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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
 
For those WITH / OR getting the new DSP board, a few points:

1. If you are A/B’ing with the original board, give the original board at least an hour to come into song. Based on what I’m hearing, I recommend a minimum of 3 hours with 5 hours being ideal.

In other words, if you are planning a quick A/B you will not hear the original board at it’s best. I have 7+ hours of play time on the original board, as of now...if I notice any additional improvements, I’ll post accordingly.

Please note: my original board was "out" for 3 days. I can’t speak to times, if your original board is out longer.

2. I have not swapped in the new board, NOR is mine fully run in...therefore, I can not advise on the hours required for it to come on ’song’ once it is fully broken in, dependant on time "out" of system of course.

3. When you swap in the original board, make sure it is fully ’seated.’ When I removed my original board (to swap in the new board), I noticed there was very light "play" in the ’seating.’

Listening to the original board, completely / fully seated, has been a revelation. : )

[Note: as of this point in time I am only using USB in, NOS setting for my comparisons]
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
Note: a simple FRESH re-seating may be responsible. Similar to what happens with cables, tubes, etc.

For those of you with the original USB / DSP board, I highly recommend doing this. If you do, please share your results. Thanks.
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
A deep dive into the audio closet, a rediscovered OPPO 105, and a few hours later another test of the Optical Input into the NEW DSP board. Same issues / problems as when fed an Optical Digital signal from the OPPO.

Alvin asked me to check the Coax Input. Since I only have Optical and HDMI ARC on the Samsung, I tested the Coax out from the OPPO and it works fine.

As mentioned earlier, the Optical Input of the Original Board works perfectly.
baps
7 posts
 

I received my new Terminator DSP board today. I've plugged it in and have been listening to it for a short while. Specifically, I'm listening/ watching a movie that I'm very familiar with and use as one of my test tracks. Right out of the box my impressions coincide with what others have stated: greater clarity and focus; in a sense digging deeper into the recording offering greater three dimensionality and relief or separation which in turn is revealing more detail  -- background vocals and sounds are more distinct/audible. Finally with greater separation & focus the dynamic contrast is heightened. 

I'm running a Denon 3910 via a high quality SPDIF/RCA cable (coax) and using the NOS setting. Also, since others have reported issues with the optical input, I have hooked that up as well to test it and it is working fine for me -- no issues -- sounds great as well.    

philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
Can someone recommend a power cord for the Ares DAC that is below $100? The cheaper the better really.

Just looking for a step up from the one provided as I have read it makes a big difference with this unit.

BTW enjoying the Ares that I got new 3 days ago.

Thanks!

Phil
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