[ColSaulTigh]

I see you own the Musician Pegasus as well as the Pontus2. How do they compare if you don't mind me asking?

Hard to describe, but I'd say the Pontus is more detailed and faster, while the Pegasus is more open and airy, and slightly more relaxed. I put 2x Synergistic Research Purple fuses in my Pegasuses (Pegasii?) and it (surprisingly) makes a fairly significant difference (IMO, YMMV).

 

[Smoothstereo]

Hard to describe, but I'd say the Pontus is more detailed and faster, while the Pegasus is more open and airy, and slightly more relaxed. I put 2x Synergistic Research Purple fuses in my Pegasuses (Pegasii?) and it (surprisingly) makes a fairly significant difference (IMO, YMMV).

Nice, thanks for the feedback. Do you use NOS or OS on the Pontus 2 with your results?

 

[ColSaulTigh]

Nice, thanks for the feedback. Do you use NOS or OS on the Pontus 2 with your results?

I don't hear a significant difference between the two, TBH.

 

[CalvinandHobbes2020]

Nice, thanks for the feedback. Do you use NOS or OS on the Pontus 2 with your results?

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

 

[elementze]

I'm looking for amp pairing recommendations with the Pontus II. I'm currently using it with a GS-X mini and a HPA V550.

 

[shwnwllms]

I'm looking for amp pairing recommendations with the Pontus II. I'm currently using it with a GS-X mini and a HPA V550.

I couldn’t be happier with my Pontus II / V550 Pro. Anything in particular you feel is missing? (That may help narrow your search)

 

[elementze]

Glad to hear your positive review of the P2 / V550 pairing. I have my Pontus 2 on order, arriving this Thursday. I should have been more clear in my post that I don't have the DAC yet So I'm looking forward to trying this combination. The Iris has already arrived, so once I get the DAC I'll be ready to go.

 

[shwnwllms]

Glad to hear your positive review of the P2 / V550 pairing. I have my Pontus 2 on order, arriving this Thursday. I should have been more clear in my post that I don't have the DAC yet So I'm looking forward to trying this combination. The Iris has already arrived, so once I get the DAC I'll be ready to go.

Good call on the Iris as well. I feel it made a significant impact on my setup. I have a Mac Mini as a source (for use with HQPlayer) coupled with the poor USB implementation on the Pontus II (no galvanic isolation on USB), it’s a night and day difference.

Give the Pontus at least 100 hours (preferably more) before making any critical judgements on it. It will settle in nicely after a week or so if you just let it burn in 24/7

If you are using I2S from the Iris you’ll need to program the pin outs (on the Pontus II) since every cable manufacturer has their own spec and there isn’t a universal standard. When you get to this point, PM me if you get stuck (if you don’t program it correctly some hi res or DSD can produce noise, or you could be listening to music with the polarity reversed). It’s trial and error mainly, it’s not terribly difficult once you find some test files to play with.

Congrats on the Pontus / Iris purchase. I think you’ll be quite happy with the synergy with the V550.

 

[elementze]

Thanks for the offer on the iris i2s setup help. I2s is what I plan to use. Looking at the manual I just assumed the default setting 000 would work. Which setting are you using?

 

[Garak]

coupled with the poor USB implementation on the Pontus II (no galvanic isolation on USB), it’s a night and day difference.

Pontus II has galvanic isolation on all the inputs, USB included. It's right on the website. It's also covered in depth by every reviewer, and in the Vinshine videos.

 

[roderickvd]

Yes, there are optocouplers there. But I think someone pointed out that the shield of the USB connector is not isolated from the chassis and other outputs. That would defeat the optocouplers quite a bit.

I don’t own a Pontus myself yet so can’t test, but it would only take a simple multimeter to verify. Am I remembering wrong?

 

[shwnwllms]

Thanks for the offer on the iris i2s setup help. I2s is what I plan to use. Looking at the manual I just assumed the default setting 000 would work. Which setting are you using?

Remember you are programming for the I2S cable and not the equipment. I’m using a Wireworld Silver Sphere so Mode 3 - 1 1 0 was the correct setting.

https://www.denafrips.com/config-pontus

 

[simon740]

Denafrips DACs don’t have poor usb implementation. If you have a good transport for it, the sound is superb.
Of course with Iris is even better.

regards,
Simon

 

[elementze]

Remember you are programming for the I2S cable and not the equipment

Really? That's surprising for sure. Thanks for the tip!

 

[shwnwllms]

Really? That's surprising for sure. Thanks for the tip!

It’s because there is no universally adopted industry standard for HDMI or I2S cables so you have to program the pin outs to ensure everything matches up. Programming them yourself is easier (and cheaper) than trying various cables until you find one that matches up.