New denafrips DDC (Iris and Gaia)

[sygnus21]

The setup with the Hermes...

 

[shafat777]

The setup with the Hermes...

Thats a beautiful looking setup. Glad you're enjoying the Hermes. I love my Hermes ddc.

 

[sygnus21]

The setup with the Hermes...

Thats a beautiful looking setup. Glad you're enjoying the Hermes. I love my Hermes ddc.

Thanks. Its the same setup I've had before just with the Iris....

 

[Smoothstereo]

Thanks. Its the same setup I've had before just with the Iris....

We're you able to see how much better the Hermes is vs the Iris? I was in the same boat last year whether to save money and get an Iris for my Pontus2 or pay up for the Hermes. I ended up with Hermes, but was always curious was my money well spent and if the performance was worth the extra cost.

 

[sithlord_1968]

Thanks. Its the same setup I've had before just with the Iris....

I would love to hear if you find a greater improvement with the Hermes for streaming or now being able to connect to your transport, hearing an improvement from CDs.

 

[sygnus21]

I would love to hear if you find a greater improvement with the Hermes for streaming or

The only immediate improvement I notice thus far is it feels like a veil's been lifted on the music. Not night and day difference, but subtle enough to notice - there's more detail, the bass is improved - not necessarily tighter, but stronger and heavier. Mids are about the same. My System is warm and colorful (which I like) but the Hermes opens (brightens) up things a smidge without moving from warm to neutral (which I don't want).

now being able to connect to your transport, hearing an improvement from CDs.

I gave it a try but didn't hear much improvement, though my initial impression was it made things just a smidge more neutral with the treble becoming a tad more sibilant listening through the HD800 S headphones. For me, I'd rather leave the CD player connected to the Pontus via SPDIF cable as I like the paired combo better.

But that's me and my ears. Others may prefer the way their player sounds with it connected to a DDC. There is no right or wrong answer, just a matter of preference.

Is it worth the $600 bucks upgrade over the Iris... I'd put it this way.... it's cheaper than the $1500 upgrade from the Pontus ($1800) to the Venus (3300). And I think the Hermes / Pontus combo gets you closer to Venus than the Iris / Pontus combo.

 

[sithlord_1968]

Thanks sygnus for the informed opinion and personal insight. I think we have similar ears and this is very helpful. I just recently refurbished my Audiolab 8000CDM transport and have gotten back into CDs. I'm amazed how good they sound thru the PONTUS. Comparing streaming to the same CD, the CD wins almost all the time.

 

[sygnus21]

Thanks sygnus for the informed opinion and personal insight. I think we have similar ears and this is very helpful. I just recently refurbished my Audiolab 8000CDM transport and have gotten back into CDs.

Yeah, I'm happy with how the Hermes enhanced my system. Also happy with the available options I have with it should I need them (connectivity options).

I'm amazed how good they sound thru the PONTUS. Comparing streaming to the same CD, the CD wins almost all the time.

Agree 100 percent as I definitely feel the same - CDs sound better as they provide more micro-detail.

 

[medon]

...Comparing streaming to the same CD, the CD wins almost all the time.

If your streaming service of choice offers the very same master that is on your own silver disc (CD), then there shouldn't be a big difference.
Unfortunately, many popular albums have been remastered since their original releases in the 80's / 90's. And streaming services are fed the newer remasters by music companies.
I tend to prefer the original 80's releases / masters as well; for those albums which are still provided in original master through Qobuz / TIDAL, there is not really a difference to hear between CD / locally played back CD rip vs. streaming. At least not to my ears, in my system.

 

[BlakeT]

I love streaming, but, unfortunately, it takes a fair bit of care in feeding your system. From your router, switches, ethernet cables and/or fiber optic, to fiber media converters/SFP's, etc., all this stuff impacts the sound, even with a nice DDC in place.

However, once you get it all sorted out, then streaming is absolutely competitive with CD in terms of sound quality, and the convenience of streaming is unbeatable.

 

[sygnus21]

If your streaming service of choice offers the very same master that is on your own silver disc (CD), then there shouldn't be a big difference.

Maybe not a "big" difference, but a difference nonetheless for some (me).... you might claim not to hear it, but that doesn't mean there isn't a difference, just that your system isn't picking it up, or you really don't notice a difference.

Perhaps you underestimate the impact on sound depending on which signal path a piece of music is playing from - CD played from a CD player has a different path to follow vs a file played from a PC or streamer. That in and of itself can affect the way a tune sounds.

Yes, 1's and 0's are still 1's and 0's, but that doesn't mean they can't take on different tone based on electronics used.

At any rate, on my system, I prefer the CD. It's not blow away night and day difference, but on some CDs it's subtle but noticeable. If I have company, am I going to be jumping up and down to play CD DJ, hell no, I'm going to be playing FLAC files and loving it

Oh, and just because I feel some of my CDs sound better doesn't mean the ripped files are worse. They're not, and you'd be hard pressed to tell a difference, but with some played through the CD player, there's just that smidge of micro detail you get, and especially with headphones.

 

[sajunky]

Perhaps you underestimate the impact on sound depending on which signal path a piece of music is playing from - CD played from a CD player has a different path to follow vs a file played from a PC or streamer. That in and of itself can affect the way a tune sounds.

Don't forget, streaming content is heavily watermarked. In the first decade of 2000 it was a big sound deterioration from some labels, watermarking could be detected in spectrum, exposing some regular pattern. Now technology is more transparent. Still, streamed tracks sound worse than purchased and downloaded version from the same service. CD ripped tracks sound the best in my opinion, even better than hires download at times.

When comparing sound from CD player to the ripped track, it depends on the transport, but a difference is less significant, similar to using S/PDIF converter versus a direct USB source and sometimes better, sometimes worse.

 

[sygnus21]

CD ripped tracks sound the best in my opinion, even better than hires download at times.

Yeah, not particularly impressed with some hi-res albums I got from HDTracks and Qobuz. They sound a little too sterile. I too prefer the 16-bit ripped files at times.

When comparing sound from CD player to the ripped track, it depends on the transport, but a difference is less significant, similar to using S/PDIF converter versus a direct USB source and sometimes better, sometimes worse.

Completely agree sound is also hardware dependent.

BTW my "Teac CD player" is directly connected to my Pontus DAC via SPDIF coaxial cable. The Pontus connects to the Denafrips headphone amp via XLR cables.

 

[sygnus21]

I would love to hear if you find a greater improvement with the Hermes for streaming or now being able to connect to your transport, hearing an improvement from CDs.

I gave it a try but didn't hear much improvement, though my initial impression was it made things just a smidge more neutral with the treble becoming a tad more sibilant listening through the HD800 S headphones. For me, I'd rather leave the CD player connected to the Pontus via SPDIF cable as I like the paired combo better.

I'm about to do another round of tests with the CD player (CDP) connected to the Hermes once I receive some cables ordered to include a Lifatech Toslink glass fiber cable. Aim is to connect CDP to the Hermes via Toslink and see how that sounds. Stay tuned...

 

[sithlord_1968]

I'm about to do another round of tests with the CD player (CDP) connected to the Hermes once I receive some cables ordered to include a Lifatech Toslink glass fiber cable. Aim is to connect CDP to the Hermes via Toslink and see how that sounds. Stay tuned...

Very interested...