Denafrips FPGA Firmware Update

paulcreed

455 posts

04-05-2023 at 04:00pm 

After reading some saying a little brighter and not as organic has anyone decided to hold up on the update? I was planning on doing an update on my Pontus 2 this weekend but may hold off until more have spoken up on their results.
    I’m very happy with the detail and bass I’m getting now if I need more Im guessing I can change out cables or tubes. Gaining better bass and sound stage is very appealing but if at the cost of losing it’s natural presentation it is a concern for me. I’m sure there is no going back after update.

so… yeah…I updated last Sunday…strictly for the improved sonics, as I had no tech issues…and after listening extensively…for me…I am experiencing greater clarity…some positives…but as of right now there can be a glassiness in the highs. Symbols sound better but the overall sound in the highs with certain recordings can be synthetic sounding… The DAC NEVER had this quality before. There Is a discussing going on at Head-Fi about this. Many of us are having the same experience. A member there has talked with Alvin and said that we can return our DACs to the previous firmware. I am going to give mine some more "burn-in" and see if the sound changes…but if not I am going to reload the old firmware.

That thread is here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/denafrips-fpga-firmware-update-12th-anniv.967375/page-7

@bobo1000 I am exactly in the same boat with you: the experienced “glassiness” and the will to wait for burn in and see the improvements. 

If not, then I wish to go back to the previous firmware.

I communicated with Alvin last week and he told me all Denfrips products are currently shipping with the latest firmware.What I’d be curious to know is if folks who purchased a Pontous 12th in the FB group are experiencing the same issue with the glassiness and synthetic sound? If not it could be the firmware isn’t playing nice with some aspect of the pre-revision hardware. The good news is we can revert to the old firmware in many cases that is not possible; also Alvin is a stand up guy he’ll make things right.

Yeah…I luckily have another decent DAC to compare the updated Pontus to side-by-side. 

My Marantz SACD 30n has a Burr/Brown chip based DAC/streamer which is on the warm side. Unusual for a chip-based DAC, but true. It can lack detail though in that warm ness. I am definitely getting a colder rendering by my Pontus now. It used to reveal more detail than my Marantz..and never sounded synthetic or edgy like it can now.