Upgrade or Downgrade Changing Bel Canto 3.7 For New Denafrips Pontus 15th?

My impression is that the Denafrips DACs are a little warmer, smoother, more musical sounding than any of the Bel Canto stuff I have tried. But I haven't actually heard the 3.7 so that isn't very helpful. Other Bel Canto models always struck me as being mostly neutral with just a hint of warmth, and Denafrips seems to go further in that direction. 

I've tried most of the Denafrips lineup and feel the Pontus is the sweet spot for value. Definitely try one in your system if you can arrange for it.

Thank you for that advice I will try to trial if possible.

Lots of YouTube reviews on the new 15th series Pontus and Venus. Pontus 15th seems to be a Venus 12th with other changes so check out Venus 12th reviews as well.  I have a Pontus II 12th that I feed by I2S from an IRIS DDC to Klipsch Forte IIIs and Focal Aria 926s. Absolutely love the sound signature on NOS.

I own the Pontus 15th and I can tell you it is an absolute steal.Denafrips really served us a gem of a deal. I upgraded my system from the Aune Twins (Sc9 Dac & Sc1 clock) if you want to stay under $1,400 this is the setup to consider and yes it sounds much better than an Aries II which i also own (the twins have a very detailed but smooth R2R like signature). All that being said when I understood Denafrips was offering a step up (Venus 12th) at a 50% off discount I pulled the trigger for the Pontus,you cannot go wrong here...grab one now before Denfrips cannot afford to cover the tariff hit which they are doing now

I believe you have a fundamental problem with what you are trying to do.  The Onkyo C5 CD/SACD does not have an IS2 output unless you have had it modified? The S/PDIF outputs (optical/Toslink, and Coax) do not output a native DSD signal. 

Am I missing something?