Denafrips Pontus *15th* ?

I've still no idea what is going on with Denafrips/Vinshine; I'm not sure if there actually is a parting of ways, as down in the shipping notes on the Denafrips site, the notes reference Vinshine several times re: EU and UK VAT/Duty, so nope, no idea what's going on.

Regardless, the Pontus II 15th is a lovely, lovely sounding piece of kit. I won't go into hyperbole, except to say it gives everything the Ares 12th-1 did, but much more if it.

The DAC the Ares and now Pontus has kept off my rack since Jan/Feb is the Cen Grand DSDAC 1.0 Super Clock, which converts all PCM to DSD, up to DSD 1024 and a fine DAC, which was almost twice the price of the Pontus; but the Pontus is just streets ahead in terms of emotional engagement compared to the Cen Grand.

I've never owned a previous Pontus version, so can't compare, but the 15th is staying put; no complaints at all 👍

I received an email from Denafrips Europe today, advertising the 15th versions; this is a copy & paste from the email:

"The Enyo 15th matches the sound quality of the Ares 12.1, the Pontus 15th matches the Venus 12.1, and the Terminator 15th matches the T12.1+. The new Ares 15, with major circuit adjustments and two low-phase-noise oscillators, now matches the sound quality of the Pontus 12.1, despite its unchanged size."

Make of that what you will. There's nothing I can see relating to the above statement on the main Denafrips site; it's as it has been for the last couple of weeks or so. Vinshine remains the same; DACs/DDCs out of stock

This whole thing how they’ve handled the launch of the 15th models to how they’ve treated/ghosted Alvin at Vinshine after being such a good ambassador for the Denafrips brand is an utter embarrassment IMO and is making them look like a completely mismanaged company.  By contrast look how LAiV, a brand new company, is handling the launch of their highly-regarded Harmony DAC on all levels.  Frankly I’d look at their DAC before anything at Denafrips right now with their multiple unforced fumbles and seemingly endless/confusing product upgrades.  Nice job Denafrips!

I agree with everything you've said there. It's a sorry state of affairs at Denafrips right now.

I had been looking at the Pontus 12th-1 but am now going to wait til things shake out. In the meantime, I’m trying to understand the current state of affairs, and the post from @painter24 with Denafrips EU email is helpful (but confusing).

From the Denafrips website, the "Pontus 15th" does indeed look like Venus 12th. In fact, compare these two images of the recent Pontus generations:

1. Pontus 15th (Denafrips website) vs Pontus 12th (online image). If you zoom in on the P-15th you’ll see "FVenus 12th" etched onto the board.

2. Now look at the Venus II 12th-1 (Denafrips website). There are design differences with the P-15th...and the etching on the board says "FVenus II".

Is it that Denafrips is importing older Venus tech into the Pontus line? If so, this may explain the lower relative cost of the Pontus 15th vs the Venus II 12th-1. The same strategy might be used for the Enyo and Ares products. If this is the case, then the Pontus 12th-1 that I was planning on buying (now dubbed "Ares 15th") could be more affordable now ($1200 vs $1800). Or the "Venus" line is now more in reach than before (Pontus 15th).

But I won’t be buying anything from Denafrips until they clarify things.