Mola Mola Tambaqui or Denafrips Terminator Plus?

From
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/any-thoughts-on-denafrips-terminator-plus

I had Termi and Plus side by side. Ran both with a Gaia. Clocks connected on plus. I found the plus was slightly more full sounding, maybe, just maybe, ever so slightly “colored” for my taste compared to the Termi. I also found an almost indiscernible loss of delicacy in quiet passages. This was very subtle, and would not be noticed unless playing side-by-side on very select music...my foolish harp. I wanted to like the plus better, I just didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, the plus is outstanding. Just a matter of personal taste and system synergy. Price was not a deciding factor. The Terminator plus went to a new home and I kept the Termi. (For reference, I’m running high-end Levinson separates/monos and BW 802D3s. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but certainly a revealing system). Maybe I’ll wait for the next incarnation. Then again these are getting very very pricey. Probably deservedly so, but the PLUS and GAIA combined are slowly approaching the stratospheric prices of the likes of Mola Mola. I absolutely love my Termi with the GAIA. I think I’ll sit tight and see what the future brings. Competition may eventually bring down the prices of Mola Mola and such closing the price gap. Strikes me that such technology may be cheaper to implement than R2R soon. Who knows. I have not heard the Mola Mola...yet. 

@luisma31 - I don't think 73max compared the Terminator II with the Terminator Plus but I could be wrong. The Terminator II has barely begun shipping, and 73max did not mention the Terminator II. 

I had a Terminator and purchased a Terminator Plus. I found the Terminator, particularly when connected through the Gaia, to be an outstanding DAC. But I still prefer the Terminator Plus sound - a bit more detail and air with a more focused sound stage. 

As I understand it, the Terminator II and the Terminator Plus are essentially the same DAC, with the Terminator Plus using a hand-selected OCXO clock and R2R board. In other words, the R2R boards and clock modules that test the best are sorted for these DACs. Whether that's worth the extra ~$2K I can't say. I haven't heard the T2.

It took quite a while for the both the Terminator and Terminator Plus to break in. I think the Terminator Plus took even longer than the Terminator which I suspect is because of the change to supercapacitors. I'm not sure how long 73max gave the T+ to break in, but it was a couple of months of 24/7 operation before it really reached it's peak for me. In the first 2-3 weeks, I thought my Terminator sounded better. 

@jaytor

I don't think 73max compared the Terminator II with the Terminator Plus but I could be wrong

 You are correct, there is no mentioning of the T2, my bad I mixed up both.
But I thought it was particularly interesting from his comment that he tested both Gaia + Terminators and was close for him, you on the other hand have a different but yet valid perspective which validates the obvious that the + sounds better than the non plus model, I missed your earlier post with your comments, allowing enough time for the caps to break is important.

I can only speak for the Terminator (original model) which later I upgraded with the second DSP board. Note I preferred the Amanero board sound over the upgraded board during its first few firmware iterations, then around October 2019 the firmware update (think it was 3.3.2) was released and that improved the sound of the new board over the old Amanero. At some point I am planning to get either the 2 or the + but that's onhold for me now.

In other words, the R2R boards and clock modules that test the best are sorted for these DACs. Whether that's worth the extra ~$2K I can't say. I haven't heard the T2

Yeah this is a good topic, I think it could, this is all related with production batches, resistor drift and linearity and the such which is all related for these ladder resistor DAC's.

Mola-Mola Tambaqui | HFA - The Independent Source for Audio Equipment Reviews (hifi-advice.com)  (new review)

The following thread may have a comparison with the T+. 
The Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC - DAC - Digital to Analog Conversion - Audiophile Style

Hello @robert1976, I’m trying to find a DAC that matches my Focal Scala (Very tempting to your Stellia). And I consider the Mola Mola Tambaqui for a month (I’m using Chord Hugo TT2 as DAC at the moment). How do you feel about Mola & Focal combo? Could you share some of the insight about the Tambaqui and a little of your thought 😁. 

Hope this comment find you soon.