No micro-skipping on my new Pontus II yet. Sources are a Bluesound Node 2i (which has been connected via optical and coax) and an old NAD CD player (connected via coax). I also have Roku > HDMI > TV > optical > Pontus II chain for concert livestreams that is ok. I did have occasional micro-skipping with my previous Ares II and the Node 2i (but not the CD player) a couple years ago but it went away, I believe after a Bluesound firmware update. Hopefully they’ll get it sorted out eventually. I really like Denafrips DACs but it is understandable for the people that are being impacted to be frustrated and as @Tony C. noted continuing to advocate for a solution may be necessary. I wonder what percentage of existing customers are experiencing an issue.
It is possible that Denafrips has been sourcing a part used in the build of these dacs that is faulty, what that part could be is beyond me but it surely needs to get sorted.
Which part of my statement, “This indicates that the micro-skipping problem goes further up the Denafrips tree than we might otherwise expect(?)”, did you not understand? Does this sound like I am blaming a CDT? Like yourself, I have been doggedly pursuing this Denafrips issue. I am not the enemy! Love and peace!
I agree, though given that this is a long standing issue, it is very likely that Denafrips know exactly what the problem is.
It sounds to me like it comes down to Denafrip's buffering and reclocking feature (common to all the models, I believe). If the source is on a different clock, it is likely to be delivering data either slightly more quickly or slowly than the rate at which the Denafrips consumes it. Eventually, the buffer either fills up (skip) or empties (gap). Is that what others are thinking? I think the only way to avoid it is to run the source from the DAC's clock, but I'm not sure which Denafrips models have the clock output. Only the Terminators? (I don't yet have a Denafrips, but was considering one. However, this issue is definitely a concern, as I know it would drive me nuts.)
No worries my friend. As the owner of a top quality Simaudio CDT you have every right to be concerned about this Denafrips problem. I also own Simaudio/Moon equipment (amplification) so can heartily endorse that quality! I did briefly lust after an Andromeda but was able to control myself (for which my wallet thanked me! ) Hard to believe that I (and others) have been chasing this Denafrips issue for almost a year now
This is exactly how I solved it after the Firmware update of the ARES 2 DAC didn‘t solved it alone. Factory Reset and update of the Node 2i and I did not have micro skipping again.
for me, I was on whatever old firmware my node2i came with and then one day i decided to updated it last year and it started micro skipping. I solved it by actually turning on clock trim. Before i updated the firmware it had clock trim off and it totally didn't have any issues. Super mindful of updating firmware now lol.
Golden rule of firmware updates: If it ain't broke, don't fix (update) it.... In other (non) news, I hate forced updating.
Years ago I was involved in a project where I was Beta testing and there were a number of flaws. Customers were told software was in the works. It was a lie, they discovered it was a hardware limitation that could not be addressed with firmware. They just kept selling them , kept promising firmware.
What's interesting about the Denafrips situation is that there may well be two issues that they are not coming clean about, yet they continue to sell the DACs. To be fair, I consider the NOS issue to be relatively trivial in terms of SQ, but the fact that the company continues to sell products on the basis of them having NOS capability, when in fact they technically don't, is quite concerning, and should, in my view, remove any benefit of the doubt that might otherwise be extended in relation to the micro-skip issue. That is partly why I believe that the micro-skip issue is a hardware problem, and that the company is not going to address it openly unless they are forced to.
This isn’t bluesound is it? Lol. To this day I am unsure if the node2i has better SNR performance if keeping it at the default “-10db” for the dynamic range slider setting, or moving it to “0db.” I went on the bluesound forums looking for more info, and I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a more incompetent, unknowing, and unhelpful technical support customer service team that really had no clue on how any of their stuff really works.
Yes. It sounded good and a tiny portion of users ran into the issue. When something sounds good people are more tolerant of bugs or shortcomings If it sounds bad and is buggy it’s not around very long
I put a splitter in that lets me choose inputs and outputs so I could switch back and forth. Changing from Optical to Coax has moved in the direction I wanted thanks.
Getting back to my problem, Alvin made me an offer to buy my Cambridge CXC transport, cables I was using (coax & optical) and, of course, to refund my money on the Ares so they could try to "replicate" my problem. His offer was generous & fair, so off the equipment went. Too bad about the CXC, though. It was a good sample that I had just bought and only paid $239 for including shipping with a 90 day warranty. It's getting hard to find nice samples for that kind of money. And it sounded quite good. It will be interesting to see what they find out.
I sent my Venus II back late last year after 11 months of ownership. Loved the sound but couldn't tolerate the skips. After two firmware updates I concluded it wasn't something that would be sorted without a clock board revision and the company seemed reluctant to do that - or at the very least, was taking too long.
So people are buying these for their ladder DAC and they don't play the native sampling rate? Isn't that the whole purpose of seeking out a r2r DAC?
Here's a novel experience... I got a Pontus II on the basis of SQ, not because it was r2r or had NOS/OS options or may meet the oscilloscopic measurements some self-appointed wannabe web guru. It's r2r. Not concerned. It may or may not have "genuine" NOS. Not concerned. It may or may not have "measurement approval". Not concerned. It helps to make listening to music very enjoyable (in my setup). THAT matters. Happy listening all...
My most recent DAC would probably fail ASR measurements , I also bought it for it's sound. Didn't care that it doesn't do anything but 44.1k- 192k .... sounds great. What did you replace by getting Pontus?
The lineage since 2013/4 has been a Marantz PM-6005 integrated (with onboard DAC) to a Rotel RA-1572 MK I integrated (with onboard DAC) to a NAD C 658 pre-amp (with onboard ESS Sabre DAC). Each time, I thought I'd finally got a settled system. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Then... After a change of speakers in 2020, circumstances in 2021 allowed for a reset of the rest of my setup and, for once, I had some luck. Enter a Bluesound Node 2i. For a few weeks, I relied on the Node's internal DAC (Burr Brown) which, in fairness, is perfectly decent at that price point. But... I'd been following the "buzz" (hype?) about Denafrips and did some extensive non-technical research, focussing on end-user experiences re SQ. Time and time again, the Pontus popped up on the radar. With a bit of budget juggling and a helpful trade-in, the Pontus II was purchased - blind. No demo - partly due to Covid restrictions but also the realisation that a whole host of demos on previous equipment hadn't exactly worked out. In short, buying blind wasn't necessarily a disadvantage in the context of SQ - at least not with my track record. Zero regrets. Is the Pontus II 4x "better" than the Node 2i with its internal DAC? No, but there is a noticeable difference in SQ which, to me, makes it more than worthwhile. Fingers crossed I don't encounter the mini-skip issue. In the unlikely event of a life-changing lottery win, the Denafrips Terminator Plus will be very much on the shopping list.
Yes, and it is odd. However, I don't know that there are significant audible differences between true NOS and Denafrips' linear interpolation, but had I known about it initially, I would not have purchased the Pontus. While I can understand that the company is not shouting the inconvenient fact from the rooftops, I do find it to be disturbing that they continue to to claim NOS in their marketing material, which, unless very discreet changes have been made, is not accurate, yet obviously helps to sell units to unaware consumers.
