Denafrips R2R DAC

Public Service Reminder - Modi MB wall wart is a transformer, NOT an SMPS. Power supply inside of Modi MB is an old fashioned linear supply, so don't get your knickers in a knot about adding an external uber LPS. It is already an LPS system.

 

Guess it depends on the gear. I had interconnects that lifted a veil from the sound & had power cables noticeably change a amplifier sound signature from smooth & bassy to dynamic & energetic.

 

Interconnects won't change the performance of a component. They might alter the sound of a system. But the component is going to do what the component is going to do regardless. The only exception being some gross aberration from standard, or fault in the construction, of said interconnect.

Power cables might change the sound of a component. Though I would wager that is just as likely to be from swapping cables resulting in cleaning oxidization from the contacts, or fixing a poor connection/crimp in the original cable, than anything else. But even then, a $100 Pangea (or $1,500 LessLoss ... or $10,000 FleeceEmQuickNScarper) cable is not going to turn an Ares into a Gungnir or a dac1421.

The only true exception I'm aware of is the Parasound A23. I have it on good authority there, from someone who's ears I trust, that if you throw the original power cord away, and don't replace it, it sounds better than it ever will plugged in.

 

EXLUSIVE Denafrips factory tour

https://www.dastereo.ru/t/dastereo-v-gostyah-u-denafrips-denafrips-factory-tour/19735


https://www.dastereo.ru/t/dastereo-v-gostyah-u-denafrips-denafrips-factory-tour/19735

 

Can't argue anymore that China can't produce World class stuff.

 

So I've settled in with the Ares, for about a month now for my Genelec's after finally receiving my passive preamp and was initially surprised and modestly pleased with the ease it plays the music as compared to my scarlett focusrite 2i4i. The frequency extension and bass impact was noticeable along with a general reduction of listening fatigue at higher volumes. This however was with the Pangea cable from the get go.

Back to back comparisons with another generic cable (not the stock cable the cable that came with the Denafrips box ) portrayed a slight variation in the sound characteristics I did not expect.

While the Denafrips in general compared to the focusrite did elevate the bass levels, the pangea PC did accentuate that difference to a greater extent. Also comparing the presentation of the drums and cymbals in a couple songs by Paramore as an example I did realize a lot more treble and just more of it and percussion detail compared to the generic power cable. Zoning in on the differences I initially correlated more treble and deeper bass as being "better" as I thought they were coming out more noticeably and I was most focused on listening to those differences. However it was with asking my brother on what power cable he preferred - and he preferred the generic power cable BTW- , that I realized with more comparisons highlighting some nice synths on a Paper Route track that some of the magic was noticeably loss when I used the Pangea. Perhaps the generic power cable coloured the sound of the mids that brought those aspects appear nicely while the treble and bass took a step back in frequency extension. I am not quite sure if the Pangea is more transparent and colder with a blacker background or the generic cable is presenting a warm tube like feel due to less clean power supply that fills in that black background that the Pangea exhibits. Its more likely easier to say the Pangea is just in general noticeably brighter and treble tilted for the most cases of genres. I did back to back comparisons of some of the tracks on Chvrches' new album and with the Pangea I could definitely detect the harshness in the production. That's not to say I didn't enjoy most music and extra stuff that was being presented to me while I listened to the Pangea on the Denafrips for the majority of the listen on my DAC, initial impressions exceeded my expectations on the fact that the differences between an $888 DAC and the $280 Focusrite would be negligible , but they weren't, a substantially noticeable improvement and I am glad to purchase one without burning a hole through my wallet. In general though I didn't expect myself to hear any differences, especially between power cords, but I did.

The more I make comparisons between PC's I am afraid of having justified to buy the power cord.

I think after getting comfortable with the sonic differences between the Focusrite and the Ares I will go ahead and write up a proper review mostly for the sake of going through the exercise of justifying such a purpose and logging a journal for my personal sake but also for the fact that the average person out there ends up purchasing the Focusrite because it is really is the end game music interface for anything less than $300! A reasonable purchase. Only a crazy person like me would ever justify buying a box for a whopping $800. I'm sure to my average music friends I am considered an all out audiophile to justify spending that amount of money for something that converts 1's and 0's...

I take everything is all relative though

 

Since when is the focusrite 2i4i a reference for anything.

A little less noise please ....

 

The humor is for up to $300 the Focusrite is the best one can do for the most part. And for the average listener my studio monitors sounded just fine on them and others who simply don't listen to sound quality just music. But even though I was pleased initially on the way my speakers sounded I knew I could go a bit better for detail.

It's strange on this site and others audio sites no one does reviews on either Tascam or Focusrite or at least a comparison to help others on a reasonable budget. With a search I get very little, because unfortunately a lot of people who are willing to spend up to no more than $2000 in speakers or studio monitors usually end up buying those two interfaces as they are reasonably priced for the performance they give to the average music listener who don't want to break the bank.

 

Exactly my point!
We don't know the Reggy either...

 

say again? You mean people are too elite to discuss the two, or I'm not spending enough time building a "reputation" here.

 

I suspect he means that very few people here use audio interfaces as their primary DAC/Pre, so it isn't a useful reference for us. That is, as you've found, quite typical for audio forums that are more "audiophile" than "pro/recording" focused.

People here tend to by pure DACs if it's a DAC they want ... and not dilute it's performance by having to have the BoM cover a whole bunch of other functionality they don't need/want. Thus what we think of as a "$300 reference DAC" is going to be rather different in performance to the DAC section of a typical budget interface.

