[Koolaide]

Anyone else find the update makes Ares2 a tad too bright?

Yes, absolutely. This now sounds like a different DAC. I use headphones primarily.

It has improved sound staging and imaging, with thumpier bass and I’m hearing more than before. Kudos to the team for these sonic improvements.

But, but female vocals and high frequencies generally come off sounding glassy and shrill. It has physically made me wince in some cases.

The overall character of the sound has gone from the trade mark “warm” to bright and edgy. This sounds more like a delta sigma DAC.

I’ve left it on for a few days playing and come back to it a few times, but I’m just not feeling it.

I will roll it back when I get the old firmware from Alvin, and give it another go in a few months.

I’d be interested in the thoughts of others, too.

 

[Majors]

Yes, absolutely. This now sounds like a different DAC. I use headphones primarily.

It has improved sound staging and imaging, with thumpier bass and I’m hearing more than before. Kudos to the team for these sonic improvements.

But, but female vocals and high frequencies generally come off sounding glassy and shrill. It has physically made me wince in some cases.

The overall character of the sound has gone from the trade mark “warm” to bright and edgy. This sounds more like a delta sigma DAC.

I’ve left it on for a few days playing and come back to it a few times, but I’m just not feeling it.

I will roll it back when I get the old firmware from Alvin, and give it another go in a few months.

I’d be interested in the thoughts of others, too.

If your using USB try Coax for a a more relaxed sound.

 

[Koolaide]

If you’re using USB try Coax for a a more relaxed sound.

Unfortunately I don’t have that option with my source. I’m using optical at the moment. If I change my source, I’ll definitely give this a go.

 

[Chodi]

Yes, absolutely. This now sounds like a different DAC. I use headphones primarily.

It has improved sound staging and imaging, with thumpier bass and I’m hearing more than before. Kudos to the team for these sonic improvements.

But, but female vocals and high frequencies generally come off sounding glassy and shrill. It has physically made me wince in some cases.

The overall character of the sound has gone from the trade mark “warm” to bright and edgy. This sounds more like a delta sigma DAC.

I’ve left it on for a few days playing and come back to it a few times, but I’m just not feeling it.

I will roll it back when I get the old firmware from Alvin, and give it another go in a few months.

I’d be interested in the thoughts of others, too.

I totally agree it does sound like a different dac after the upgrade. The most obvious thing is the 3D soundstage. I would guess the brightness you refer to could be caused by your associated equipment. In my system I am not getting the brightness you describe. We all have different associated equipment so I am guessing that is the cause for our difference in opinion. I use HQPlayer to feed my Ares II and that might be the difference in our thoughts. I have several headphones and I haven't even had time to try them all with the upgrade but I will get to it eventually.

 

[Koolaide]

I totally agree it does sound like a different dac after the upgrade. The most obvious thing is the 3D soundstage. I would guess the brightness you refer to could be caused by your associated equipment. In my system I am not getting the brightness you describe. We all have different associated equipment so I am guessing that is the cause for our difference in opinion. I use HQPlayer to feed my Ares II and that might be the difference in our thoughts. I have several headphones and I haven't even had time to try them all with the upgrade but I will get to it eventually.

Interesting, Chodi!

My Grado headphones (my only headphones) are generally quite neutral and my integrated amp is a tube amp which can beautiful and warm when I play vinyl through it (using a solid state phono amp). The Ares II was also warm before the firmware upgrade, which is the only thing that's changed.

The real test will be when I roll-back and then I can see if this is all in my head, or not!

 

[Chodi]

Interesting, Chodi!

My Grado headphones (my only headphones) are generally quite neutral and my integrated amp is a tube amp which can beautiful and warm when I play vinyl through it (using a solid state phono amp). The Ares II was also warm before the firmware upgrade, which is the only thing that's changed.

The real test will be when I roll-back and then I can see if this is all in my head, or not!

