[viggen]

Check out the Audio Mirror DACs and the Lampi Amber 3 for tube…

Great thread at Audiogon on these DACs and more.

I love my Pontus. For the money it is pretty close to exactly what I want and it expect. But, I can see it not being for everyone. The beauty of subjectivism and each of us looking for different things in their chain. Synergy is so important for us all. Best of luck on your quest.

Thank you for your suggestions. Those were on my radar. From reading reviews, Lampi doesn't seem to have the sound signature I am looking for and Audio Mirror while it does have the sound signature but also has an ugly chassis...

 

[Chibs]

Looks like my Pontus stopped working. Going to send an email to Alvin but if any of you have some advice that may help please let me know.
I plug it in and it makes a click then it either stays on standby or a bunch of lights end up turning on. I can’t change input when this happens.
Can't help but notice the irony in this. I was working on my Pontus youtube review.
Any ideas?

 

[joseG86]

Looks like my Pontus stopped working. Going to send an email to Alvin but if any of you have some advice that may help please let me know.
I plug it in and it makes a click then it either stays on standby or a bunch of lights end up turning on. I can’t change input when this happens.
Can't help but notice the irony in this. I was working on my Pontus youtube review.
Any ideas?

That's very f'ed up thing to happen..... Did you check for a loop with the connections?

 

[Chibs]

That's very f'ed up thing to happen..... Did you check for a loop with the connections?

Tried unplugging everything and even if nothing is plugged in but power, I get solid standby light that won’t change if I press the power button.

 

[jwilliamhurst]

Tried unplugging everything and even if nothing is plugged in but power, I get solid standby light that won’t change if I press the power button.

Did you unplug the power? Unplug everything including power for at least 10min and then plug it back in. This happened to me once and the power cycle Fixed the issue.

 

[Chibs]

Did you unplug the power? Unplug everything including power for at least 10min and then plug it back in. This happened to me once and the power cycle Fixed the issue.

Yes, tried that for longer times and same problem.

 

[joseG86]

Yes, tried that for longer times and some problem.

I wonder if you could try to upgrade firmware but better wait for Alvin

 

[squadgazzz]

Check out the Audio Mirror DACs and the Lampi Amber 3 for tube…

Aren't they too expensive? Doge 7 Tube would be a good competitor.

 

[geoffalter11]

Aren't they too expensive? Doge 7 Tube would be a good competitor.

Doge 7 is the same price as the Audio Mirror

 

[viggen]

I'd go as high as $2k for a dac if it is really an end game dac... (at least for the next 5 years).

But, I just so happen to find an Orchid on usaudiomart...

That said, Pontus is starting to grow on me. It's frustrating as it sounded great when I first plugged it in and hence led me to sell the Ares. Then, the sound got worse before it got slightly better with 1 week's of burn in. Then, sound got better after chassis tweak... and sound improved more last night...

 

[geoffalter11]

I'd go as high as $2k for a dac if it is really an end game dac... (at least for the next 5 years).

But, I just so happen to find an Orchid on usaudiomart...

That said, Pontus is starting to grow on me. It's frustrating as it sounded great when I first plugged it in and hence led me to sell the Ares. Then, the sound got worse not better with 1 week's of burn in. Then, sound got better after chassis tweak... and sound improved more last night...

Best of luck on your search. Personally, I don't believe End Game exists. We are constantly evolving. If it does exist, I don't think $2k will get you there. A series of compromises will always be made at that price point. That being said, $2k will buy a really good DAC. I set my budget at $2k, but just went to $2200 by purchasing the Iris. Although, I know the Pontus and Iris will be fantastic. I love the way the Pontus sounds, but I also know that there are a few more levels of refinement, nuance, soundstage and instrument separation if I were to buy a TotalDAC, Termi Plus, Lampizator, Bricasti M1, Nagra, Mola Mola, Esoteric, DCS, Berkeley Reference, etc.

 

[CalvinandHobbes2020]

I'd go as high as $2k for a dac if it is really an end game dac... (at least for the next 5 years).

