I have provided you with information for thought here: Denafrips Dacs (although I was not obligated to do this for you). Information about matrix float over time (float from the heating of the resistors and their thermal instability) is fairly public information. You can request it from any R2R manufacturer (Holo Audio for example or some others) to make sure that this is the case).
Too bad I don't understand Russian . And using google translate for technical explanations is usually rubbish.
If you're concerned about drift over time then any of the discrete R2R designs are probably not a good fit for you. The concerns about drift over time will just cause you increased audiophile nervosa as the equipment ages. I'm not even sure if MSB's implementation of R2R would be advanced enough to quell your audiophile nervosa about resistor drift. You should probably stick to Schiit multibits, delta-sigma based chip DACs, or Chord DACs, or dCS ring DACs. And ignore the discrete R2R designs. All of the good discrete R2R designs do some sort of correction or compensation of the resistor networks to improve linearity and correct for resistor value errors. The engineers for different brands of DACs do that sort of compensation and correction differently than other brands. Some very differently. Some of those designs may or may not help correct for resistor value drift over time. If you're concerned about that sort of drift over time you'll have some research to do about each DAC and how they do the corrections and how well those corrections and compensations may correct for drift over time. I don't know how Denafrips is correcting for resistor errors to improve linearity. And I don't know what they're doing better in their better DACs compared to the Ares. It would be interesting to find out. And to find an article that explains what they're doing.
They don’t do anything. And they’re not going to. Nothing is provided for this. Only new sales of the following Ares are provided. And what will happen to them in the future, how much the sound will float away - this apparently does not concern the manufacturer ... I'm saying that this is an uncomfortable question for Denafrips. But I still would like to know, to hear the answer to my question. For example, the same Holo Audio nevertheless honestly admitted that the parameters are floating away and that after a few years a one-time correction is required, which cannot be performed in their devices at home by the user himself. Some other R2R manufacturers use a correction in their devices every time turn on the device. .. But with Denafrips, it’s probably suggested that you just throw the DAC in the trash through a couple of years and buy a new one - that’s the whole solution. If this is so, then I am very offended to realize this.
I think I recall reading some reviews of the Terminator that described some of what Denafrips is doing to compensate for resistor values and to get better linearity. But I can't recall which reviews. And I read so many DAC reviews that it's hard to keep track. Look for some Terminator reviews and see if anything mentioned in the Terminator reviews applies to how things are down with the Ares. I also don't expect a DAC company to go into detail about how exactly they've implemented any corrections or compensations in a discrete R2R design. That's trade secret stuff. They can choose to keep such details secret. Again, if you're that concerned about drift over time years from now then a discrete R2R style DAC is probably not the right kind of DAC for you.
Do you think that they have implemented any corrections or compensations there? I strongly doubt it ... ...In any case, it’s easier to keep silent (it's supposedly a secret), even if nothing inside is implemented.
Yes, by the way, the manufacturer sees this discussion of ours, but, as I expected, he will ignore my question and is unlikely to give an accurate and honest answer so as not to disappoint many ... but I'm still waiting for an answer, maybe I’ll wait for clarification... In any case, I really enjoy the sound level of my Ares, it's just an amazing DAC! And I really do not want to lose this level for a few more years, or to buy something new.
What length of time are we talking about here with regards to this drift and what am I supposed to be looking or listening for ?
Send him a direct email if you want an answer to your question ! It's better than assuming he will respond to this without you addressing him directly...
Hit a bit of bad luck with the Ares II last night. I was changing a CD, and when I pressed play the sample rate light on the DAC went dark. I haven't been able to get it to work since. Has anyone experienced this? There's no troubleshooting guide in the manual.
So just now I tried diconnecting all the cables (power, coaxial, and analog) and then reconnecting everything and it's working fine again. I tried just turning it off and on last night but that didn't work, but this seemed to help this morning for some reason. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Good for you, I was just going to suggest to switch everything off (especially disconnecting power!) and try again.
One thing I didn't mention in my little review up-thread but was reminded of when pulling everything out to troubleshoot this morning, this little DAC is very solidly built. It's about 1/3 the size of my Cambridge CD player, but feels like it weighs twice as much. The aluminum front plate is nice and beefy (considering the small size of the DAC itself), and the steel case has absolutely no give. The RCA jacks are also very solid and secured to the case itself, rather than just attached to the circuit board and sticking out of holes in the case (I've had gear like this and the jacks can easily be broken if not handled carefully, which is hard to do when you're pushing a tight interconnect into them).
Hello guys, DENAFRIPS uses RRR resistor network arrays , i.e. All the decoding resistors in the R-2R network arrays are of the same resistance Ω. The quality of the resistors is taken care in the manufacturing process. DENAFRIPS choose the resistors from the same production batch, manufacture them (SMD solder onto the PCB) at the same time. In theory, the deviation of the resistance will be the same across all resistors over time. Moreover, the resistors used are high-precision low thermal effect with temperature coefficient of the low 10/15ppm. The endurance time is at least 8000 hours when used in a high temperature 70°C - 125°C application (i.e. high-power consumption, heat dissipation). The R-2R ladder is ultra-low voltage and low current. The heat dissipation of the resistors is at the room temperature, hence, the endurance time can easily be quadruple, or more. In normal operation condition, the DAC can last at least 10years. We can’t reveal all the design details. Confidential, proprietary, and trade-secrets information are protected by the NDA. What matters is, you are enjoying the sound produced by the DAC, I hope this remains for the many years to come! Many thanks. Yours sincerely, Alvin Chee www.vinshineaudio.com
@alvin1118 Thanks for clearing up! 1) Does this all mean that sound parameters do not float away over time? 2) And what do you mean by "normal operation condition" ?
That's right, sirs. I was once a vintage gears collector, some 30yrs old Quad FM4/ 34 Preamp / 306, 606 Poweramp. I vaguely remembered the Quad Electronics manual stated the amps will last for 25 years. Fast forward to today. In today's technology advancement, the electronics components are so well-engineered. The Precision Thin Film Chip Resistors used in the DENAFRIPS DAC combined te proven reliablity and stability. I understand why these questions arise. We are audiophile, to some extend, may be a little bit OCD. My humble advise is, life is short, it's more important to enjoy like this gentleman did https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/2020/06/24/I-love-this-DAC Cheers, Alvin Chee www.vinshineaudio.com
