[gimmeheadroom]

To the veteran owners here, would the Ares II be a good match with my amps?
1) Monolith Liquid Platinum. sE and XLR in, but meant to be used balanced out.

2) Violectric V220. Has SE and XLR in but only has SE output.

Currently using an SMSL SU-8. Debating between this and the Bifrost 2.

Thanks for any feedback.

I know it's too late but the Audio-gd R2R-11 is rather an unbelieveable dacamp for the money and even not for the money.

 

[312elements]

After writing my thought out with you and another member I decided trhat my mind was pretty much already made up. I orderd the BF2 tonight. It is supposed to ship next Friday. We'll see. Thanks for helping to sharpen my clarity.

I'm very curious to hear your thoughts. Please circle back once you've had a chance to compare.

 

[sajunky]

I'm very curious to hear your thoughts. Please circle back once you've had a chance to compare.

I am afraid, BF2 cannot stand up against Ares II.

Ares requires a good amp, as a passive I/V output carries a lot of ultrasonic noise (up to 30MHz), but it has a potential for a top SQ. BF2 is less demanding on the quality of amplifier, will work well on a cheap equipment.

 

[shafat777]

After writing my thought out with you and another member I decided that my mind was pretty much already made up. I orders the BF2 tonight. It is supposed to ship next Friday. We'll see. Thanks for helping to sharpen my clarity.

My pleasure brother. I think you ll be in for a treat. I am extremely curious to hear your impression and opinion. Is this your first non delta sigma dac? Hopefully it ships soon and you get to test it out. I think ive made up my mind about the D90, its getting sold. But ive always been curious about owning two dacs so if you and other members like the Bf2, then i might just get it and have it as my secondary unit.

 

[sajunky]

I know it's too late but the Audio-gd R2R-11 is rather an unbelieveable dacamp for the money and even not for the money.

It is never late, but people decisions are proportional to the marketing muscle. Shiit on top, Denafrips much smaller and Audio GD is not present at all. Only promoted by happy users like myself.

 

[312elements]

I am afraid, BF2 cannot stand up against Ares II.

Ares requires a good amp, as a passive I/V output carries a lot of ultrasonic noise (up to 30MHz), but it has a potential for a top SQ. BF2 is less demanding on the quality of amplifier, will work well on a cheap equipment.

This is going to feed a WA22 which I use as a preamp for my 2 channel setup and my main headphone rig. In your opinion will that signal chain realize the benefits that the Ares II has over the BF2?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

It never is late, decisions are proportional to the marketing muscle. Shiit on top, Denafrips much smaller and Audio GD is not present at all. Only promoted by happy users like myself.

It is a popular brand but I feel the build quality is really not very good until you get to their higher end gear and even that I'm not sure about. But they don't do DSD or MQA, I can't see spending money on what's in the end really chifi designed in America vs. the other possibilities which run off wall sockets rather than wallwarts and are much better values.

 

[sajunky]

This is going to feed a WA22 which I use as a preamp for my 2 channel setup and my main headphone rig. In your opinion will that signal chain realize the benefits that the Ares II has over the BF2?

Whoow! Certainly it must be a good amp. Don't waste your money on BF2.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Whoow! Certainly it must be a good amp. Don't waste your money on BF2.

While he's at it there are some appealing choices in R2R from Audio-gd between 800-1000 USD if I recall. Might be worth considering alongside the Denafrips.

 

[shafat777]

May i ask whats so wrong about the BF2?

 

[Shane D]

I'm very curious to hear your thoughts. Please circle back once you've had a chance to compare.

I won't be able to compare as I don't have an ARES II.

 

[Shane D]

My pleasure brother. I think you ll be in for a treat. I am extremely curious to hear your impression and opinion. Is this your first non delta sigma dac? Hopefully it ships soon and you get to test it out. I think ive made up my mind about the D90, its getting sold. But ive always been curious about owning two dacs so if you and other members like the Bf2, then i might just get it and have it as my secondary unit.

I agree that owning both would be awesome.

 

[daytrader]

It is never late, but people decisions are proportional to the marketing muscle. Shiit on top, Denafrips much smaller and Audio GD is not present at all. Only promoted by happy users like myself.

Are you..., are you really?

 

[312elements]

@sajunky @gimmeheadroom the other one I'm considering is the MHDT Orchid. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to order any of the Audio-GD stuff. Definitely open to suggestions.

 

[sajunky]

While he's at it there are some appealing choices in R2R from Audio-gd between 800-1000 USD if I recall. Might be worth considering alongside the Denafrips.

Yes, there is R-1 ($850) with I2S, recently upgraded to 2021 version, good choice for those who already have a good pre-amp with a headamp. It can be paired with DI-20HE for the best separation from PC noise. It is on the market over one year and I didn't see users unhappy from this combination. When upgrading from my R2R-11 I would rather chose R-28 which has a headphone amplifier with pre-amp. More high-end solutions are with Master 9 amp, but I am afraid, I will never afford it.

On the Denafrips side there is Pontus that has I2S for connecting to the DDC devices like DI-20, Iris, Gaia.