Hermes is giving me a musical experience that I cannot imagine growing tired of. More a case of trying to bring the rest of the components up to scratch...

 

Hard to not be curious about what the TII brings, but I bet your 2020 TI is outstanding too. With the resale hassle and import duties it could be a lot of money which might be better spent elsewhere. All the best,

 

John