@smodtactical if within your budget, why not consider Marantz SA-10 which has built-in, good quality headphone amp? It’s a reference-class CD/SACD player with USB (Type A and B) and SPDIF inputs. You need to read more about SA-10 DAC-less conversion. It’s hard for me to go back to Terminator after listening to SA-10. I still have both.
DENAFRIPS DAC ---- Owner Impressions, Feedback, General Discussion, Questions and more....
Thread for OWNER IMPRESSIONS, FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS, ETC. regarding DENAFRIPS DACs.
DENAFRIPS lists the following R2R DACs:
Ares, Pontus, Venus, and Terminator (in increasing price order).
"DENAFRIPS incorporated in year 2012, focus in developing high end audio equipment at a very affordable price. Throughout the years of intense Research & Development, and continuous improvement of the product lines, DENAFRIPS had finally settled with the current product range equipped with R-2R ladder DAC technology. The reason behind this is the designer strongly believe that R-2R DAC is the best way to reproduce music.
The name, DENAFRIPS, stand for:
D-ynamic
E-xquisite
N-atural
A-ttractive
F-idelity
R-efined
I-ntoxicating
P-ure
S-ophisticated
This mean a lot and it is the house-sound of all DENAFRIPS products." [Copied From Denafrips About Us section]
DENAFRIPS lists the following R2R DACs:
Ares, Pontus, Venus, and Terminator (in increasing price order).
"DENAFRIPS incorporated in year 2012, focus in developing high end audio equipment at a very affordable price. Throughout the years of intense Research & Development, and continuous improvement of the product lines, DENAFRIPS had finally settled with the current product range equipped with R-2R ladder DAC technology. The reason behind this is the designer strongly believe that R-2R DAC is the best way to reproduce music.
The name, DENAFRIPS, stand for:
D-ynamic
E-xquisite
N-atural
A-ttractive
F-idelity
R-efined
I-ntoxicating
P-ure
S-ophisticated
This mean a lot and it is the house-sound of all DENAFRIPS products." [Copied From Denafrips About Us section]
- ...
- 571 posts total
I have been using a Denafrips Terminator for a few months now and to say I am pleased is an understatement. Up until I bought the Denafrips, I was using a Metrum Octave Mk II R2R DAC and I liked it but it was the weak link in my system. It was the least expensive piece, even my speaker cables cost more, so it wasn't up to the level of the rest of my system. In my quest for a new DAC a Denafrips came up for sale and it was a few hours away and the reviews were good so I went and purchased it. It wasn't possible to audition so I went on faith. Brought it home and hooked it up and the difference between the Metrum was night and day. To me, the music just opened up, it was good before but now I knew I could never go back. To be fair the price difference between the DAC's is at least three fold if not more. It was at this point where I finally could say I was finished the search for audio equipment. Truly I am done. Others have described the sound of this DAC in more detail and I am not one of those guys that can do that. It either sounds right or it doesn't. I don't need hours to make that determination. The Terminator was one of those pieces that just sounded right. For those who are interest my system is as follows: Aurender N100H music server, Denafrips Terminator, Herron Line Stage, Herron Mono Blocks, Tetra 606 speakers. Cabling and power cords by Audio Sensibility Statement series, TEO Game Changer IC's and Audio Quest Cinnamon USB. I also use Audio Points under my speakers. Argentum Acoustic Power Bar and Hubble receptacle. Focal Elear headphones and Lehmann Audio headphone amplifier. |
smodtacticalTerminator has proven itself in many forums, and up against the much more expensive PS Audio here's a video on the three way shootout. https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/253642-denafrips-terminator-3-dac-shootout-video/ Where the Audio GD R2R7HE is quite new, and if looking at the guts is any indication, it "could" be a rip snorter. https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/254028-another-audio-gd-r2r-dac-the-r2r-7he/ Cheers George |
Review of the Denafrips Pontus DAC. Positive Feedback // John Zurek https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/denafrips-pontus-dac/ |
| Post removed |
- 571 posts total