Denafrips 12 anniversary

“Chifi trying to get US manufacturers prices for garbage. I’d never buy any audio equipment made in China. What garbage. “

Anyone who has ever been in the biz knows what a $6000 Chinese DAC costs to build. About 1/10 it’s price  If that    $600 US is a lot and covers parts and labor  

There is a huge amount of profit, Denafrips has a number of price points to fully exploit this .    
 

It’s just a guess but I believe that $7500 DAC costs less than $800  to manufacture parts and labor are cheap so it’s easy to do 

No way I’m spending that kind of money on stuff made in China.   

How can RME build such a good DAC in Germany and sell it for $1200 ?  They make money, distributor makes money,  end point of sale makes money… still it’s a great DAC.    Two reasons , they are pro audio and aren’t caught up on Audiophoolery .   That’s it.  They could have easily put it in a rack width unit and charged “ audiophiles” twice as much.   Food for thought. 

 

Oddiofyl....I can see how readers are seeing your  post as kind of  coming off  somewhat racist,IMO.Your one step from wearing a MAGA hat.For you to say all Chinese made gear is garbage is foolish at best..Just stop it. There are tons of Denafrips owners on this site that really like or love their units.The Holo DACs are very nice,the spring 3 level 3 for the money being one of them.Very tough finding a used one and even the May is hard to find on the secondary market.The new Pontus at its price point is great,and if one buys  on the used market forgetaboutit,Ive owned all three...The resale on all of them is fantastic so id say that overrides your assessment of Chinese gear is garbage!

too bad this thread is taking a turn towards hate

everyone should check their assumptions at the door if you haven’t worked in china, dealt with chinese businesses, sourced from china, especially in more sophisticated, technology-based goods

what we are saying here is akin to western europeans saying americans are all dumb, fat, lacking any sophistication ... well that may be true, but only sometimes, and most importantly, it simply shows how gross generalizations just create heat and no light, it offers nothing constructive to the discussion

if one thinks china made is stuff is garbage then please throw away your iphone, ipad, computer, memory cards/hard drives, household lighting, appliances, wiring.... you get my drift

Why are we even comparing RME with Denafrips' most expensive dac? A more appropriate comparison is between RME and Denafrips Ares II dac which sells for roughly $850. I have owned both and will take the Ares every time. 

I have owned three Denafrips dacs to date -- started with Ares II, moved up to Pontus II, and currently own Terminator 2. I bought the Ares II for $850 and sold it for $725 after three months since I wanted to move up the chain. I then bought a used Pontus II for $1600 and believe it or not sold it for $1600 after a couple of months. There are very few brands that retain their value as well as Denafrips. The market has spoken and it says that this brand is considered excellent value and not garbage by any stretch of the imagination.

Not saying anything is junk , but most of it is way overpriced.    I used the RME as an example because it’s packed with technology and affordable 

would you rather have a German car or a Chinese car?