DENAFRIPS DAC ---- Owner Impressions, Feedback, General Discussion, Questions and more....

Any idea why the switch from Jriver to Aurdirvana?

I'm really put off by the subscription plans from Aurdirvana. Would much prefer the one time payment from Jriver.

just so folks don’t misunderstand my earlier post, the denafrips pontus voicing is quite middle of the road in terms of treble energy, it is quite balanced top to bottom overall

as @twoleftears said, the bp unit is one of the most rolled off sounding dacs out there, and in my system it did this to the detriment of conveying inner detail and air (something the pontus does exceptionally well)

i will do this now, quickly, from memory - i will basically put the various standalone dacs i have tried over the past 18-24 months into three tiers of brightness/forwardness of treble - this is just for this single dimension only, one of several sonic criteria for choosing a dac to work well in a good, highly resolving system

there are subtle variations in tonal balance within each group, but for sake of simplicity i force them all into the 3 tiers 

a - most energetic treble/fast and forward

chord qutest 2qute hugo tt2
rme adi 2
topping d90
schiit yggy
musical fidelity trivista
ps audio digital link (cullen)
mytek brooklyn

b - relatively balanced, medium treble energy

denafrips pontus, ares, venus, term (nos)
ayre codex
jolida black ice tube dac
metrum pavane jade amethyst
schiit gumby
mhdt various, modded
sonnet morpheus
ava hybrid fet tube
w4s various
chord mojo

c - most rolled off/smooth understated treble

border patrol
audio mirror tubador
mhdt various, unmodded
musical paradise
neko d100-2
psa direct stream (pre sunlight firmware)
metrum octave

hope this helps some readers here trying to buy the right dac for them (am sure i may have left out a few still)

Your categorization of the Qutest, Yggy and Pontus aligns with my experience. I would say that the Ares has a bit more harshness than the Pontus.

I'm pretty sensitive to digital glare and have avoided listening to much digital audio for the last 32 years for that reason. But the Pontus II doesn't seem to induce much if any listening fatigue for me. Measures that I've taken to reduce digital harshness include:

1. Use of an Ethernet cable via an Ethernet access point created by a TP-Link RE230 Wi-Fi extender
2. Supra Cat 8 Ethernet cable
3. Pro-ject streamer with the Wi-Fi receiver turned off
4. Audioquest Jitterbug noise filter
5. Stordiau Lush USB cable

With all of those in place, I can listen to the Pontus II for hours with no sign of listening fatigue.

jjss49 

Thank you for all that incredibly useful info.  I am going to upgrade my DAC and this helps dispel alot of confusion and uncertainty.