I will agree with you that it was warmer before the upgrade. I have tube amps and solid state amps. While it is not quite as warm it is more detailed and I am not getting any harsh or treble glare. Could be that I'm using HQPlayer which is an improvement to any system. Also allows me to select filters that match my equipment. You might try the free download and trail period to see what it does.

 

[bradbort]

I just did the update. My equipment is the ares 2, fed by a sonos port (not boos please!), into a rogue sphinx v3, with psb t2 speakers and focal clear headphones. When I use headphones, I use s Schiit Asgard V3 (whatever the latest is). If I did not have it, I would just use the rogue’s headphone jack, which really is not bad, but the schiit is def better.

My sense is that the imaging is greatly enhanced, as is detail. I’m running OS, slow filter. I’m not hearing extra “shrillness” just better detail. This is for streaming from ”decent” sources, ranging from Spotify to Apple Lossless.

One suprising finding is that streaming from lower res sources (tunein radio) also sounds better. I wonder if the OS has been improved?

 

[Audioguy5]

Hey guys,

Greetings!

It has been a while since I start a new thread on a forum. I thought I should take the initiative to create this thread to consolidate the comments/update/feedback of the DENAFRIPS FPGA Firmware Update (12TH Anniversary) project.


12th ANNIV. FPGA FIRMWARE

To commemorate DENAFRIPS’s 12 years of digital audio excellence, DENAFRIPS engineers have been working on a new 12th Annv. FPGA Firmware to improve the sound quality, add features, bugs fixed, update software and keep your device up-to-date.

Areas of Improvement:

• Improved Adaptive FIFO Buffer & Reclocking Architecture
• Reduced the effect of Buffer overrun/underrun due to the Source's Clock and the DAC's Clock differences
• Reduced Audio Latency
• Eliminate Phase Difference between L/R Channels
• Optimised DSP to improve the sonic performance

We will be rolling out the firmware by stages, starting with the Ares II / Enyo DAC. Firmware(s) for the Pontus / Venus / Terminator II/Plus will be rolled out at a later date.

Steps:
1. Identify the FPGA chip used in the DAC
2. Submit a FPGA Firmware Request via the webform found in the link below
3. Vinshine Audio shall provide a Firmware Update Tool (FUT) specifically made for the particular FPGA chip and DAC model
4. Use a Mac or Windows computer to update the firmware as detailed in the link below

Readmore:
https://www.vinshineaudio.com/post/denafrips-12th-fpga-firmware-update

Log:
* 16th March 2023 - We have received no less than 500 firmware update requests so far. Several customers upgraded the DAC firmware successfully and posted their feedback on the forums.


Feel free to use this space to share, discuss, and comment on the firmware update procedures, difficulties you encountered, how you resolve it, and most importantly, how do you find the new firmware functionality and sound wise.

Happy listening!

Hello, I’m wondering if I can get some help or suggestions with downloading the new firmware on my Mac OS.

My computer consists of a 2021 iMac Apple M1 with a Ventura 13.2.1 OS.

Alvin has sent me a link to the firmware for my particular ares II. I have managed to download the files to my Download folder with any issues, but this is where the problem begins.

In the firmware update guide Alivin asks that you key in commands to the terminal app. I gather this is giving a location for the firmware to be sent to, unfortunately this is new to me as I’m mostly a drag and drop kind of user so this is where my confusion begins.

Is there an easier way to attach the new firmware to the ares II than having to resort to using the terminal app with keyed commands?

I hope I’m being clear, and thanks in advance.

 

[Audioguy5]

Hello, I’m wondering if I can get some help or suggestions with downloading the new firmware on my Mac OS.

My computer consists of a 2021 iMac Apple M1 with a Ventura 13.2.1 OS.

Alvin has sent me a link to the firmware for my particular ares II. I have managed to download the files to my Download folder with any issues, but this is where the problem begins.

In the firmware update guide Alivin asks that you key in commands to the terminal app. I gather this is giving a location for the firmware to be sent to, unfortunately this is new to me as I’m mostly a drag and drop kind of user so this is where my confusion begins.

