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

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.  

Dick Olsher / The Absolute Sound review of the Denafrips Terminator DAC:

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/denafrips-terminator-dac

Denafrips Terminator II review by The Computer Audiophile / Audiophile Style:

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/denafrips-terminator-ii-review-and-comparison-r1036/

Denafrips Terminator Plus review by Christiaan Punter / HFA / HiFi-Advice:

"This DAC is simply without flaws. It sets the standard not only at its retail price but it’s one of the finest DACs that I have heard irrespective of the cost. Whether or not you will like its super-transparent and ultra-precise rendering of the music is a personal matter but I will say that it’s rare for an audio component with such extreme levels of precision to remain refined and nuanced while also being musically appealing and emotionally engaging. Direct competitors in order of ascending retail prices are the Mola Mola Tambaqui, the Aqua Formula xHD, and the CH Precision C1. All three offer different facilities and provide different tonal- and spatial presentations. But these differences are not nearly as large as one might suspect based on the cost. Most impressively, none of the other DACs manage greater levels of transparency, detail retrieval, or overall precision."

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/denafrips-terminator-plus/