Articnoise
Headphoneus Supremus
One thing for sure, with all these updated versions coming so quickly there will be an abundance of nice used products available online for immediate purchase!
You are a true glass-half-full person.
One thing for sure, with all these updated versions coming so quickly there will be an abundance of nice used products available online for immediate purchase!
Yeah well, paying retail for incremental increases for audio gear is for those who like spending money!You are a true glass-half-full person.
Yeah well, paying retail for incremental increases for audio gear is for those who like spending money!
The Terminator II DAC, is a trickle down of the Terminator-Plus DAC.
Improvements of the Terminator II over the Terminator:
- Total segregation of Digital Signal Processing and R-2R Network Arrays (Analog) boards
- Oven-Controlled Crystal Oscillators replace the TCXO clocks
- High-speed Digital Isolation. The silicon-dioxide (SiO2 ) isolation barrier with isolated power supply effective isolate the ground and block the noise from one end to the other
- Redesigned Power Supply Unit (encapsulated underneath the DAC boards)
- Supercapacitors for Digital & Analogue circuitry for high energy storage to ensure supply of constant cleaned DC power to the circuitry
- Clock Out eco-system to sync with DENAFRIPS DDC, and future DENAFRIPS components
The Terminator is shape shift into the molten metal!
I've had the Terminator and added the Gaia to it (Mode A). The outcome was astonishing: improvements were immediate and easily noticeable. A lot more minute details, highs were crisp and bass was more punchy and solid. Couldn't resist the temptation and upgraded to Terminator Plus. Connected the Gaia to the TP, first without the clock activated (Mode B). This setup sounded very similar to that of the previous T + Gaia, but was better tamed, organic and with much more 'ease'. (Must say the T + Gaia still has top notch performance in my memory) Then came the TP + Gaia with clock sync activated (Mode C). Overall sound quality was about the same as Mode B's. Careful listening revealed that the sound stage was much wider and deeper. Position of singers and instruments could be pinpointed. Lots of space between them. Never had this feeling with the over 10,000 albums in my NAS.Hi @alvin1118, could you please share the order of superiority between the clocks of Hermes, Gaia, Terminator II and Terminator Plus? I assume the order is:
Hermes < Gaia = Terminator II < Terminator Plus
If the clocks of a DDC and a DAC are on the same level (say that of Gaia and Terminator II), would it still be beneficial to feed the clock from a DAC to a DDC? Many thanks.
I've had the Terminator and added the Gaia to it (Mode A). The outcome was astonishing: improvements were immediate and easily noticeable. A lot more minute details, highs were crisp and bass was more punchy and solid. Couldn't resist the temptation and upgraded to Terminator Plus. Connected the Gaia to the TP, first without the clock activated (Mode B). This setup sounded very similar to that of the previous T + Gaia, but was better tamed, organic and with much more 'ease'. (Must say the T + Gaia still has top notch performance in my memory) Then came the TP + Gaia with clock sync activated (Mode C). Overall sound quality was about the same as Mode B's. Careful listening revealed that the sound stage was much wider and deeper. Position of singers and instruments could be pinpointed. Lots of space between them. Never had this feeling with the over 10,000 albums in my NAS.
Hi @alvin1118, could you please share the order of superiority between the clocks of Hermes, Gaia, Terminator II and Terminator Plus? I assume the order is:
Hermes < Gaia = Terminator II < Terminator Plus
If the clocks of a DDC and a DAC are on the same level (say that of Gaia and Terminator II), would it still be beneficial to feed the clock from a DAC to a DDC? Many thanks.
Couldn't agree more. The devil is in one's own heart.In a way I can understand that, I bought my Terminator late in December would surely have waited for Terminator 2 if I knew about it, especially for the clocking possibility with the Hermes. Then again, someone has to be the last to buy the outgoing model and just because a new/better version is coming out it doesn't change one bit about what you have. I think it is still a really good Dac and I don't feel I got hyped into buying a product that didn't live up to what I thought of it. Rather the other way around, I have upgraded and tweaked a lot of things with the network and power and the Terminator has not been the limiting factor yet. I think it is mostly a feeling of missing out for me. If they hadn't made an upgraded version, I wouldn't have felt any urge to upgrade. The only problem would be if you want to sell it for some reason, but then again the value depreciation of Dac's has always been a problem and I knew that when I bought it.
Well, then you should perhaps buy at a proper time Audio GD R2R-11 $349. It had been discountinued since beginning of this month and imediately appeared on Aliexpress. Three sellers are offering this DAC at an inflated price starting on $415 and ending $753, about the same price as Ares II and no support. Jokes aside, your feeling is in result of believing in a marketing hype.Seeing the TII release I feel like I've got kicked in the nuts for buying a Chinese DAC again, no not because they are bad but because these things depracate worse than a brand new Alfa Romeo. Topping, SMSL, Matrix - all the same, after a year nobody wants them because they are a seasonal hype, then the manufacturer tweaks a few things, some folks start writing essays on how it makes it a 'game changer' (how typical in audio) and the new hype train departs.
They promised the Termi to be the 'reference' for the next couple of years still they release a new model 1-2 times a year making the previous lose 50% of the value because they start putting the previous TOTL features into cheaper models. It was kind of predictable though but for me one last time I bought Chinese gear. Sorry for the rant, justr having a bitter taste in my mouth seeing how quickly they release these things....my Termi lost like 60% of it's value within a few months now.