A friend of mine that builds and voices hi-end speakers (with very good ears) has recently tried the Denafrips Top Line gear (Apollo amplifier + Anthena pre + Terminator Plus DAC + Gaia) with his speakers.
He owns some Audio-GD products (the "2018" R8 DAC, the Master 1 pre and the Master 2H mono amplifiers) and also a Matrix XSabre Pro DAC.
Here are his "overall" thoughts:
- He liked very much Apollo amp. He called it a beast. He loved it's control over the bass frequencies mostly. He said he never felt the same base in his speakers. I think it prefered it over his 2H monos, but he hasn't tried Kingwas new HE-2 Mk2. That would be a good comparison to hear!
- He found the Anthena pre very similar to the Audio-GD M1. Very transparent.
- He liked the Terminator Plus DAC, but overrated for the price. He found it very similar to the Matrix DAC and he prefered the R8 DAC on his speakers. He felt the T+ DAC had better bass control, but the R8 had more natural sound. He found the T+ DAC too expensive for the perfomance. He has also told me that one of the best sounds he has ever heard was his 2018 R8 DAC connected to a DI-20HE plus a good Master clock.
- He didn't get along with the Denafrips Gaia. I didn't ask what he meant with that, but it seems he didn't like it.
He's not a guy who will write a full review and he tried he Denafrips line because he was thinking about upgrading his Audio-GD rig So he will not describe me the whole experience with detail, but I trust his ears and honesty with me. I will ask him if he will buy any Denafrip product after the test.
Based on all discussions on this thread, could one explain this sentence from Pedro’s friend ‘...one of the best sounds he has ever heard was his 2018 R8 DAC connected to a DI-20HE plus a good Master clock ?
As the R8 is reclocking the incoming I2S signal from the DI20 using its local Accusilicons, how can a 10M master clock on the DI20 improve the overall SQ as I’m supposing most benefits will disappear in the DAC internal reclocking process, or am I wrong?