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Denafrips Terminator vs other dacs

Hey everyone I have owned the denafrips Terminator in my system for approximately one year and am enjoying it. However I have not compared it to many other Dacs. the only one really being the Burson conductor SL 9018 and the hdv 820 and both of these were with headphones not speakers.
Initially when I was buying I was looking to spend around 4,000 and was deciding between the PS audio directstream and the Terminator and after lots of reading eventually settled on The Terminator.

So in this thread my aim is to get all the people who've either owned the Terminator or heard it to chime in on there impressions of it specifically compared to other dacs. Some of the other dacs I'm thinking of are the chord Hugo 2, tt2, Dave. The bricasti M1 SE. PS direct stream. Metrum pavane. Holo spring l3. And any other dacs that you heard that you have compared to the Terminator.

I realize that there are other threads that discuss the Terminator but I have not seen any that focus on comparing it to other dacs which is what I want this thread to be focused on.
Thank you so much.
smodtactical
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
565 posts
 
^ Speaking of listening for pleasure... That equals Lampizator for me, which I’ve gone back to. I tried the other rout but ultimately returned to my Lampi going direct to amp, as that brings me closer into the recording and totally connected to the musical intent of the artists.
There is a difference to me between best sonics and best connection to the music. In digital it’s easy to get steered astray searching for the best in frequency extensions, soundstage size, linearity etc...only to find over time that the emotional connection is diminished... Like choosing left-brained over right-brained listening.
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thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
If you like R2R DACs, MSB is best out there. Period. I used to own the Holo Spring KTE (Kitsune Tuned Edition Level 3), and my MSB Discrete DAC is in a total different league. Sublime!
smodtactical OP
982 posts
 
@thyname, fair enough but its also a $100k dac. Its more than 10x the cash for the dacs we are discussing.
drew_k's avatar
drew_k
34 posts
 
I just picked up a Lampizator Amber 2.2 (2019 edition) a few weeks ago on a launch special.  It retails for around $2,400 in the USA.  I’ve heard other Lampizators at various audio shows and have been impressed with their very natural, cohesive, (dare I say) analogue-like presentation to music.  The Amber 2.2 incorporates their newest digital engine from their TOTL Pacific DAC.  So far so good.  It works seamlessly with my Sony HAP Z1ES and Rega Planet 2000 CDP as sources.
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