2. digital
  3. 182184-173897

Denafrips Pontus 12th Anniversary

Greetings 

I’ve been considering moving up from my Ares ii to a Pontus ii and there have been a few of them coming up on the pre-owned market lately.

Now I’m seeing that Vinshine is offering the Pontus 12th version and there’s not a whole lot of info about what is improved on it.

Sounds like some power supply improvements and also some gold plated screws?

Has anyone heard the new Pontus 12th or know any specifics about how it compares to the Pontus ii?  What are the improvements, if any?

Pre-owned Pontus ii’s are selling for about $250 less than a brand new 12th. (At least in the U.S.) So not a huge savings.  Plus there’s shipping .., I can’t remember if Vinshine charges shipping.

Thanks in advance 

JS

 

j_andrews
fastcat95
41 posts
 

Sounds encouraging!  Have you tried any of the other inputs?

Keep us posted.  I have a Pontus II 12th coming soon.

backgroundblur
57 posts
 

Just USB.  I’ve been using the Ultrarendu.

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
3,280 posts
 

@backgroundblur 

I concur with your assessment, and I only have a non anniversary dac.

 

soix
9,941 posts
 

So, I have a Musician Pegasus that shares a lot of DNA with the Pontus ll.  I got a Denafrips Iris to be able to take advantage of the i2S input, and there was a vast improvement over using USB, and that was using a cheap 6” HDMI cable from Monoprice.  It’s not a cheap upgrade but totally worth it given the sonic improvements.  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

christianb5s4
237 posts
 

I’ve bought two Denafrips DACs new (Venus 2 and Terminator plus) and they definitely settle in after some use, but certainly not a dramatic night and day. They have always sounded good out of the box.

 

I run mine on OS fast filter, very hard to tell a difference between fast and slow OS in my experience. NOS sounds more analog but loses detail and air. Lastly, I really like the AES output versus the others. Bass is more full, sounds more natural, and has just as much of everything else as USB.

More to discover