I was thinking in the same way as you. I was happy with Ares running v1.6. I've updated to 1.8, and I'll keep it. Bass is more refined and precise if compared to 1.6. I've not spent much time, but other than bass, I couldn't feel much difference.

Same thing with my Pontus 2. Reverting to 1.0, no more micro skips or micro glitches, at all. Not even occasionally. I'm using I²S input on my Pontus.

As previously reported, I got micro glitch issue with with v1.4 on my Pontus II. With the v1.3, I was experiencing micro skips. No micro skips with v1.4. Depending on the day I get zero failure playing all day. It is like a D to A failure with less than 0.1 second duration, and if you are not...

Fully agree! In my previous comment I've written that I feel 1.4 on P2 brighter, but the right word would be more accurate and more refined highs. I guess it depends on each person's system, and more important than that, each person's preferences.

Nice to hear that you like the Pi2 Design product too. I have RPi4 with the Pi2AES hat and I am happy with it since day 1. As pre-amplifier, I have 2 in cascade: Schiit Vali II and the Topping Pre90; Vali 2, just to provide me the tube flavor which I like. Topping Pre90 is one of the most...

I'm listening on speakers. For the Pontus input, I've tried all types (USB, Coax, Optical, XLR , I²S) and the best result was using I²S.

Probably the run-in for more than 70 hours made difference, and I’ve not experienced any micro glitch. I personally like the bit brighter sound and tighter bass on the 1.4. I have a tube pre-amp in the path, and maybe the brighter highs don’t bother me much because of that.

I’m trying the 1.4 version on my Pontus II for 3 days. No more micro skips, better sound, but I’ve experienced a glitch probably due to a very momentary digital to analog conversion glitch. The glitch happened once yesterday and once today with different songs. Played the same songs several...

I am one of the hundreds of people who upgraded the Pontus II from 1.0 to 1.3 and then switched back to 1.0. My main issue was the random micro skips which is not acceptable at all. Upgraded to 1.4 today and I like it. No more micro skips, bass is firmer like in the 1.3, female vocal is more...

Overall I personally like the new sound type after the FPGA upgrade, but I’m experiencing micro skips and pops. It is not consistent though. I want to return to the original FPGA code.

I am a happy owner of Ares II and Pontus II DAC's. I've updated the FPGA code on Ares II in March, and right after the update I was able to feel the difference. I was a bit skeptical about the update, and I was thinking that I would not feel much difference if compared to the original FPGA...