Incidentally, and ironically, the 2i4, from memory, measures better as a DAC than the Ares. The 2i2 certainly does.

 

Oh okay, so basically the Pro/recording forums are largely focused on those features necessary for that type of environment while on forums like these a more purist approach is taken? I guess that's an easier methodology to be based upon when comparing let's say an R2R DAC to another R2R however if an audio interface holds up to the way that some of the DACs being mentioned here sound (Bel Canto for example) then why not make a mark on it.

My heart skipped a beat there when you said the 2i4i or 2i2i measures better than the Ares. To my ears the way the music follows and amount of detailed present from what I am used to on my Genelecs the Ares was clearly more eloquent when it came to the music reaching my ears. If you mean flatter frequency response than I can see what you mean there Torq, the frequency extension for treble and the way the bells and percussion stood out in distinction, but more importantly the Ares does not sound flat in response to the bass regions, certainly elevated there, but for a pair of studio monitors with flat bass already it was certainly welcoming to my tastes.

 

Because a) they almost never do* and b) no one** on these forums generally asks for those reviews.

DAC-wise, the 2i2 and 2i4 (I don't know what the 2i2i or 2i4i are, nor does the Focusrite site, it seems) measure the same. Not surprising, since the differences are in the input side of things. And both measure better than the Ares.

The Ares has a nice tone, but measurements wise I think it loses to the 2i2/2i4 in every category. FR, SNR, THD, jitter, channel balance and dynamic range. And the Ares doesn't resolve details as well, either, from memory (I have a 2i2 sitting here, but no Ares to re-compare with).

--
*I think it is especially ironic that this particular discussion is one of the rare cases where the cheap audio interface DOES outperform the 3x more expensive dedicated DAC.
**Or at least its so ridiculously infrequent as to be serving such a small niche that the time is better spent elsewhere. "Needs of the many", and all that.

 

I'll confirm that. For example: Detail retrieval on Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem with the Aries was abysmal. There was almost no conveyance of room dynamics, percussion leading edges were as dull as a wooden spoon, and the rendering of back ground instrument sounds were nonexistent. Those background sounds and room dynamics are clearly apparent on the $99 Modi 2, so I definitely would not call the Aries a value in the audiophile market.

I'm sure some might like the Aries. I suspect the people who do, have not spent quality time with the usual dedicated DACs the audiophile community would consider entry or mid-fi quality.

 

If you really want to cover your bases, then you can get an audiophile "approved" pro interface like a Prism or RME and call it a day.

(disclaimer: says the guy who has a Prism Lyra and used to have the RME ADI-2 Pro)

 

Very strange indeed on the case of outperforming here. at least for detail and microdynamics. I suppose for curiosity sake its time for some back to back comparisons, I admit I only did that with the power cords.

I will do those comparisons soon, but I must say for at least in the emotional realm of things I did on initial impressions prefer the tone or color that the Ares project without really paying attention to that colorization. The way it glazed and presented the music seemed natural, especially the treble presentation, things and placement just popped out more on my Genelec's, perhaps if tonal color is really alluring people to the liking's of many people than so be it. Myself and many people who have not come across those reference DAC's may be for a lack of a better term unspoiled by potentially the stuff we don't know what detail we are "missing out" on. It may be also perhaps that I have greater tolerance or give to what I considered too coloured compared to what a trained ear audiophile may know what exactly is neutral in timbre, tone and color, and that may bug the deviation from the definition of "transparent" more than for myself.

I think the fact that listening to a pair of detailed monster headphones like the HD 800's vs speakers or studio monitors would definitely have some sort of altered perception on what "sounds" better because frankly it's all about the detail and micro-dynamics when justifying which DAC is the exceeding another across the board . I've only demoed the 800 and boy are those ever ruthless in uncovering the mix, listening to fairly good mixed metal sounded like you were in the recording booth hearing a stripped down version of the mix live with nuances of studio detail all across the board albeit much of it being "non-musical detail" I was not interested in.

But anyway regardless of that said, my initial impressions will probably be undeterred as long as for the future I am still satisfied on the level of detail and microdynamics I am stuck with. Signature wise I am really enjoying the slight "house" sound sort of speak and with studio monitors being pretty much flat across the board I suppose my ears have taken a knod to the kind of flavour I am being presented with. I am getting a feeling now on why there are such polarization conclusions on how X sounds or is better than Y but not to the other guy.

 

John Darko's Review. His thoughts vs Yggdrasil w/ Analog 2, DirectStream and La Scala.

 

Cole's notes?

 

From that review, I kinda got the impressions the Directstream might have been the best DAC, since he said it was the closest coming to a vinyl sound & still more detailed than what the Yggy2 had.

Then again, it was the most expensive DAC in the shootout.

 

TL;DW Darko’s review of the Terminator:

• vs. Yggdrasil A2 - Terminator better than Yggdrasil pretty much across the board - wider, taller soundstage, less congestion in the mids, more open, better separation, more extended at both ends, stronger bass.
• vs. PS Audio DirectStream - about equal technically, but different sounding. Terminator slightly more extended and “alert” and forward sounding than the DS, maybe slightly less congested. DS more smooth and “analog” sounding, maybe better for vinyl lovers than the Terminator, but he considered them fairly equal
• vs. Aqua La Scala - pretty close. Terminator slightly more transparent, Aqua slightly better tonality.

Notably he liked the sound of the I2S input over the SPDIF input and called it more “exquisite” sounding. Since 2 of the DACs didn’t have the right (or any) I2S inputs (the Schiit and the Aqua) he compared using SPDIF on both vs SPDIF on the Terminator.