Denafrips 'Pontus' R2R ladder DAC - close up view

[Ufanco]

Hello people. I've been a member here a little while but not sure if I've ever posted of asked a question..I just read thru comments & reviews of things I've been interested in or need an answer to something. I came out of the dark today as I'm at my wits end with the Pontus 15th.

I'm not using it in a headphone stack & I hope y'all don't hold that against me. I probably could have brought my concerns to a different forum but I feel a lot of y'all here know what you are doing & carry yourself accordingly. I think you guys & girls are a good bunch & know dacs well.

I ordered my 15th in February & received it March 24th. So a little over a month now it's been running a signal at least 16 hours a day.. sometimes 24. I have my TV & a streamer hooked to it... optical & USB though I've tried rca coaxial quite a bit as well.

I've used various preamps though mostly tubes. Icon Audio LA4mkiii Signature & others are kits or customs tube pre's. At this very moment I have the 15th going balanced out to a SPL Volume2..it's just a transparent volume control basically. Into an Arcam PA240 power amp though I've tried my Hypex Nilai, Rotel RB-1582mkii, Van Alstine SET120, Van Alstine Ultravalve, & 2 different DIY/Custom low powered tube amps. Fritz REV7 SE bookshelves & Pro2000 SVS sub though I've tried my Polk R700 & the Elac BS403 bookshelves. I prefer my Fritz. Doesn't matter which equipment I run the Pontus thru as it's basic sound signature thus far stays the same if you know what I mean. Any audible changes are because of the component switch in my opinion.

I have a couple older dacs but I was mainly using my RME in the living room before putting the Pontus in its place. RME worked well with its PEQ which was needed for the R700's & helped with the he Elacs. I've had a boatload of different streamers but I've only used the Zen Stream with Sbooster & the Primare Prisma NP5 with IFI Elite PS with the Pontus 15th.

When I 1st tried the 15th it honestly sounded horrible to me. Wasn't until about 3 weeks til I felt it was kinda on par with the RME as far as just clarity. Although the 15th never really had the glare I could get from the RME at times. The 15th also had a little more depth compared to the slightly flat or constricted depth of the RME. About a month into running the 15th it started to sound like a proper dac. Like a decent chip dac..not what everyone else is perceiving.

Last week after a month of running I'm watching TV & I all of a sudden can hear/perceive the weight to male voices. Smoothness, weight, texture. I'm literally like "Wow, this is what everyone has been babbling about". Very noticeable transformation. I was really impressed. I listened to music for probably 4 hours before I switch it back to TV til I go to bed. Next morning I put a signal thru it & everything is back to sounding like a regular old dac. Kinda fatiguing at loud volumes. I work from home & probably listen to music at least 8 hours a day. Since last week that weighty textured sound has never returned.

I was on the verge of selling the unit last week & then the dac showed me something unique. I'm back to that point where I'm ready to get rid of it. I'm not impressed by it at all. I mostly run it with the Phase light off. OS/Nos light off. I'm assuming it's on Slow Filter. I can either choose 1x on or off. Does the 8x light always stay on when you are choosing between 1x on/off? My 8x light is always lit when I'm choosing between Slow or Fast filter & was curious if this is how it is for everyone.

I've reached out to Denafrips to tell them of my unhappiness & that I don't believe my unit actually received a burn in. It sounded pretty bad to average for about 180 hours. Denafrips told me to get a better streamer. I know my streamers aren't high end but I've demoed more expensive streamers & the ones I've used with the 15th are good enough in my opinion. Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions? Thank you for reading over my long post..but I wanted to give an idea of what's going on with me. The dac has probably 550 to 600 hours of actual signal being played thru it..the other thing Denafrips said was give it more time.

Did I expect too much? Did I imagine those 6 or 7 hours of weighty smooth sound? Isn't 500 hours of break in enough? Is the 15th realistically just slightly better than a RME in a couple ways? Is my slow filter working properly? Did I get a bum dac

Perhaps you become use to having PEQ adjusting the sound with the RME dac. Since using the Pontus 15 it is an adjustment to a different sound quality. Also sounds like you been changing gear a lot trying find what sounds best that might make it more difficult to figure out what sounds best. Try comparing the RME with out using PEQ to the Pontus 15 would be a better way to decide what sound signature you like.

Do you leave the Pontus 15 powered on all the time or do you turn it off between uses. I have read that it’s better to leave it on with a R2R dac. Have you tried NOS mode?

 

[davidbea]

Do people have a preference on which digital input sounds best on the Pontus 15?

 

[sygnus21]

Do people have a preference on which digital input sounds best on the Pontus 15?

Most (me) use I2S, but others use AES, USB. It just depends on gear and configuration needs. I personally recommend I2S, if possible. I would also urge you to read the owner manual.

It also might be educational to cruise through this thread. Not to be confused with read every post. Just look around when you have thine to waste. Never know what you might learn

Welcome to the Pontus 15th. Great sounding DAC.

 

[BigEarfull]

Perhaps you become use to having PEQ adjusting the sound with the RME dac. Since using the Pontus 15 it is an adjustment to a different sound quality. Also sounds like you been changing gear a lot trying find what sounds best that might make it more difficult to figure out what sounds best. Try comparing the RME with out using PEQ to the Pontus 15 would be a better way to decide what sound signature you like.

Do you leave the Pontus 15 powered on all the time or do you turn it off between uses. I have read that it’s better to leave it on with a R2R dac. Have you tried NOS mode?

Thank you for the reply & thoughts.
After the first couple weeks of sticking with the same components I did start switching things around every couple days..wondering about "synergy". My subjective thoughts are that the characteristics of the Pontus just carried over to the other components.

I ran the unit 24/7 for the first 3 weeks..putting it in standby only to switch components. After 3 weeks I was putting the DAC into standby mode at night. Last 4 days I've been keeping it on 24/7..haven't bothered with other components. Normally I keep my dacs on all the time.

I've tried NOS mode for long periods of time. Audible difference between it & OS mode. Can vary from track to track which is better but I think OS is better overall in the high frequencies.

I'm beginning to feel like there is something off with my unit. It's not broken though. It works. It does put center images more in line with the speakers instead of out front like the RME. The 15th doesn't have the glare the RME can have at times but then the Pontus is almost dull in comparison. I think I need to get the dac looked at. Which is what I was hinting to when I reached out to Denafrips & one of their retailers in Texas. They both assume it's either user error or poor accompanying equipment. That's an initial fair assessment as I'm not an expert..but I have been into hifi since the late 80's. No in house experience with R2R but have listened to a friends older Ares II. I felt it had some unique & pleasurable characteristics vs say a basic chip dac.