Upgrade Denafrips Terminator 2


Hi Guys,

I started my "DAC Journey" around 3 years ago. Over the time I had an Rasperry Pi 3b with integreated DAC, a Bluesound Node, then a Denafrips Pontus 2 and now a Denafrips Terminator 2. 

I am pretty happy with the T2, but I am looking for the secret Gamechanger in the DAC category.

Sure, the T2 is a great DAC, but there is for todays standard better stuff out there, even for a bit less money I guess.

My next DAC should sound a bit more holographic, more revealing with that warm sound signature. I think the R2R technology is the way to go, but I am open for everything. What I probably love the most about the T2 is that Bass slam. So I am looking forward for that kind of sound.

I read a lot about the very hyped up Holo Audio May. Also other brands like Lampizator, Rockna and LAIV are a names that can not be ignored.

 

I am a used buyer, so everything up to 5.5k for a used price is okay for me. I just need some suggestions or experiences from you guys.

Maybe someone has an cheaper option as an secret advice from a small company.

Looking forward hearing from you.

braun-hifi

@curiousjim

First, a short answer to your question then a more detailed write up of my experiences comparing the AmazonBasics Cat 6 Ethernet cable to the Supra cable.

Benefits that I heard due to the cleaner sound from the Supra cable were:

 

- More presence to voices and instruments which sound more forward and distinct in presentation

- Richer tonality

- Less grain to the sound

- Better resolution due to a lower noise floor (This is audible when comparing a cleaner signal to one that is less clean)

- Easier to follow bass lines

- Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes.

My detailed notes of my listening impressions:

To start off, the AmazonBasic Cat 6 Ethernet cable didn’t sound bad at all, but the Supra Cat 8 cable sounded substantially better. I don’t tend to waste much time going back and forth on tracks listening for subtle differences. I tend to focus on whether differences are pretty obvious to me. And, yes. These listening impressions are not based on blind listening so take these as subjective impressions. 

My impressions of the Supra cable versus the AmazonBasics cable on tracks that I used for comparison.

More presence, voices and instruments are more forward in presentation and more distinct. Sounds is tonality richer. Less grain to the sound. - Too Much Alike, Robert Plant & Patty Griffin on Digging Deep: Subterranea

Easier to follow bass lines. - Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple, Machine Head

Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes. - Route 66,, Depeche Mode, Music for the Masses

Felt that there was a tremendously more power behind crescendoes producing a greater sense of tension in the music. More clarity, smoothness, and finesse but also better precision and articulation on the faster paced violin solos. The sound of Lisa Batiashvilli’s violin is noticeably smoother and more pleasant in tone. The tone of her violin on the AmazonBasics cable seemed a bit coarse. Crescendoes are more powerful, but also less edgy in sound. Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, 1st Movement, Lisa Batiashvilli, Staatskapelle Berlin

Typani have more fullness and definition. Again, the same type of power behind crescendoes as I heard in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. More finesse in how the interaction between instruments are conveyed. Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, First Movement, London Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski

The complex, multi-layered rhythms are are more effortlessly conveyed & much more easily understood. I hear this when listening to this recording on vinyl, but realized that following the rhythms in this track when streaming can sometimes be more difficult. It feels like it takes less mental effort to listen to this track when the Supra cable is in place. More fullness in how the voices at the beginning of the track are reproduced. Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, Paul Simon, Graceland

Guitar sounds faster and more articulate. Layover, Michael Hedges, Breakfast in the Field.

 

I was listening to both on Sunday night and one interesting observation that I had was that I had a serious case of ’Let’s hear that again’ when the Supra cable was in my system and ending up listening to the same track 3 or 4 times. I was pretty tired when I was listening on Sunday night and the AmazonBasics cable didn’t seem to have that same effect on me. In fact, I was literally falling asleep when the Amazon cable was in, but putting the Supra cable in would perk me up. The Supra cable seems to convey both more energy behind the music as well as a smoother sound (less harshness).

 

@curiousjim I also wonder if the Netgear powerline adapter might possibly be collecting and feeding EMI or RFI into your system. I haven’t tried a powerline adapter but wonder about the effect of sending data through a power line. How has your experience with using the Netgear powerline adapter been? How does it sound compared to using Wi-Fi to send data to your streamer?

@calvinandhobbes

Thanks for the extensive review! The network cables are the only ones I haven’t messed with yet.

My streamer is only cable, so that’s why the powerline. As far as EMI or RF, that’s a good question. The signal is run through  some cable to fiber to cable adapters. I’ve tried putting them right before the streamer and right before the adapters and I’m not sure I can hear a difference. Right now, they are right before the Powerline so the cheap wall warts aren’t plugged into the same power as or near any of my rig.

Jim

Curiousjim, one other option to get the Internet signal from your router to your streamer is to use a Wi-Fi range extender to create an Ethernet access port. The signal is sent from your router to the Wi-Fi extender and then you run an Ethernet cable from the Wi-Fi extender to your streamer. 

 

 

braunhi-fi

IMO you will not get any DAC better than the Terminator II for less money, you will be going backwards or sideways at best. You may find some other DACs for similar money that you like the sound signature more, but that is a matter of taste.

The Holo Audio May DAC KTE is a really good DAC, but I tested it head to head with a T2....and the T2 bested it; and the KTE is the same money as the Terminator II

If you want a better DAC, you may be spending quite a bit more money.....not less; especially if you want to stay with an R2R DAC