Denafrips Dacs

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by bever70, Nov 8, 2019.

  1. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    Denafrips must think phase is important if they dedicated a button to it on the Ares II. Sampling mode and filter selection require a sequence of button pushes.
     
  2. Rbeh

    Rbeh Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC
    I guess they figure once you decide which sampling mode and filter you like best you'll probably leave those settings alone. Polarity is something you might change frequently because different recordings have different polarity.

    The Polarity List
     
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  3. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    Makes sense.
     
  4. alvin1118

    alvin1118 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
    Excellent discussion on the phase polarity! That's right, there is no hard rule of leaving it on/off.
    It is system dependent, as well as music recording matters. Note that some preamps like the Mark Levinson come with polarity switching too.

    Cheers! :righton:
     
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  5. NCZ_PT

    NCZ_PT Active Member

    Location:
    Portugal
    Hi
    Just ordered a VENUS II yesterday after following this discussion for some time and a few email with Alvin. I hope it arrives fast.
    I didn't see many people using the Venus, or did I miss it?
    Can't wait for it to arrive
    Cheers,
    N.
     
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  6. alvin1118

    alvin1118 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
  7. Silverwolf

    Silverwolf Occasional Esoteric Freak

    Been following this thread for a while... without wishing to start a separate one (or to hijack this one too much, apologies if I am..), has anyone heard a Denafrips pre/power amp combo? Just as curious about those now!
     
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  8. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    Interesting list, I have a few of them. Will check those out and see if I can hear a difference using the phase switch.
     
  9. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Belgium
    No problem! Interested as well to hear actual owners experience with these. I know there are a few YouTube reviews...
     
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  10. Voodoo Child

    Voodoo Child Just A Flea-Bit Peanut Monkey

    Location:
    London
    I haven't heard them myself but here's a review from Zero Fidelity on YouTube.

     
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  11. Rbeh

    Rbeh Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC
    I just realized there's another possible explanation for the phase switch. That DAC has balanced outputs that use XLR connectors. Most XLR jacks are wired with pin 2 being hot (positive) and pin 3 being cold (negative), but some devices are wired the reverse way (pin 1 is always ground). If the DAC is wired differently from the preamp or other device that you're connecting it to, it would be a lot easier to push the phase switch than to redo the wiring of the cables so they would cross over between pin 2 on one device and pin 3 on the other.
     
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  12. alvin1118

    alvin1118 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
    I posted this elsewhere, thought i should share it here for DENAFRIPS owners who may want to connect the DAC to two amplifiers.

    [​IMG]

    If the headphone amps are not true balanced, there is a work around.
    The balanced XLR outputs of the DENAFRIPS DAC are true balanced. Pin2 against Pin1 is the positive signal; Pin3 against Pin1 is the negative signal.

    You may custom made a pair of XLR cable to split the signals to four(4) RCA plugs. Schematic as above.
    The DAC will 'see' the amps as two individual amplifiers.

    Cool isn't it? :righton:
     
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  13. tomlomtimlim

    tomlomtimlim Well-Known Member

    Location:
    UK
    @alvin1118

    Hi Alvin

    Do you have any connection to the UK Denafrips distributor Willow Tree Audio?

    I am interested in buying a used Ares II before possibly upgrading to the more expensive Denafrips DACs.

    I have seen some on eBay that still have some years remaining on the warranty and I would like to know if the warranty is transferable in the UK. I sent Willow Tree Audio an email a few days ago asking this question, but they have not replied.

    Do you know if the warranty is transferable in the UK?

    Thanks
     
  14. DavidR

    DavidR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I have had the Denafrips Ares II for a couple of weeks now and really like it, better in my system then the Chrod DAC I had previously.

    Looking to try the Pontus next!
     
  15. DavidR

    DavidR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    From Willow Tree: "Warranty if transferred is only valid for twelve months from date of original purchase. The full 3 year warranty is only valid for the original purchaser."
     
  16. Voodoo Child

    Voodoo Child Just A Flea-Bit Peanut Monkey

    Location:
    London
    My new Pontus arrived Friday and my first impression upon unpacking it was of the superb build quality. It's a real solid piece of kit.
    My first listening impression however was a little underwhelming to begin with, not because it sounded bad, but it wasn't much of an improvement over what I was used to. Now this was cold out of the box and I knew that Denafrips advise leaving it powered on 24/7 and that it takes about 300 hours of breaking in for it to sound its best so decided not to make any hasty judgements and just be patient.
    I managed to get a about 15 hrs listening over the weekend and things are already starting to improve and I'm now looking forward to getting as much listening as I can with it over the coming weeks.
     
  17. ubiknik

    ubiknik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Sounds good so far, do keep us updated.
    I've been enjoying the Pontus for a little over a year now and it's definitely a keeper.
    Do you know if yours has the newest dsp card?
    I think in mid spring they became available and I think I will get it at some point, but honestly it sounds good enough to warrant low status on the totem pole of things that need doing.
    I've been playing a lot of vinyl records and recording them, but I also do all the playback through the Pontus, as well as playing a few cds a week and so far I have no complaints at all, once in awhile I think maybe I'll tweak with the settings and filters to match what the analog section sounds like, but I end up forgetting about it in the midst of listening so to me this indicates all is well because I do enjoy the sound.
    I still just leave it in NOS mode, rca digital in from transport @ 16/44.1 and balanced out from Tascam @24/88.2.
    It's a great dac!
     
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  18. Voodoo Child

    Voodoo Child Just A Flea-Bit Peanut Monkey

    Location:
    London
    Don't know whether it has the latest version of the card or not. Didn't think to ask at the time but would hope so seeing as it's new off the production line.
     
  19. alvin1118

    alvin1118 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
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  20. tIANcI

    tIANcI Wondering when the hifi madness will end

    Location:
    Malaysia
    I had a good pairing with Pontus, Line Magnetic LM805ia and Harbeth P3ESR. Was sweet ...
     
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  21. DavidR

    DavidR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Are you using RCA or XLR?

    I let my Ares run for 24 hours before I even listed to it.

    I'm on about 200 hours now and it is still improving!
     
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  22. DavidR

    DavidR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Interesting, I am looking to rip some of my old vinyl, what is your recording setup?
     
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  23. tomlomtimlim

    tomlomtimlim Well-Known Member

    Location:
    UK
    Thanks David.

    Where exactly did you find this on the website? I went back and had another look to see why I might of missed it but I still cant find it! The only information I can find regarding warranty is that its 36 months.
     
  24. DavidR

    DavidR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I asked the same question as you when I ordered my Ares II a couple of months ago. That was the reply from Iain the owner of Willow Tree.
     
  25. ubiknik

    ubiknik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    I'm using a Tascam DA-3000, which works great for this kind of stuff, anyone trying this unit out should immediately get a cheap (or not) keyboard as it is so easy to do recording and playback via control through the keyboard.
    Once you learn a couple simple keystrokes it becomes child's play to record and then title the files.
    I think Denon makes some similar nice units as well, Denon has one that can transfer files over a network (Tascam probably does too, idk), which would make getting files onto a desk or lap top much easier, but I've had no problems with just moving files around with the SD cards.
     

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