[BlakeT]

^^ Nice review for sure. I'd be curious if Steve compared the Terminator 2 with I2S input using a Denafrips DDC with clock out engaged, to his Dave. That is using the Terminator 2 to its full capability. There is a decent amount of performance left on the table in the Terminator 2 using it with no clock out and co-axial input.

 

[richardloh]

For less than half the price of Dave, it is indeed good news for those who has other priorities in life with always limited $.

There are of course Terminator Plus and upgraded one that are still cost less than the Dave. It will be hard to beat the lower cost in mfg of these Chinese products done locally in China when they are done right in sound quality and in worldclass built quality .. I do expect more goodies from Denafrips/Vineshine.

I also had the good luck like many here of getting into the Terminator, Terminator plus and upgraded one with obvious improvement along the way without spending $ for Dave, Bartok etc. for a worldclass dac

And to Blake's query, I am indeed also glad for the clock out provision to sync my Avator transport directly and the Hermes ddc indirectly for any other digital sources e.g. my coveted Bel Canto FM1 for local FM stations etc. with very obvious improvement in sound quality

 

[CAJames]

...There is a decent amount of performance left on the table in the Terminator 2 using it with no clock out and co-axial input.

Agree. But, at least in my experience, adding the DDC just gives you more of the T2 "house sound" : bigger, more detailed, more enveloping, and just a little warm and relaxed. I don’t think it would change any of his conclusions or get him any closer to what he likes about the Dave.

 

[johnzz4]

Hi Everyone - I just put my Terminator Plus up for sale if anyone is interested.

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/denafrips-terminator-plus-for-sale-excellent-condition.18308/

 

[richardloh]

Agree. But, at least in my experience, adding the DDC just gives you more of the T2 "house sound" : bigger, more detailed, more enveloping, and just a little warm and relaxed. I don’t think it would change any of his conclusions or get him any closer to what he likes about the Dave.

Hi James,

For me, having my Avatar (and presumably other sources to the Hermes ddc) synced gave more PRAT for the lack of a better single description .. which may be towards the mentioned positive traits of the Dave.

Cheers.

 

[PrTv]

Guys...

Has anyone experienced any static noise / distortion with your T2/TP?

I posted my question in Denafrips group on FB, and now my post has 200+ comments. Various people have this issue with their units.

I quote below my post... in summary, it started with faint noise on left channel and if I kept playing music the faint noise evolved to excessive distortion which can easily damage your output (headphones/speakers).

Here is the clip. You can hear that noise at 15 sec mark... this can be remedied by power cycling the unit.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar77rgvVPd85sH8B20ZCHJCTlCER

I reported this issued to Alvin and so far, no official announcement / no acknowledgement and no solution. So far, I'm deeply disappointed with the product, and Alvin's approach dealing with the problem.

Have you guys ever experienced any static noise with NOS mode?

My unit is Terminator Plus and I use it with the Hermes DDC. The TP is always in NOS mode, and both DAC + DDC have been left on the whole time (as suggested by Alvin). When I did not listen to it, I just put it in standby mode.

From time to time, I heard static noise along with music (faint and not intrusive) in NOS mode when music was played. If I switched back to OS mode, the noise was gone (and came back when I toggled the NOS back in).

I tried to isolate/identify the issue, and these are my findings:

• It's the DAC that caused this problem. I tried removing the DDC and the problem persisted.
• This happens once every 2-3 days from the last power cycle.
• Mostly happened in NOS mode.
• This noise can be fixed by power cycling the DAC. After I killed the power and plugged it back on, the unit worked perfectly with both NOS and OS modes.
• Now the DAC is with firmware 3.06 will try 3.12 today, but I really doubt this will help as this firmware deals with USB issue, but my unit operates via I2S.

Anyone has this same issue? If so, which model do you use?

----------------------
EDIT 12-01-22
I found out after posting that this issue IS NOT LIMITED TO ONLY NOS mode, but also affect DSD mode. Below is the short snap I took illustrating the problem. My setup is headphones setup, so it might be a bit difficult to hear the static/crack/pop, but if you turn up your volume a bit, I'm sure you can detect it.

 

[richardloh]

Oops ... sorry to hear but no, I had fortunately not experienced the same in my previous Terminator, Terminator Plus or its upgraded one albeit I hardly listen to my headphone setup and I am largely on preferred OS mode.

Btw, have you tried other hdmi i2s cable (0.5m one if available) or other outputs e.g. coaxial or AES ? I only experienced no sound or distortion when my hdmi i2s cable went bad but that had been fixed .. after the entire connector was left in the dac

Hope your issue gets resolved soon.

Cheers.

 

[PrTv]

Oops ... sorry to hear but no, I had fortunately not experienced the same in my previous Terminator, Terminator Plus or its upgraded one albeit I hardly listen to my headphone setup and I am largely on preferred OS mode.

Btw, have you tried other hdmi i2s cable (0.5m one if available) or other outputs e.g. coaxial or AES ? I only experienced no sound or distortion when my hdmi i2s cable went bad but that had been fixed .. after the entire connector was left in the dac

Hope your issue gets resolved soon.

