After a few hours of listening to some heavy rock and electronica, I agree that v1.8 greatly improves the bass articulation. Less muddy and disjointed compared to v1.6. Not convinced timbre increased, as the treble energy has decreased, but this has been my favorite take yet, though I can see...

Just finished updating my Ares II to v1.8 and have to say, this sounds much like the og v1.0 release. It's warmer than the v1.6 update, with less treble energy and more emphasis on the lower frequencies. Detail retrieval and soundstage have slightly diminished, but it's gained a more relaxed...

Indeed, I've been noticing this trend as well. Anecdotally, it seems like half of us enjoy the refined updates, and half wish to revert back to the original richness. If only there was a practical method to test listen all of Denafrip's DAC tiers, with both the original and updated firmware...

I have mixed feelings about NOS. It does tame the highs a bit, but also adds some veiling too. OS sounds more real, which I dig. Someone on reddit told me Denafrips is planning on releasing a 3rd firmware update to the Ares in the same vein as the Pontus II to help capture the best of both...

A little late the the party, but I just updated my Ares II a few days ago with the latest firmware and wanted to share what I’m hearing. Was a bit skeptical that this was all worth the effort, especially when firmware updates usually are for correcting compatibility and bugs, but I decided to...