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Denafrips Ares ii

I am considering a Denafrips Ares ii dac and have a few questions that I am hoping owners of this dac can answer.

1 What is the cost of import taxes and/or fees?

2 Is it as dimensional as a tube dac?

3 Two reviews thought the highs were edgy. What has been your experience with the treble on this dac?

My system:
Unison Research Triode 25
Audio Physics Classic 10
Bluesound Node 2i
Cambridge Audio CXC
Paradigm Seismic 10
Black Ice Audio DSD

Thanks


mtloriginal
jl35
4,048 posts
 
many sellers recently are stating the new price is $1098...but that is Singapore dollars, translating daily to a little over $800 US including shipping which takes a few weeks...I have not found the highs to be edgy...my tube DAC is much more expensive and have not compared...I use mine currently with CXC
malibu457
66 posts
 

i have heard Joni Mitchell a number of times in concert and must say the Ares is the closest DAC i have heard in reproducing her voice.  it is also very dynamic sounding.  i can only imagine what their more expensive DAC's sound like.

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,219 posts
 

I’ve never heard the Ares, but I own the Pontus II. I would say it’s every bit as dimensional as my previous MHDT Pagoda. Both are very fine dacs, but the Denafrips has slightly more detail and resolution while retaining the body of the Pagoda.

totem395
390 posts
 

If pairing with the Node2i the Aries II using coax out has known issues

as stated by Alvin @ Denafrips and others.

bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 

I quite enjoy mine. Nice thing about Denafrips, you can almost always sell yours for what you paid, or more, if you should want to move up or try something else.

There are filter settings to take any ‘high frequency edge’ off. A couple different combinations that should suite most. One of the reasons I purchased the Denafrips was to get rid of that, as an ‘analog guy’, that was important. I think the Denafrips has no such issue, given the filter options you have.

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