[centuriones]

I have owned a Pontus II since 2021.
I used fw 1.3 as soon as it was released, then I switched to fw 1.4, but a few days ago I went back to using fw 1.0, with my system this seems to me the best one to listen to.

 

[PoMarantz]

I used V1.3 and switched back to V1.0 as soon as it was available….I decided to skip loading V1.4 (It's a bit of a hassle for me to load it…my gear is in an enclosed cabinet, etc…etc…) and wait until I saw the reviews on V1.4 here.
I will not be wasting my time on V1.4…but I understand that it may be fantastic for others and their systems!
Thanks for your post!

 

[medon]

I will not be wasting my time on V1.4…but I understand that it may be fantastic for others and their systems!

... yeah... but... what IF 1.4 would be IT for your system?! No FOMO?

 

[DrCal]

Thanks @centuriones and @ProMarantz for sharing your experience. Totally understand your preference for V1.0 which was what drew us to the Denafrips DAC at first place.

I am just wondering maybe Denafrips team is trying to do too much here for the latest firmware update. I noticed besides "improvements" for the sonic performance, there are couple of bug fixes for the update, e.g. "Eliminate Phase Difference between L/R Channels", "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", etc. Can't they just do those and not messing with the sound such as " Optimised DSP to improve the sonic performance", and "Fine-tune the sound quality in the mid-range and lower octave of the bass, to achieve a balanced, organic, analog-like sound signature that is characteristic of Denafrips "??

 

[kengt]

I have owned a Pontus II since 2021.
I used fw 1.3 as soon as it was released, then I switched to fw 1.4, but a few days ago I went back to using fw 1.0, with my system this seems to me the best one to listen to.

System synergy ! ! ! The utmost importance.

I had made some mistakes over the years. The biggest mistake was to sell my Kimber Bi Focal speaker cables to my friend. Since then, I have being lost in the field of HiFi. And 20 years passed, I bought them back again. "Think about it", 20 years is a long time. I will never make the same mistake again. With the PII, I don't think I will look anywhere else, not even the higher tier of Denafrips for a long long time.

 

[medon]

System synergy ! ! ! The utmost importance.

And 20 years passed, I bought them back again. "Think about it", 20 years is a long time. I will never make the same mistake again.

If you flash a new firmware successfully, you can also go back - no need to wait 20 years.

I hope your friend sold them back without compensation for inflation!!

 

[kengt]

If you flash a new firmware successfully, you can also go back - no need to wait 20 years.

I hope your friend sold them back without compensation for inflation!!

I have to buy them from Kimber Kable because My friend is still using them after 20 years and to connect his BAT Rex power amp to Avalon speakers and sounded like a true reference system. That truly woke me up and found my way back.

My system loves PII with the FW 1.3. And if your system loves FW 1.0, then don't change it even if someone tells you that there is better one out there.

 

[Riccioli30]

I have to buy them from Kimber Kable because My friend is still using them after 20 years and to connect his BAT Rex power amp to Avalon speakers and sounded like a true reference system. That truly woke me up and found my way back.

My system loves PII with the FW 1.3.

My 2 cents. There are so many mistakes in the audiophile life. Mine has been believing from the beginning of the “era”(last century) in the promises of digital. Try everything, buy the least worst, to my ears. Impossible to compete with analog, my final thougt ( Imho of course). I threw it in the towel many years ago. But time passes, progress advances, technology as well and curiosity remains. The impressions on my P2/12, purchased in April 2023 (with factory SW V.3.12, I shared in the post 560 on page 38). I still have the curiosity to try the original 2020 SW, that is talked about so well here. When I asked Vinshine they advised me not to look back and to try the May 15th V.4 (they linked me to this one and only this one) which I haven't used yet. Maybe in a few months. In my experience there may be differences in nuances, but I'm more interested in getting used to the sound of the ladder, and it's not so immediate. Interesting nonetheless.

 

[S-S-MR]

Requested the new 3.7 firmware for my 2020 Terminator-Plus, received it the next day.

It fixed the left/right channel swap with I2S-C (RJ45) and I had to reconfigure the I2S-A (HDMI) pinouts to Mode 2 as well as fiddle with the vaunted Clock Out setting. If there is a rumored firmware update for the DDCs like my 2020 Gaia, then I will reset the DAC's pinouts to Mode 0 and configure the pinouts on the DDC instead.

Out of the box, everything sounded better and still is. The soundstage seems slightly wider and deeper, not sure about it being taller or moved upwards like some users reported. Everything is more detailed, but at the same time there is no un-natural increase in harshness. If anything, the sound is so un-distorted that I acutally find myself listening at higher levels with that toe-tapping goodness. I most recently have been listening to 2010s+ electronic music, which is a great test for harshness. It is truly a pleasure to listen the an analog-sounding digital audio system. I couldn't be happier with this update.

