Hi, Please do not download any firmware files that are not issued directly from us to you. Flashing firmware is a risky operation that may brick the DAC. We recommend firmware update *only* when you face issue with the unit. Please write to us should you need clarification. Many thanks. [email protected]
Good to know there is a solution! I will contact Alvin if I feel confident enough to do this as I do not want to end up with a 'brick'.
Hi Alvin, can you confirm that this 'crackling' issue in OS mode on certain albums with Ares2 can be solved by a firmware upgrade ?
Contact Alvin. Crackling on peaks is a marriage of the device, this should not be. If this cannot be fixed by the new firmware, then ask for a return or exchange of the device. In my case, this was solved by updating the firmware.
I am really enjoying the sound of my new Ares II. It is quite lovely. One interesting thing I noticed this morning that I wanted to mention to the group for feedback: This is odd but it seems I’ve lost the Q-Sound “Effect” on my Madonna Immaculate Collection CD. Can anyone else verify this? Is this even possible? Maybe I’m just tired. Haha. Thanks all! Great thread! Jason
I have the cd, hated the Q sound effect. Will check, maybe tomorrow through the Ares and my other dac to hear if there is a difference in the Q sound effect.
The clipping in OS mode for some music tracks was due to the high dynamic range of the recording. We address this in the new firmware. Should you experience this, please write to us at [email protected]
Question for anyone ...... The Phase button on the ARES II ...... negative or positive setting. What is it used for and when ? ....... what am I listening for ? ....... what should it be set to for normal listening ? If anyone can shed any light, it would be most welcome.
I don't have a Denafrips DAC (yet). So I can't say from experience with Denafrips. But in general a NOS and OS filtering can image differently and perhaps affect the degree of Q sound in a recording. It's worth trying both settings to see if one or the other does the Q sound effect differently or to a different degree.
I'll try again ...... A question for anyone ...... The Phase button on the ARES II ...... negative or positive setting. What would it be used for ?....... what am I listening for ? ....... what should it be set to for normal listening ? If anyone can shed any light, it would be most welcome.
Sound consists of oscillating pressure waves produced by the speaker drivers as they move back and forth. The polarity (or "phase") switch flips a positive signal to a negative signal and vice versa. If a positive signal causes a driver to move towards you, then flipping that signal to negative will cause the driver to move away from you. After a sound gets going, the driver will be moving back and forth over and over again, so the polarity no longer matters. The only time the polarity can conceivably make a difference is at the very start of a sound when the driver first starts moving. In theory in order to accurately reproduce the initial sound of a musical instrument the first movement the driver should make is towards you rather than away from you. Some people claim this makes a difference in sudden sounds, such as a drum being struck. As with anything in audio, some people say they hear a big difference, some say they hear a small difference, some say they only hear a difference under certain circumstances or with certain recordings, and some say they hear no difference at all. You'll just have to try it and see what you hear. The whole topic of polarity is complicated because the recording engineers may have played around with the polarity of the signals coming from different microphones to compensate for the fact that microphones in different positions won't be in phase with each other. Also, because of the way speaker crossovers work the different drivers within one speaker are typically not in phase with each other, which makes it hard to define what's meant by the "correct" polarity.
The November issue of Stereophile has a followup on the Denafrips Ares II and Terminator reviews. The followup includes measurements and commentary. Two November Issue FollowUps Gramophone Dreams #40: Denafrips Terminator & Ares II Measurements
Thank you ! I think I get it ...... As Denafrips decided to include a button specifically devoted to negative/positive phase on the unit, I figured it must do something relatively important. I'll muck around with it and see what happens.
Yes. One way of stating it is that in the wrong absolute polarity the music will suck instead of blow. For example, with a kick drum hit the initial hit should punch. Hearing the differences with absolute polarity can be tricky. Depends a lot on speaker positioning and gear. Speakers need to be properly positioned and everything else needs to be right for the effect to be more audible. It's easier to hear a change in absolute polarity down in the bass because the waves are longer. Harder to hear differences as the frequencies go up and the waves get shorter. It's still there in the midrange, differences get to be fleeting in the treble. Changing absolute polarity can affect imaging and the mix. For example, two instruments can sound kinda merged together in the wrong absolute polarity and suddenly separate in depth and separation when the absolute polarity is correct.
Ok, sorry if I'm trying your patience ........ So if I'm just sitting there playing CDs, what situation would need to be occurring for me to say .... "I think I need to hit the phase button." ?
As Ham Sandwich noted, it can be challenging to tell if the sound is out of absolute polarity. My suggestion, in short: If the sound quality of the music seems kinda weird, try changing the phase to see if it makes any difference.
It's going to depend on how the recording was made, how your speakers are designed, and what frequency the sound is at. It's possible some frequencies from one driver will be in positive polarity with the driver at the forward position, while other frequencies produced by other drivers will be in the neutral (central) or even negative (rear) position. Frankly, I think DAC manufacturers frequently include that switch simply because it's easy for them to do so. It gives you a fidget button you can play with .
