DENAFRIPS DAC ---- Owner Impressions, Feedback, General Discussion, Questions and more....

I have tried the USB connected directly to a fanless low powered endpoint and the results on the USB are outstanding, note internally the DAC will buffer and reclock the signal, that added to the excellent built in power supply of this DAC makes the system "less dependant" on external factors like USB quality, Linear Power supplies for the equipment etc.
That said using good USB cables, LPS powered NUCs (I have a Nuc like yours with a JS2) etc. will improve thngs

IME when I was using upsampling, the Terminator board when changing upsampling content / parameters sometimes (and this was very very sporadic) with the latest firmware was playing with a background "ringing" noise, stopping and starting with different source content or powering cycle fixed it. Mainly with PCM which is what I was sending to the board. I expect the next firmware release to fix this.

Latest board was released about 1 month ago? or so .... it is pretty much the same in terms of upsampling.
the "artifacts" you are experiencing, are you by any chance using HQPlayer or the upsampling capabilities within Roon?

FWIW and IMO using Roon by itself I prefer the Terminator with PCM max native rate and not upsampling in Roon. Terminator in OS mode (not NOS)
If you use HQPe (which I prefer to Roon alone) then PCM max upsampling 1536 with 19 bits and Termy in NOS mode.
Again this is just my preferenceThis is a wonderful DAC, I would love to hear comments for the DAC and the DDC as well

Well the only time I experienced a loud distortion and hiss was with the 1st Amanero board, possibly with the end of 2018 firmware for the new board (1st iteration) which was very stable with the update from Nov 2019, that update was revealing. MCU and FPGA update. If your DAC is from Nov 2019 or newer it should have such firmware. Which by the way brings the SQ to an entire new level.

That makes no sense to me.

That is a good (although very direct and raw) remark. I totally agree but you could have added @erik_squires "even more if the source content is native PCM"

This is the way I understand it. Big part of the cost of the Terminator is the good quality and numerous resistors it uses. When you send content to the DAC it will do a lot of things, depending on the input used, buffering and reclocking etc, based on the source content will start the upsampling and digital to analog conversion on one of these two paths, if the content is PCM will be processed over the ladder of resistors and if it is DSD will be processed over the Sigma Delta stage with custom programmed FPGA.

IMO if you have native source content on DSD format well sending direct DSD bypassing the resistor ladder would be possibly advisable. On the other hand if you have PCM (from Tidal, Qobuz) then you could be better off sending PCM to it.

Erik's point I think is you could get a cheaper DS DAC if you prefer DSD (for some reason) and forget about the ladder part.

As said above My preference with the DAC would be sending "converted" (I don't like the term upsampled as I feel it is grammatically incorrect) PCM to max resolution with NOS, but (again) I for some time used a different player (not Roon) sending native Tidal with no conversion and the OS feature engaged and it sounded wonderful, could say different but comparable. After playing much with computers, software and suffering the effects of EMI/RFI I came to realize that if you don't have the time to tweak or if you just want to enjoy digital content with a simplier yet refined digital chain that's where you would be using the Terminator at its best

Please note just like I have my own preferences everyone else in this forum have their own, and I respect that, it is your ears, your perception and your money.

If I am making a false claim above by all means chime in and correct me

+1 @erik_squires . I was thinking the same thing. But it’s his ears and his money. If he likes the sound better that way, that’s his choice.

You nailed it @jaytor, in three lines what I used more than 30, 👍

If I may add, I said above big part of the cost were the resistors but I could add the final analog conversion electrical stage it is excellent as well as the digital filters used in the conversion. This is a very complete product which you would get not only for the R2R section, that's what I'm trying to say.

@david_ten and @alvin1118

David and Alvin, I did not mean to derail this thread onto a separate PCM / DSD / other DACs discussion, just stating my opinion.

Huh. If they say that the DSD conversion sounds better, it certainly invites me to price shop for a DAC that spent the same amount in the DSD output but not the PCM.

Hi Erik:
We are saying kind of the same thing.
You will buy the terminator for the PCM stage no doubt about it, that is " the whole raison de’etre " as you put it.

My own opinion for other factors.
If you also have DSD recordings the DSD stage is very good as well and you don’t have to go from DSD to PCM, how good is this DSD vs PCM stage is a matter of preference, I don’t use it and I have said elsewhere in these forums that PCM sounds better than DSD and got controversial. Honestly I don’t take sides, so I told them do whatever rocks your boat.

When I was referring Erik that you (I should have said "could" not "would") get not only for the R2R (English is not my native language) I meant because other parameters (not specifically the DSD section)

Using silly bulk numbers reasons to get the Terminator

1. Resistor ladder for PCM conversion - 60%
2. Power supply quality, shielding and design and placement of components - 20% (Other DAC’s you usually have to power these with LPS’s and such to get very good benefits meaning extra cost $600 - $2000 for a good LPS, the built in PS on the Terminator is very good, you don’t need to spend extra on power supplies)
3.  Filters used - 10%. These are very good, with native PCM redbook content the OS feature plays wonderful, the filters are the hand of the designer and have their own magic, I experimented this specifically with Euphony Stylus Player.
4. DSD conversion - 10%.The SDM conversion is very good (specially with the good power supply embedded in the hardware), if you have native recordings again you don’t need to go through the PCM conversion, or DoP etc. just direct DSD, up to 1024 which is nice although not very usable for limitations on content and conversion software.
   

I understand for you topic 1. the PCM conversion will weight possibly 100% or 90% making the decision, I am just trying to see it in more "general" / "big picture" terms.If you want a good SDM DAC go for an RME ADI, will cost half the price (without an LPS) but it won’t offer many of the "special" features the Termy does.
And besides let’s be realistic, how many here are using Tidal / Qobuz PCM streaming vs Native DSD users? i would say 95%?
Yeah exactly your point (and mine) Erik ...

@jaytor yes sir I agree

Congrats, please report back next week

With their top model you need to supply your own, I assume the Ares will be the same
I'm answering because they are on holiday and it might take a while

Happy New Year Alvin
Surprised to see you online
Cheers