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12 Year DCS Scarlatti DAC Plus Clock vs Denafrips Terminator Plus

I have an chance to get a 12 year old Scarlatti DAC and Clock from a second owner with a price of a Terminator Plus. I am wondering which one is the best way to move forward since at 12 year on the DCS I am not sure how many years more I can use the DAC. Another thing is the clock need Calibration which will be costly from Asia. I have seen a good review of the terminator and upgrade is easy since i can add a clock in my system. There is no way to audition the Terminator unlike the DCS. I love the DCS but I am afraid it might me a move backward rather than forward since of the 10yr tech gap. 

csnebres0925
alexatpos
1,216 posts
 

@csnebres0925 , Dacs have no moving parts (like transports) so I guess they will need service less likely than some other gear. Dcs is quite serious company, even the distance (for service) should not be a problem (cost, on othe other hand, might be). So, if you really like the Scarlatti, life is too short, to take the second best...I still have not heard or read that somebody had a problem with it, that was not possible to solve. In any case, try to listen the Terminator as well, than your choice is going to be much easier. I repeat, I have not heard it, but somehow I doubt that it can ’hold its ground’ versus Scarlatti, even more if you like the Dcs sound. Let us know what have you decided after you listen to Denafrips dac.

viethluu's avatar
viethluu
90 posts
 

You need to listen to both. At that price, it is too risky to buy blind.

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
765 posts
 

I have owned the Terminator Plus along with the Gaia DDC for almost two years. I haven't heard the DCS Scarlatti, but have heard the Rossini on a number of occasions. The Rossini was in a more expensive system (not in mine) so I don't have an apples-to-applies comparison, but I think the Terminator Plus acquits itself very well compared to the DCS DAC. 

The Rossini is a bit more detailed, but the T+ sounds a bit smoother (more analog) to my ears, but these differences could be attributed to other aspects of the system that the DCS was used in. However, this same system playing LPs did not exhibit the edginess I heard on vocals from the DCS DAC. This system is a very high-end system (I'd estimate > $300K not including the analog front-end) and is very revealing. 

Both these DACs are very nice. I tend to like a lot of detail, and for some content the added edginess of the DCS is a plus for me, particularly for things like guitar and percussion. But I prefer the sound from the Denafrips (and my friend's analog front end) for vocals (particularly female vocals).

But without comparing them in the same system with the same content, it's a little hard to come to specific conclusions. 

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