[dermott]

Anyone have experience with both of these they want to share? These are both ~$1,700 Chinese R2R DACs that both seem to be well liked. Not many R2R offerings at this price point. Schiit Gungnir is a little less, but also seems to be spoken of with less enthusiasm (cooler, less inviting is how I read it). Then it is a bigger jump up to Schiit Yggrdasil in price, but again, still talk of a drier sound than some other R2R offerings. Are there other DACs that I am missing that are R2R at the ~$1,700 price point or lower that can hang with either the Holo Spring 2 or the Pontus?

 

[sajunky]

I prefer where a product is well thought from A to Z and doesn't require number of "level #" upgrades. Such approach gives preference to a sound quality, as opposed a design specifically for offering number of upgrades. It means that a basic model is just a carrot for spending more money. Pontus wins in this matter. There are completely separate designs for Ares -> Pontus -> Venus -> Terminator, each one is optimised for a given price.

Denarfips ladders are traditional R2R, while I think Holo Audio is using segmented archtecture. It will perform better on measurements, but I didn't see any scientific reports how linearity of segmented architecture is affected by a dynamic signal. It reminds me users reservation to the TDA1541 DAC chip when comparing to the old and well respected Burr-Brown PCM63 which is a pure, laser trimmed R2R. In this respect Pontus also wins.

The same type of a ladder is used in Audio GD DACs. The company use virtually no marketting and their website looks more like a designer blog, but they have great products. In your price range there is R-8 model. Sound quality is very close to their flagship R-7. A difference is in external clock input, important option of high-end equipment. If you don't have external clock device, R-8 will meet your target. I don't see any direct comparison to the Pontus, but there is a comparison between R-7 and Venus (both in $2800 bracket) in this review: https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/audio-gd-r7-2020-version-review-r2r-done-right/

I think Audio GD wins, as it has a quality output stage instead a passive out in Denafrips DACs which makes it dependent on the cabling and a preamp immunity to the HF noise coming out of the ladder.