Thanks for the update! Good to hear about your experiences with the two Supra power cords.

I don't have personal experience with the I2S connection, but I've read others' reports that the HDMI cable used for the I2S connection doesn't make a difference in sound quality. I think that is due to the nature of the I2S connection. Also, if trying out different power cords and Ethernet...

FWIW, these were my friend’s Yggy vs Pontus impressions. He’s got the Yggy and borrowed my Pontus. Yggy A2, OG, unison Pontus 2 - original firmware The Pontus communicates more tonal color. The Pontus is better at presenting all parts of the music with balance. The Pontus also presents with...

The effect of inverting phase (if the sound wave coming out of your system had the correct phase originally) will be to produce a thinner quality to the sound coming from your system. From what I've read in forums, some people hear (feel?) this difference. Other people do not. I would suggest...

I'd say that your listening impressions of the LoRad power cord are consistent with mine. My ears seem sensitive to any harshness and the treble with the LoRad in place is not disturbing to me in the least. On the other hand, several power cords that I tried with more aggressive noise reduction...

I am using the regular non-SPC version. I can't remember why that version was recommended to me, but I was originally going to get the SPC version.

I'll be curious as to your impressions of the Supra power cord. I've found that every power cord I've tried on the Pontus imparts a different effect to its sound. I listened for the cord that provided most reinforcement to the qualities I liked with least reinforcement of qualities less...

This is my perspective on the Pontus II vs Yggy LIM. I have the Pontus II. A friend has the Yggy LIM. I loaned him my Pontus so we listened to both in his system: The Pontus communicates more tonal color. The Pontus is better at presenting all parts of the music with balance. The Pontus also...

I will say that I have found the Pontus to be capable of being both relaxed and upbeat. The range of emotion that it can convey is unusual compared to other DACs I've heard and not something I've heard before from other DACs.

OS Slow for me. NOS mode seems to convey more grain and texture. OS mode seems to be smoother. I didn't like OS Fast mode at all. It seems harsh without the extra texture that NOS mode conveys. That said, I have just left my DAC in OS Slow mode and don't have any great motivation to switch for...

Actually, the DAC on PC laptops typically sound pretty crappy and don't power more demanding headphones well. My Dragonfly Red sounds clearly better than does the 3.5mm jack output on my Dell XPS 13. I'm listening right now via the 3.5mm jack on my Dell XPS 13 laptop and the sound is pretty...

Thanks @bubukill17 & @LucyWu! Good to know that the Macbook Air M2's DAC also seems to sound decent.

I'm not a huge stickler for mobile sound quality as I'm usually listening in loud environments such as coffee shops anyhow. BUT, the output via the 3.5mm jack on a 2021+ Macbook Pro 14" sounds REALLY good. Typically, I listen to streamed music from PC or Mac laptops via an Audioquest Dragonfly...

Do you use your Pontus and your Yggy for different types of music?

Nice review! I have a Pontus and a friend has the Yggy (Originally the OG model and now the LIM version). He came to the same conclusions after borrowing my Pontus and listening to both the Pontus and the Yggy DACs in his system. The Pontus is tonally richer, while the Yggy is more dynamic in...

100%. It was a bit shocking actually that the far more expensive DAC seemed to sound not as good for me as the Pontus.

I've heard enough digital audio to know that the Pontus II sounds magical especially at its price of US $1750. I recently listened to a $14,000 streamer-DAC that I don't think sounded as good as the Pontus on the acoustic and vocal music that I prefer.

Some comparisons between the Pontus and the Ares. Overall, the Pontus is a much better sounding DAC than the Ares, but a lot of the improvement that I hear are in the areas of presence, "air", and environmental cues. Ii think those are easier to hear via speakers than via headphones, so you may...

OS Slow mode seems smoother to me. NOS mode may convey a bit more texture, but also seems a bit more grainy.

I've compared 5 USB cables at one time: Generic HP printer cable: Free with printer (to see if USB cables even matter in terms of Sound Quality. This one lasted about 15 minutes in my system before it got put away again) Belkin Gold: $15 Pangea Audio Premier SE: $50 Shunyata Venom: $100-200...

Apparently the reason is something to do with the amount of PCB resonance affecting the amount of EMI generated. This was discussed in one episode of this podcast. I don't think it was this episode, but this is one of their episodes that talks about the effect of RFI on digital sound quality...

A lot of the sound quality improvement that I’ve heard with the Pontus is in its ability to communicate spatial cues and the “air” around voices and instruments. I’ve found this is easier to hear with speakers than with headphones. Congratulations on getting your system to this place!

I've been listening in OS mode as that sounds smoother, but I haven't done that much experimentation between OS and NOS modes. Please do report back after you try the Supra power cord. I'm curious as to others impression of the Supra. The difference between the Venom V14 and the Supra was...

The Ares II was nice overall. Best way to describe it would be 'pleasant' It was decently smooth in sound, but I did notice some listening fatigue after listening for more than say 90 minutes. That was with a Shunyata Venom V14 power cord. That listening fatigue seemed to be resolved by...

I highly suggest getting a dedicated streamer. I tried an iPhone and a PC laptop initially with a Denafrips Ares II DAC and the sound quality improvement with a Project Stream Box S2 Ultra was quite big. I suggest turning off the WiFi on the Project streamer and using either an Ethernet...