The Denafrips Pontus ii / Terminator vs Sonnet Morpheus vs Musician Pegasus. Has anyone auditioned/owned these DACs, kindly give your valuable opinions. I have chosen these R2R DACs as only these popular R2R are available in India with official dealer and official warranty option.
Recommendations for a R2R DAC
- Thread starter kratu
- Start date
But pricing at present is quite high compared to international pricing due to customs etc. And for warranty the customer has to pay for international shipping of the unit.
IME and IMHO R2R DAC willl be history once someone starts seriously marketing passive low pass filters using audio transformers. MARK MY WORDS.
I challenge anyone to bring their top end R2R DAC and do an A/ B test with an audio transformers based passive DAC. ANY TAKERS?
I challenge anyone to bring their top end R2R DAC and do an A/ B test with an audio transformers based passive DAC. ANY TAKERS?
I have compared my own PCM1795 BB with active filter vs passive filter. The difference is earth and deep outer space - maybe a different galaxy
So the conclusion is that transformers make a better output stage for that dac chip than the one you were using earlier.
That's great news. Wondering about the new Vivid Hifi. The site reads that it is founded by ''Manav Singh Malvai'. I've called up the number on the website, he is a forum member @malvai
Last edited:
Yes, anytime - no doubt on that. I may work on some other chips too to conclude
sachu888
Well-Known Member
I am not aware of any DIY kit. Also these mods are not direct plug and play. Its invasive. You need to have a proper load impedance at the DAC chip Iout. Transformer impedance will increase at high frequency, so you need to clamp be the DAC output at the calculated DAC Chip impedance. Not doing so will cause improper I/V conversion and you will find output to be brighter than normal. Also the o/p voltage needs to be levelled at an acceptable value else the dynamic range of will suffer.
Given these variable, imo it's a point to be point case and cannot be a mass manufactured product as everything depends on what DAC chip is used. I am currently working on some other DAC chip ( not mine) requirement and shall complete y design by next week.
Nishant Rastogi
Member
Which soekries
DIY version. 1st gen boards
Since the first post, I've explored and auditioned few R2R DACs. Holo Audio May DAC seemed to be the ideal candidate but I didn't get to audition this DAC. The price is way on the higher side to justify the purchase, especially without an extensive audition at home. The next in the line seems to be the Denafrips Terminator. Unfortunately, it is next to impossible to do a comparison test of these DACs.
Although R2R DAC is fascinating idea for its organics, smooth sound; I do prefer plenty of details and resolution to work with certain electronic music. Some say that these DACs also need warm up time, but I'm not sure of that.
So, now a decent Delta-Sigma based DAC is also on the table. One of the affordable ones is Gustard x26 Pro. I hear good things about this. It is said to have that resolution while not being sharp or edgy. Having some traits of a R2R DAC. Folks can chime in with their thoughts or suggestions.
Although R2R DAC is fascinating idea for its organics, smooth sound; I do prefer plenty of details and resolution to work with certain electronic music. Some say that these DACs also need warm up time, but I'm not sure of that.
So, now a decent Delta-Sigma based DAC is also on the table. One of the affordable ones is Gustard x26 Pro. I hear good things about this. It is said to have that resolution while not being sharp or edgy. Having some traits of a R2R DAC. Folks can chime in with their thoughts or suggestions.
Headphonezone had restarted their home demo program a couple of months back. They may have some options for you to try out. Apart from that, the only home trial options are local dealers or fellow FMs.
If long warmup times are an issue, avoid r2r dacs. In my experience most of them need a day to fully settle in.
There are r2r dacs that meet your ask of organic but resolving. Apart from the two you mentioned, Sonnet Morpheus comes to mind. Lower down, the Pontus.
kumar_saurav
New Member
New age R2R no longer has that romantic mids like those we get from Metrum Pavane or Sonic Frontier DACS. Holo May and all will actually sound bright if not paired correctly
Headphonezone doesn't have a home demo for the products I'm interested in. May be, they have started this with lower ticket value products like earphones. It would be good to have a programme like this for DACs. I can understand that this might not be viable from a business perspective.
Warm up is an issue, especially due to potential erratic power supply issues.
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