But, I just so happen to find an Orchid on usaudiomart...

That said, Pontus is starting to grow on me. It's frustrating as it sounded great when I first plugged it in and hence led me to sell the Ares. Then, the sound got worse not better with 1 week's of burn in. Then, sound got better after chassis tweak... and sound improved more last night...

The Pontus does get noticeably smoother during break-in. I noticed changes even after quite a few hours of break-in. I've heard people mention hearing changes after 50 hours and after 200 hours. That sounds right to me given my experience. I didn't necessarily notice changes day-to-day, but did have the experience of listening a week later and a month later and thinking 'Wow, that sounds really good.'

My impressions are that the Pontus II is smoother in sound quality than the Ares II. I experience less listening fatigue with the Pontus than I did with the Ares II. In fact the Pontus is the first DAC I've owned that I can listen to for a whole work day the way I can with vinyl records.

I had a Synergistic Research UEF Blue power cord (on loan from a friend) on the Ares II that really smoothed out the sound of the Ares II. That power cord took away the edginess of the Ares II's sound. I experienced listening fatigue with the Ares II after about 1-2 hours without the SR power cord in place. Expecting the same benefit, I put the SR power cord on the Pontus II, but the SR power cord rounded off a lot of detail from the Pontus II. I found that a Shunyata Venom power cord provided more than enough smoothness while not taking away too much resolution. Even a $15 Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty power cord didn't induce any excessive edginess to the Pontus' sound, though the Shunyata power cord does render the sound to be smoother.

The other thought I had was if the resolution of the Pontus might be revealing harshness downstream in your system.

 

[viggen]

Best of luck on your search. Personally, I don't believe End Game exists. We are constantly evolving. If it does exist, I don't think $2k will get you there. A series of compromises will always be made at that price point. That being said, $2k will buy a really good DAC. I set my budget at $2k, but just went to $2200 by purchasing the Iris. Although, I know the Pontus and Iris will be fantastic. I love the way the Pontus sounds, but I also know that there are a few more levels of refinement, nuance, soundstage and instrument separation if I were to buy a TotalDAC, Termi Plus, Lampizator, Bricasti M1, Nagra, Mola Mola, Esoteric, DCS, Berkeley Reference, etc.

Yup end game doesn't exist in audio haha... I do have Matrix XSPDIF2 for DDC and i2s conversion so I can use Pontus' i2s input.

I did get "end game" sound in my system once. It was a $5k turntable set up that I sold about 5 yrs ago. Might be wishful thinking that a $2k investment in DAC could get me there...

 

[geoffalter11]

Yup end game doesn't exist in audio haha... I do have Matrix XSPDIF2 for DDC and i2s conversion so I can use Pontus' i2s input.

I did get "end game" sound in my system once. It was a $5k turntable set up that I sold about 5 yrs ago. Might be wishful thinking that a $2k investment in DAC could get me there...

I have always struggled with the audiophile term "end game". I believe the journey is the prize. I would love to hear that $5k turntable, as I bet the sound was simply amazing.

$2k will get you a really really good DAC. And is probably the sweet spot for price to performance. But, a DCS Rossini or a Nagra, or TotalDAC is just another level of awesome if you are willing to spend 10x more for a DAC. For me, I am not. I am happy with my $2k DAC as I bought the best I could afford. Or so I hope...

 

[geoffalter11]

Yup end game doesn't exist in audio haha... I do have Matrix XSPDIF2 for DDC and i2s conversion so I can use Pontus' i2s input.

I did get "end game" sound in my system once. It was a $5k turntable set up that I sold about 5 yrs ago. Might be wishful thinking that a $2k investment in DAC could get me there...

I am excited to try the I2S input as well. Currently my Iris is held up in the FedEx system in what they lovingly call "operational delay". Joy! No date scheduled, no clue what is going on at FedEx. They are a complete and utter mess.

Let me know what you think of the I2S through your Matrix. That is a great little device.