[mikelas76]

I've heard enough digital audio to know that the Pontus II sounds magical especially at its price of US $1750. I recently listened to a $14,000 streamer-DAC that I don't think sounded as good as the Pontus on the acoustic and vocal music that I prefer.

I think that the Pontus sound terrific especially on the acoustic and vocals. Thats why you like this dac
Probably i wont change this dac for a long long time. Is so good.

 

[CalvinandHobbes2020]

I think that the Pontus sound terrific especially on the acoustic and vocals. Thats why you like this dac
Probably i wont change this dac for a long long time. Is that good.

100%. It was a bit shocking actually that the far more expensive DAC seemed to sound not as good for me as the Pontus.

 

[samoloko]

there are reports about In your face, slow sound, latency and high freq roll off
If that Issues can be fixed I agree Denafrips will be top notch

 

[sajunky]

there are reports about In your face, slow sound, latency and high freq roll off
If that Issues can be fixed I agree Denafrips will be top notch

High frequency roll off is not an issue, only seen on FFT plot. Other issues different brands handle better, but R2R rules.

 

[Smoothstereo]

there are reports about In your face, slow sound, latency and high freq roll off
If that Issues can be fixed I agree Denafrips will be top notch

In my opinion, I think the in your face item is more due to synergy than a fault of the dac. Yes, in comparison to other dacs, the Pontus2 is a bit more front row performance, like you are sitting a bit closer to the stage. So if one's setup is already too forward and close to the stage, adding a Pontus2 might be too much of a good thing. But there are ways to mitigate that if one wants to make it work, like different cables and ancillary products.

After spending time with my Pontus2 in my setup for two months, I don't find it slow sounding. Transients sound realistic and have proper trailing decay.

I don't know much about latency, since I don't use the Pontus 2 with games or movies. I use strictly for music listening so non-factor for me.

As for high frequency roll off, I don't hear that in my setup. I hear crystal clear highs and details without the hyped up treble that most delta sigma dacs try to do to give impressions of detail. Not so with the Pontus2, its naturally clear and transparent without that trickery.

But at the end no dac is perfect for every system. There's plenty to choose from as the dac segment has gotten so good (without breaking the bank) in the last 5 years or so, its a very good time to be in the audio game now.

 

[mikelas76]

Yes, in comparison to other dacs, the Pontus2 is a bit more front row performance, like you are sitting a bit closer to the stage.

I did not notice such a feature. its naturally Clear, a lot of air, and even quite fast.

But there are ways to mitigate that if one wants to make it work, like different cables and ancillary products.

Suggest to check oyaide tunami gpx re v2 power cable. Used in your setup makes stage is further away.

 

[Melting735]

I was playing with my I2S setting today. I might somehow messed up. Now my CO1 and I2S swapped, i.e. CO1 became I2S, I2S became CO1.
Anyone experienced this? How to reset it?

Edit:
Never mind. Problem solved.

 

[mikelas76]

Question, gents
I've just order streamer silent angel m1t. And i will connect it with pontus 2 using i2s. So, in this case i dont need any ddc right? Ddc Iris got the same clock as Pontus 2, i think.
Hermes is too expensive for me, and Iris is made for usb right?
Am i wrong?
Can you tell, me which one hdmi cable is good enough, and not so expensive?

 

[maiieu]

My Hermes was working flawlessly for last 6 months. Today i tried to test a new Usb cable, after that my PC did not recognized the Hermes anymore (both via the new and old usb cable).

I tried to reinstall the usb Driver, tried different usb ports on PC (both 2.0 and 3.0) but none works.

Despite PC does not recognize the Hermes, the 44.1k led still lights up when I connect an usb cable to the Hermes and light off when usb cable disconnected. Weird!

Note:
- Other inputs of the Hermes such as optical, coax... work fine.
- Tried usb input on the Pontus 2 dac, the PC instantly recognizes the Pontus.

Did anyone face the same issue? Any helps would be great. Thank you a lot.

 

[msing539]

My Hermes was working flawlessly for last 6 months. Today i tried to test a new Usb cable, after that my PC did not recognized the Hermes anymore (both via the new and old usb cable).

I tried to reinstall the usb Driver, tried different usb ports on PC (both 2.0 and 3.0) but none works.

Despite PC does not recognize the Hermes, the 44.1k led still lights up when I connect an usb cable to the Hermes and light off when usb cable disconnected. Weird!

Note:
- Other inputs of the Hermes such as optical, coax... work fine.
- Tried usb input on the Pontus 2 dac, the PC instantly recognizes the Pontus.

Did anyone face the same issue? Any helps would be great. Thank you a lot.

You can try disconnecting the cable and using USBDeview to remove all instances of the Denafrips. Then restart and plug it back in.

 

[maiieu]

You can try disconnecting the cable and using USBDeview to remove all instances of the Denafrips. Then restart and plug it back in.

Thank you. I tried but no luck.

I also tried connecting the Hermes to another PC (with Denafrips usb driver freshly installed), still no luck. Maybe, the new usb cable was faulty which might cause malfunction of the Hermes' usb chip/port?

 

[msing539]

Thank you. I tried but no luck.

I also tried connecting the Hermes to another PC (with Denafrips usb driver freshly installed), still no luck. Maybe, the new usb cable was faulty which might cause malfunction of the Hermes' usb chip/port?

Anything is possible. I'd reach out to Alvin with cable specifics and see if he has any suggestions.

 

[centuriones]

My Hermes was working flawlessly for last 6 months. Today i tried to test a new Usb cable, after that my PC did not recognized the Hermes anymore (both via the new and old usb cable).

I tried to reinstall the usb Driver, tried different usb ports on PC (both 2.0 and 3.0) but none works.

Despite PC does not recognize the Hermes, the 44.1k led still lights up when I connect an usb cable to the Hermes and light off when usb cable disconnected. Weird!

Note:
- Other inputs of the Hermes such as optical, coax... work fine.
- Tried usb input on the Pontus 2 dac, the PC instantly recognizes the Pontus.

Did anyone face the same issue? Any helps would be great. Thank you a lot.

It also happened to me with the same problems, after about six months the USB card burned out. After contacting Denafrips I sent the Hermes to the service center. The Hermes was returned to me after repairing the USB board and another component that had burned out.
I thought I was just the unlucky one.

 

[maiieu]

It also happened to me with the same problems, after about six months the USB card burned out. After contacting Denafrips I sent the Hermes to the service center. The Hermes was returned to me after repairing the USB board and another component that had burned out.
I thought I was just the unlucky one.

Did you have any conclusions on what might cause your USB board malfunction?

 

[sajunky]

Did you have any conclusions on what might cause your USB board malfunction?

Typically a static electricity. Damages are invisible, inside a microprocessor or other high-density interface chip. A protection inside this chip is insufficient, an additional external protection is recommended that include inductors on power and data lines and TVS diodes. Brand quality TVS diodes are expensive, alternate sources unreliable, frequently omitted. If you see missing components on the PCB around USB ports it is indicative a cost saving.