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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]
david_ten
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
@bstatmeister  I only have the Terminator and the Yggdrasil. You'll have to report back! : )
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
Just installed the New DSP board for the Terminator DAC. It took under 5 minutes to do so. Less than ten minutes from powering off to powering back on with the new DSB board.

The USB connection and handshake with Roon took immediately.

This is as simple as an install gets. I’m now playing music with the new board in, all in under ten minutes!!!

I’ll report back as I get some hours on the new board. First listen is very promising...and is different than the old board.

Here is the link from Denafrips / Alvin of Vinshine Audio to walk you through the board install.

https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/2019/06/18/How-To-Upgrade-DSP-Board?utm_campaign=7629eada-25c7-4c4f-a389-d6fa4664e3ec&utm_source=so
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
One thing to point out:   My streaming system is Linux based, which meant an immediate (driver-less) handshake [same for Mac]. Those with Windows systems will need to load the Thesycon USB driver.

Here is a link to Technical Highlights and Specifications [from Denafrips]:

https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/2019/05/31/DSD1024-PCM1536---Are-you-ready
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
Early impressions, now that I have over 30 hours of playtime on the DAC and over 40 hours of energized time on it:

First, I concur with what others have shared based on their own early impressions (mainly on Head Fi): The presentation is Clearer / Cleaner and with greater Clarity than the fully-run-in previous board.

Second, there has been variance in the sound as well as progression (in a good way) as the unit breaks in. Therefore, I’ll hold off on my other findings until I have over 100 hours of playtime on the DAC / new USB/DSP board.

Third, the sound signature of the new board departs enough from the previous board, for me to label it as ’significant,’ at least in terms of making a decision on one vs. the other.

Fourth, the write-up that was linked earlier in this thread [at the 10 hour point] is too early for an evaluation, in my opinion. Hopefully the author will follow-up with another quick review once he has many more hours on the board. The changes and progression I’m hearing is why my feedback above is very limited, at this point in time.

[PLEASE NOTE: I am only using the USB input and I am only using NOS mode, at this time]
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
Srajan Ebaen’s 6Moons review and 'Realization Awarded' Denafrips Terminator New DSP Board:

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/denafrips4/
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