Thank you, Denafrips and Vinshine Audio!

 

[nmat79]

Requested the new 3.7 firmware for my 2020 Terminator-Plus, received it the next day.

It fixed the left/right channel swap with I2S-C (RJ45) and I had to reconfigure the I2S-A (HDMI) pinouts to Mode 2 as well as fiddle with the vaunted Clock Out setting. If there is a rumored firmware update for the DDCs like my 2020 Gaia, then I will reset the DAC's pinouts to Mode 0 and configure the pinouts on the DDC instead.

Out of the box, everything sounded better and still is. The soundstage seems slightly wider and deeper, not sure about it being taller or moved upwards like some users reported. Everything is more detailed, but at the same time there is no un-natural increase in harshness. If anything, the sound is so un-distorted that I acutally find myself listening at higher levels with that toe-tapping goodness. I most recently have been listening to 2010s+ electronic music, which is a great test for harshness. It is truly a pleasure to listen the an analog-sounding digital audio system. I couldn't be happier with this update.

Thank you, Denafrips and Vinshine Audio!

I am also got the 2020 T+ and Gaia, but unable to get clock sync to work . How did you do it ? In my T + I set clock out with "opt" option , so 45/49 and in Gaia when I turn on clock in music stops . I connected both via i2s A with tubulus argentus HDMI and tried different pinouts in T+ but nothing worked out the clock sync issue.

 

[Yitaro1]

I am also got the 2020 T+ and Gaia, but unable to get clock sync to work . How did you do it ? In my T + I set clock out with "opt" option , so 45/49 and in Gaia when I turn on clock in music stops . I connected both via i2s A with tubulus argentus HDMI and tried different pinouts in T+ but nothing worked out the clock sync issue.

I also have 2020 T+ and 2020 Gaia and my issue is with the I2S pinout with 3.7 firmware. Can never find the right I2S pinout to work with DSD and non-DSD files. The clock sync I have no issues with. Loaded the 3.6 firmware and all issues gone. Very strange.

 

[S-S-MR]

I am also got the 2020 T+ and Gaia, but unable to get clock sync to work . How did you do it ? In my T + I set clock out with "opt" option , so 45/49 and in Gaia when I turn on clock in music stops . I connected both via i2s A with tubulus argentus HDMI and tried different pinouts in T+ but nothing worked out the clock sync issue.

Everything worked fine for me following the instructions from the manual. OPT uses the highest clock frequencies and I2S-A disables it and shuts off the Clock Out LED.

 

[S-S-MR]

Can never find the right I2S pinout to work with DSD...

DSD above DSD64 has never worked for me with I2S. Too much noise.

 

[DrCal]

Requested the new 3.7 firmware for my 2020 Terminator-Plus, received it the next day.

It fixed the left/right channel swap with I2S-C (RJ45) and I had to reconfigure the I2S-A (HDMI) pinouts to Mode 2 as well as fiddle with the vaunted Clock Out setting. If there is a rumored firmware update for the DDCs like my 2020 Gaia, then I will reset the DAC's pinouts to Mode 0 and configure the pinouts on the DDC instead.

Out of the box, everything sounded better and still is. The soundstage seems slightly wider and deeper, not sure about it being taller or moved upwards like some users reported. Everything is more detailed, but at the same time there is no un-natural increase in harshness. If anything, the sound is so un-distorted that I acutally find myself listening at higher levels with that toe-tapping goodness. I most recently have been listening to 2010s+ electronic music, which is a great test for harshness. It is truly a pleasure to listen the an analog-sounding digital audio system. I couldn't be happier with this update.

Thank you, Denafrips and Vinshine Audio!

Glad it worked out for you. I guess you tried both PCM and DSD? Like some others experienced I just could not get the DDC-I2S and updated T-Plus play both PCM and DSD without noise (it could be configured to play one of the two correctly, not both).

 

[S-S-MR]

I guess you tried both PCM and DSD? Like some others experienced I just could not get the DDC-I2S and updated T-Plus play both PCM and DSD without noise (it could be configured to play one of the two correctly, not both).

Correct. Years ago, PCM would work with the default pinout mode, but not DSD higher than 64fs. Changing the pinout mode would allow DSD to work, but not PCM. Then later on, none of the pinout modes would work for high-bitrate DSD. This issue is believed to be caused by the Gaia DDC. Denafrips was working on a firmware update for mine years ago, but apparently forgot about it. I asked them on the status of it when the DAC firmware updates were announced, but got no response. Direct connection to the DAC via USB works fine, of course.

*Edit* And there would still be noise playing after DSD playback until switching back to PCM.