can i get a significant dac upgrade over my Lumin d2 for 2k?

I’m also a little over a week into testing a Denafrips Iris DDC feeding the Pontus, and yes does it make a very noticeable difference

@vthokie83 Glad to hear your Iris is working out although I’ll say I’m not really surprised given the reviews and other users’ experience. My Iris arrives tomorrow from The Music Room and can’t wait to get it hooked up. BTW, what HDMI cable are you using and what length?

@sgreg1 Congrats on that excellent new DAC — I’m sure you’re gonna love it. Down the road do consider getting a DDC so you can take advantage of the Gustard’s i2S input as it can up your performance even more. Please let us know what you think if you could once the DAC is broken in.  What digital cable will you be using?  Try to go with at least 1.5m length if you can for better sound. 

Soix,

As of right now using a 1 meter Audioquest Vodka 48 HDMI (8K) for testing, and since I'm  comparing the system with/without Iris.....don't yet want to muck up the works with different cables. 

I do have a Supra 2.1 UHD (8K), that I think should give excellent performance, and I have a Wireworld Sphere 48 (8K) that's inexpensive and am looking for another reasonably priced high speed HDMI cable to compare (maybe Furutech?).....open to recommendations $250 and under

thanks all

just sold the Lumin, ordered the Gustard, and purchased a used Topping D90se for the interim

Great for you, please do report back when you have it up and running

@vthokie83 Makes total sense to keep Vodka as a constant, and I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts. I’ll be getting my Iris on Sunday now (shipping delay), and since it’s used it won’t take too long to settle in and get a take on what it’s doing. I’m starting with a cheap 1-foot Monoprice HDMI cable — I read some stuff that said HDMI doesn’t travel well so try to use 1 foot or less and the Monoprice was one of the only ones I found at such a short length. Plus, from people who installed DDCs they seemed to indicate there was not a huge difference relatively speaking between HDMI cables so figured the Monoprice was a good place to start. Once I get a feel for the sound I’m gonna try a DH Labs HDMI 2.1 that’s $95 for 0.5m (yeah I know, but it’s the shortest length they offer) and see if there’s a meaningful improvement. Anyway, that’s my plan for now and subject to change when someone inevitably shares some info that points me in a completely different direction. It never ends…

https://silversonic.com/products/video-cables/hdmi-2-1/