Six DAC Comparison

Put a Denafrips IRIS in front of your Pontus before you switch out DACs, I think you’ll find it $500 well spent and cheaper than a new DAC. Definitely a sonic upgrade. 

What I have realised is that everything matters @trivema 

The server/DDC, the power cables and conditioning used, interconnects also have a strong influence.  In a very revealing system you can adjust the sound from a DAC in a noteworthy manner, from musical to analytical, changes in soundstage and clarity etc…

I just wish I had all the ‘best’ items feeding a DAC, because then we’d know how well it scales.  Some DACs can be unimpressive if unoptimised.

@gavin1977 indeed everything does matter, the IRIS in front of a Pontus II gave me 20% improvement, installing a dedicated power line from the panel with a true earth ground and higher grade copper outlets for all the system power another 10%, fiber optic internet with a high quality router, separate industrial grade Ethernet switch box, all with their own linear power supplies, perhaps another 5%+, all subjective of course.  I have less than $2k in the above tweaks for a significant upgrade in SQ. Plus hours moving speakers around with a tape measure and laser pointer.  Even a quarter inch here or there can make a difference. The Klipsch finally disappear, especially at night with the lights off! 

The present options to have Three Sources for replaying recorded, that have a large volume of relatively easy to acquire recordings available, when used an a Standalone Source, or in conjunction with each other. All require different considerations to attain the best from each as a method to produce the signal to be further processed to add gain to become an end sound.

I strictly keep the experience of listening to recorded music in keeping with my thoughts about being able to encounter Live Music Performances, which is the pursuit is to be entertained. 

When listening to live music, I might have an input into how I experience the music, i.e, where I may be located in the Venue, and what mindset I will have when at the event. Beyond that there is very little control, everything else to be experienced is the design of others.

With Audio Devices and Recorded Music to be replayed, there is much more choice. The recording chosen, producer of recording chosen, the Genre, the Source used to create the signal for the audio system to process. The choices are endless.

The question is how much of the experiencing different options is actually a form of entertainment. I know from my own experiences had in this area, the time spent comparing can develop into becoming laborious and all the stimulus that can be had from listening to music, is at risk of being lost.

There is always change to be found, put one Source Item on a selection of different mounting devices and change is disenable. Same outcome can be speedily discovered for swapping umbilical's between Source and Amplification.

Once more from experiences had, In a room with a Group, getting all present to be unanimous in their findings and assessment is quite a challenge. The idea is not to be unanimous, the idea is to learn how each individual is discovering their stimulation and where they are seeing attraction. I am only party to witnessing this unanimous from a Group on a few occasions following multiples of attending meet ups where Group assessments were to occur over many many years. 

Within my own Local HiFi Group, there are regular meet ups made to carry out comparisons, both Digital and Analogue Sources along with supporting devices to enable them to be used. Within Group discussion at the time of the meeting and the courteous follow up mails that come through after the get together, clearly shows there is a broadness in the ideas formed about the experience had, in some cases from individuals with a very healthy experiences of audio equipment, the thoughts shared are quite alien to ones own. 

I have no concerns for the assessments being reported on in this thread, I am encouraging of it. What I do not see is consistency in the reports that are possibly to follow from others sharing on an experience had. The Individual undertaking this Threads assessments will prove to be a valuable aid in steering others towards a DAC to be experienced. The idea of another discovering the like for like for their own report, if presented, is where the reports on experiences had, have the potential to become quite varied and not containing content that is matching.

Today I am more interested in the social aspect of what my interest in audio equipment used for replaying recorded music can bring into my life, very similar to how I experience live music throughout my life, it has never been a sole experience. The person who wrote " Comparison is the Thief of Joy" even though not being about audio in its context, certainly has created a saying that is worthy of taking on board when getting bogged down in audio equipment.  

@pindac Many thanks for your wise post and your gentle admonition to re-focus on what matters first: The music.

I am currently in the midst of spending far too much time researching the system I haven’t put together yet, and this is what I needed to hear. Thanks again.