DENAFRIPS 'ARES' R2R discrete ladder DAC - close up view
Jul 28, 2022 at 10:51 AM Post #3,316 of 3,901
Even though they are all dacs, they don't measure the same. Its not a one way to measure all devices.

Might as well do something stupid like judge the sound quality by looking at the measurements and never listen it.

ASR do it right IMHO. The same approach is applied to everything. People just get tetchy because they realise they have been had. Are you one of those people? Don't be sore if you are.

Not all expensive equipment measures poorly. The Mola Mola DAC is one of the best measuring converters around and is stupidly expensive. Are Ares II measured well also.

So while you can argue that you'd prefer to see X, Y or Z measurement used, as long as the same measurements are being taken consistently of every applicable device that's tested then you have an accurate frame for comparison.

Or if you can't deal with that then just ignore ASR altogether. Personally I like that they are around.
 
Jul 28, 2022 at 12:37 PM Post #3,317 of 3,901
ASR do it right IMHO. The same approach is applied to everything.
ASR don't. There is a definitive bias towards sponsored brands like Topping who invest heavy in marketing. These brands send selected units for testing, but people get something inferior to a tested one. An example is D30 test equipped with low jitter SiTime oscilators and premium capacitors. My unit was the same that people reported of having inferior components comparing to the photos of a tested unit. Despite of number of calls to re-test off the shelf unit, it never was done, but D30 was still on the top of the best measuring list. My D30 has probably also fake opamps, as there is no other reason it would sound worse than a Realtek codec chip inside laptop.

It goes even worse. For those brands that do not send free samples or other benefits, he collect a broken equipment from all over US and test it even the unit is partially operational. An example is R2R-11 which I am very hapy from. It triggered reset every 20 second. Despite an evident fault seen on the beginning, a dick-geisha-head continued with testing. There are many other examples of a mischievous behaviour.

And finally the guy is an amateur. He doesn't understand ground loops problem. In result, many his tests are screwed up. An example is a TotalDAC Six test. Read comments to this test, you will see that he is completely ignorant on this issue. A tip, search for sajunky. :)
 
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Jul 29, 2022 at 5:34 AM Post #3,318 of 3,901
Alot of his "faithful" cult of measurements are congregated in the Port Authority / anus of this forum. Just like scientology and ASR, it has nothing to do with science.
 
Jul 29, 2022 at 9:44 PM Post #3,319 of 3,901
My AresII just hit the "30 day plugged in" mark and it's sounding miggghhty sweet.... :smiley_cat:
 
Jul 30, 2022 at 11:16 AM Post #3,321 of 3,901
Jul 30, 2022 at 12:56 PM Post #3,322 of 3,901
ASR do it right IMHO. The same approach is applied to everything. People just get tetchy because they realise they have been had. Are you one of those people? Don't be sore if you are.

Not all expensive equipment measures poorly. The Mola Mola DAC is one of the best measuring converters around and is stupidly expensive. Are Ares II measured well also.

So while you can argue that you'd prefer to see X, Y or Z measurements used, as long as the same measurements are being taken consistently of every applicable device that's tested then you have an accurate frame for comparison.

Or if you can't deal with that then just ignore ASR altogether. I like that they are around.

I fall into the camp that audio measuring does not give a complete picture. Measuring a sound wave is not the same as the way we hear music as an event. If you read up on human hearing and how it works you find it’s complex and scientific equipment isn’t advanced enough to give a complete understanding of the hearing process.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5819010/
 
Jul 31, 2022 at 9:07 PM Post #3,323 of 3,901
With the ares ii would adding the iris ddc improve the sound quality?
 
Jul 31, 2022 at 10:06 PM Post #3,324 of 3,901
Aug 1, 2022 at 5:52 AM Post #3,326 of 3,901
You need DDC that gives isolation on USB port but no reclocking for the best results. It means that DDC clock becomes a master clock for USB transfers and there is no reclocking afterwards. Not every DDC is designed such way. On the other side, technically it is not the best place for USB isolator on the external device. If done properly, the cost approaches a DDC. It is easier to place isolator on the external converter to I2S, but Ares do not have I2S port.
 
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Aug 2, 2022 at 2:18 PM Post #3,327 of 3,901
So sounds like it be at least a small sound improvement. Just wondering what next would be the best sound improvement for my system listed in signature.
 
Aug 5, 2022 at 8:04 AM Post #3,328 of 3,901
Aug 5, 2022 at 8:05 AM Post #3,329 of 3,901
Alot of his "faithful" cult of measurements are congregated in the Port Authority / anus of this forum. Just like scientology and ASR, it has nothing to do with science.
Ouch. But I agree.

lol, Port Authority...
 
Aug 5, 2022 at 8:22 AM Post #3,330 of 3,901
If you use coax or optical as input, then yes. If USB then still yes but only for the galvanic isolation and much cheaper to get just an isolator like the TOPPING HS-01.
Acquired Topping HS-01 isolator last week, after that no problems related to cracking of sound. So I can recommend this relatively cheap device to people suffering similar problems with their Aress II.
 

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