Is there an easier way to attach the new firmware to the ares II than having to resort to using the terminal app with keyed commands?

I hope I’m being clear, and thanks in advance.

After a little bit of trial and error I succeeded.
Definitely a wider soundstage and more treble extension within the first few minutes.

 

[linus9000]

While I'll leave the audio quality discussions to those who have way more experience with critical listening I want to point out one thing:

I could not use the Ares II with my PC for anything other than music listening. Why? Because of the audio delay. Watching videos was a pain, gaming was flat out impossible. This update fixed this issue, if there is a delay I can no longer feel it. For this fact alone the update was totally worth it.

Regarding the process: Within an hour I got access to the update, the installation of it went flawlessly on my Windows 11 machine. I got to admit I was kinda nervous though, potentially bricking such an expensive piece of gear is not the nicest of thoughts But it worked and I am happy with it. Generally, this level of support is not something I expected when I bought the DAC, but my issues connecting it to my iPad were resolved with the MCU firmware update, and now the FPGA firmware update fixed the delay. I have no idea if those kind of updates are common with other manufacturers, but I am impressed by Denafrips and Vinshine in this regard!

 

[Koolaide]

Attempted my upgrade last weekend, but fell foul of error 044 and couldn't get beyond that. This morning, thought I'd check which version of firmware I currently had, only to find that I now have V3.12 | A22FA1.6; this is why I don't use a PC in my system.
After a few hours of listening, there are a couple of things I've noticed about the 'new' Ares II: it sounds more "essy" and runs hotter, than it did before (OS mode, Slow filter). The former may be an indication of greater clarity and the latter, an indication that the new algorithms are more resource intensive.

Completely agree with your assessment re “essy”. Things are a lot shinier, which is good on certain tracks and not so on others.

 

[BelaLugosi]

Yes, absolutely. This now sounds like a different DAC. I use headphones primarily.

It has improved sound staging and imaging, with thumpier bass and I’m hearing more than before. Kudos to the team for these sonic improvements.

But, but female vocals and high frequencies generally come off sounding glassy and shrill. It has physically made me wince in some cases.

The overall character of the sound has gone from the trade mark “warm” to bright and edgy. This sounds more like a delta sigma DAC.

I’ve left it on for a few days playing and come back to it a few times, but I’m just not feeling it.

I will roll it back when I get the old firmware from Alvin, and give it another go in a few months.

I’d be interested in the thoughts of others, too.

Hi there,

same feeling here, it also sounds like a different DAC to me. I'm not sure if I like it.

We'll see.

 

[Jcraigh]

I have the Enyo and did the firmware update and WOW what a difference for the better!
After the update was done I played some music and was extremely disappointed. The next morning I woke up and turned on the amp and music started playing right away. I had forgotten to turn off the streamer the night before, and the Enyo I usually just leave it on.
Anyways, I turned up the volume and was flabbergasted. I listened for a short time and all I could think of was wow things were sounding extremely good. I guess there is a short burn in period.
Well, its been a few days now and I am pleased. Prior to the update I preferred listening with the OS mode engaged and with fast roll off. Today however I like the DAC in NOS mode. The soundstage is immersive, robust, has better clarity and depth. Imaging is cleaner, and defined. Still retaining its warm mid sound that I like about this DAC. I’m hearing more of the bass with better articulation and more punch in the mid bass.
I still like OS mode with fast roll off and look forward to trying it with slow roll off.
This update is fantastic. I find my head bopping to the music constantly now. I don’t know how they did this but kudos to all those involved in this project.

 

[Enoji]

I am so excited and looking forward to updating my Venus II. Such a great project allowing us to update without shipping it across the ocean.

 

[Ufanco]

Hi there,

same feeling here, it also sounds like a different DAC to me. I'm not sure if I like it.

We'll see.

Sometimes improvements take a couple days for brain to adjust to the change. Are you running the same settings as before updating firmware?