Cheers.

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately I've tried many configurations but still ended up with the same issue.
- Tried both Coax/I2S and had issue with both
- Tried connecting my N100H directly to the TP via USB, but still had issue
- Borrowed my friend's N10 to try Coax directly to the TP, but still had issue

What I can't figure out is it's not only me who has this issue, as there are many other people with the same issue responding to my post in that FB group.

Both DDC/ TP are with newest 3.12 FW.

 

[richardloh]

Understand ... my Hermes is old from 1st batch or even initial demo unit cos I decided to return the Gaia. How do you check firmware version of Hermes and TP for me to advise ?

Cheers.

 

[CAJames]

Dang. I listen to my T2 exclusively in NOS and never had an issue. I recall I recently got and email from Alvin saying they are celebrating Chinese New Year and response time may be a little slow for the next couple of weeks. Also, just FWIW, people responding to a FB post is one thing, but if they are also contacting Denafrips then I'd be shocked if they don't do something.

 

[PrTv]

Understand ... my Hermes is old from 1st batch or even initial demo unit cos I decided to return the Gaia. How do you check firmware version of Hermes and TP for me to advise ?

Cheers.

If you connect the Dac or DDC with a PC (windows) with Thesycon driver, you can easily check the FW version from details page of the Thesycon program. However, the computer will only read the FW version from the device connecting with it so if your chain is PC > DDC > Dac, the FW version reported by the program would be that of the DDC.

For me, my source is Aurender streamer and the DDC/DAC are detected with the FW version shown.


However, I highly doubt the FW would have anything to do with this issue.

Dang. I listen to my T2 exclusively in NOS and never had an issue. I recall I recently got and email from Alvin saying they are celebrating Chinese New Year and response time may be a little slow for the next couple of weeks. Also, just FWIW, people responding to a FB post is one thing, but if they are also contacting Denafrips then I'd be shocked if they don't do something.

Some did report, and if one reached out to Alvin personally, he did reply to the message (including mine). However, Alvin is the admin of that group and has read my post. With this many people with this issue, he decided the best approach is to stay silent, and never replied to that post. I truly believe whoever affected by this issue are pretty much on their own.

For ones who received units that are free from problem, I'm happy for you. The Dac sounded great (after I spent quite a lot of money tuning with power cords / BNC cables/ I2S cable), and I would be happy with it if I don't run into this problem.

 

[BlakeT]

Guys...

Has anyone experienced any static noise / distortion with your T2/TP?

I have experienced this with my Venus 2/Iris, but not my TPlus/Gaia.

With Venus 2/Iris, the vinyl/static noise first occurred when I substituted higher-end (audiophile) HDMI cords in place of the cheap generic HDMI (Tubulus, Revelation Audio Labs, and a Belkin one from Blue Jeans.. all had issues at first). The noise is subtle at first then gets louder and louder until it overwhelms the music.

I tried changing around the pin-out settings and it solved the problem for several weeks, then the issue occurred again and I power cycled and it solved the problem. The noise has not resurfaced (knock on wood). Swapping back to the cheap generic HDMI also solved the problem every time.

Based on the above, it seems my problem is the type of HDMI cable used in the system since the generic one never has issues, but I really have no idea what is going on.

I am just relieved my fancy HDMI cables are now working fine with the Venus 2/Iris combo.

 

[alvin1118]

Hey guys,

Please reach out to us via email. Email is our daily tool, the best way for us to answer questions.
Our team will respond within 24-48hrs.

Sales: sales@vinshineaudio.com
Logistics: cs@vinshineaudio.com
Technical: support@vinshineaudio.com

Many thanks.

 

[richardloh]

Hi Blake,

Interesting point on fancy cables .. I had days of frustration with new BNC clock ones for external clocking of uptone EtherRegen switch and had contacted my local ISP to disable IPV6, swap EtherRegen units, swap power supplies, reroute power cables etc. due to repeated drop in ethernet connection that renders my Antipodes server and/or reader missing and out of service intermittently within mins or hours.

Back to proaudio Canare L-5.5cuhd bnc and back to days continued online operations. It may be shielding, attenuation performance, equipment involved etc. but consumers like us also in general have no means to complete trouble-shooting with engrg expertise or equipment unlike some ASR folks.

Many of these fancy aka boutique cables mfgrs are small independent operation with limited resources and engineering expertise or even one man operation unlike proaudio ones of canare, belden etc. and had established their positive reviews thru users or even their circle of friends.

If in doubt, I will get back to proaudio ones and for non standard i2s, I stay with short 0.5m ones while it can be a little restricted for equipment placement

Cheers.

 

[richardloh]

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately I've tried many configurations but still ended up with the same issue.
- Tried both Coax/I2S and had issue with both
- Tried connecting my N100H directly to the TP via USB, but still had issue
- Borrowed my friend's N10 to try Coax directly to the TP, but still had issue

What I can't figure out is it's not only me who has this issue, as there are many other people with the same issue responding to my post in that FB group.

Both DDC/ TP are with newest 3.12 FW.

Any good news to share ? Cheers.