[dakchi]

I had both Bluesound and Ifi Stream and I can share my experience with both in one sentence: if sound is important for you, go with Ifi Stream. It has a much cleaner sound than Bluesound. it has been a significant upgrade in my system in terms of sound compared to Bluesound. If software is important for you, Bluesound is the king
I confirm that Ifi Stream had a lot of software issues in the beginning, but now 90% of them have all been fixed. The stream is now stable and provides the best quality of sound I have heard so far from a streamer

 

[Chibs]

I had both Bluesound and Ifi Stream and I can share my experience with both in one sentence: if sound is important for you, go with Ifi Stream. It has a much cleaner sound than Bluesound. it has been a significant upgrade in my system in terms of sound compared to Bluesound. If software is important for you, Bluesound is the king
I confirm that Ifi Stream had a lot of software issues in the beginning, but now 90% of them have all been fixed. The stream is now stable and provides the best quality of sound I have heard so far from a streamer

Interesting that you get cleaner sound on the ifi unit. Would love to hear the difference myself. If ifi supported Amazon and Apple music, I probably would have already bought one. Before I got the Node, I was listening to music directly from computer and that made a huge difference. I wonder if I were to put a DDC in between the Node and Pontus if things would clean up some. Not that I notice any grain..

 

[Powermankw]

Won’t go back from an R2R unless forced
Here’s my review on the node if interested.


Let me know what you end up with and how you like the GSX Mini

Chibs

Great video, thanks... Then I had to go listen to MQA video... Great, thanks...

 

[dakchi]

Interesting that you get cleaner sound on the ifi unit. Would love to hear the difference myself. If ifi supported Amazon and Apple music, I probably would have already bought one. Before I got the Node, I was listening to music directly from computer and that made a huge difference. I wonder if I were to put a DDC in between the Node and Pontus if things would clean up some. Not that I notice any grain..

What make the difference is that Ifi Stream has purifiers built-in both usb and coax. It does not support Amazon and Apple music though. Only Apple devices support Apple music. Even Bluesound does not support it. Anyway, you can buy an Ifi Stream. If you don't like it, you can return it

 

[Powermankw]

What make the difference is that Ifi Stream has purifiers built-in both usb and coax. It does not support Amazon and Apple music though. Only Apple devices support Apple music. Even Bluesound does not support it. Anyway, you can buy an Ifi Stream. If you don't like it, you can return it

Do you know anything about Pi2aes?

 

[simon740]

I had both Bluesound and Ifi Stream and I can share my experience with both in one sentence: if sound is important for you, go with Ifi Stream. It has a much cleaner sound than Bluesound. it has been a significant upgrade in my system in terms of sound compared to Bluesound. If software is important for you, Bluesound is the king
I confirm that Ifi Stream had a lot of software issues in the beginning, but now 90% of them have all been fixed. The stream is now stable and provides the best quality of sound I have heard so far from a streamer

I have the same experience myself. Ifi Zen Stream sounded much better than Node 2021. But there were a lot of problems with Stream at the time. So I sent him back.
But it was a nice combination with Ares II. I hope to get to Pontus II someday.

 

[dakchi]

I have the same experience myself. Ifi Zen Stream sounded much better than Node 2021. But there were a lot of problems with Stream at the time. So I sent him back.
But it was a nice combination with Ares II. I hope to get to Pontus II someday.

Agreed, it had a lot of issues and missing advertised functionalities in the beginning, but most of them have been fixed. I think that what is still missing is Amazon HD and Chromecast. The sound is much better than bluesound. If Ifi collaborates with Ifi, they can make an amazing streamer with excellent sound and software. They will kill the market

 

[Sunset1982]

Who is running the Pontus with an Meze Elite? Is it a good combo? I'm thinking about selling the bifrost II for the Pontus II

 

[aseedsea]

Who is running the Pontus with an Meze Elite? Is it a good combo? I'm thinking about selling the bifrost II for the Pontus II

I am. It’s rich, holographic, and wonderfully detailed. I do need to admit that I do not have any other DACs to compare the Elites on as the Pontus II is my one and only DAC. Some of the qualities I mentioned may also be from my amp pairing. What ever it is, I truly love my setup.

 

[Powermankw]

Well I pulled the trigger on black. I plan on using a Pi2aes mercury when they are ready. Hopefully I'll have my GSX mini soon. Should be a great setup. I'm excited.

 

[aseedsea]

Well I pulled the trigger on black. I plan on using a Pi2aes mercury when they are ready. Hopefully I'll have my GSX mini soon. Should be a great setup. I'm excited.

Nice! The burn in is real. I love mine and hope you do the same.

 

[Powermankw]

Ya, I'm not sure when I will get everything, but I figured I can get it ugged in and cooking.

 

[shwnwllms]

Got the upgrade bug again and close to pulling the trigger on a Pontus II + Iris. Few questions for current owners. I’ll be using HQPlayer to upsample to DSD, source will be a M1 Mac Mini (with a W4S Recovery prior to the Iris)

1) Is the Iris as necessary after the USB firmware update or is USB close enough to I2S using a PC as the source?

2) Black or Silver (obviously black would match the Iris and my current amp, but I notice a lot of owners with a Silver Pontus and an Iris. Is the Silver just that much better even with mismatched component colors?)

3) Cable recommendation if I decide to go with the Iris?

 

[sajunky]

Got the upgrade bug again and close to pulling the trigger on a Pontus II + Iris. Few questions for current owners. I’ll be using HQPlayer to upsample to DSD,

You don't need Hqplayer to transcode to DSD with Pontus. If you do, you don't need Pontus .

 

[shwnwllms]

You don't need Hqplayer to transcode to DSD with Pontus. If you do, you don't need Pontus .

We shall see. Pontus is on the way. Denafrips is on the recommended hardware list for HQP but I could see myself ditching it if it sounds better without (plenty of people, including the developer upsample to DSD on R2R Dacs like Holo, Denafrips etc though)