12 Year DCS Scarlatti DAC Plus Clock vs Denafrips Terminator Plus

I have owned the Terminator Plus along with the Gaia DDC for almost two years. I haven't heard the DCS Scarlatti, but have heard the Rossini on a number of occasions. The Rossini was in a more expensive system (not in mine) so I don't have an apples-to-applies comparison, but I think the Terminator Plus acquits itself very well compared to the DCS DAC. 

The Rossini is a bit more detailed, but the T+ sounds a bit smoother (more analog) to my ears, but these differences could be attributed to other aspects of the system that the DCS was used in. However, this same system playing LPs did not exhibit the edginess I heard on vocals from the DCS DAC. This system is a very high-end system (I'd estimate > $300K not including the analog front-end) and is very revealing. 

Both these DACs are very nice. I tend to like a lot of detail, and for some content the added edginess of the DCS is a plus for me, particularly for things like guitar and percussion. But I prefer the sound from the Denafrips (and my friend's analog front end) for vocals (particularly female vocals).

But without comparing them in the same system with the same content, it's a little hard to come to specific conclusions. 

You need to listen to both. At that price, it is too risky to buy blind.

@csnebres0925 , Dacs have no moving parts (like transports) so I guess they will need service less likely than some other gear. Dcs is quite serious company, even the distance (for service) should not be a problem (cost, on othe other hand, might be). So, if you really like the Scarlatti, life is too short, to take the second best...I still have not heard or read that somebody had a problem with it, that was not possible to solve. In any case, try to listen the Terminator as well, than your choice is going to be much easier. I repeat, I have not heard it, but somehow I doubt that it can ’hold its ground’ versus Scarlatti, even more if you like the Dcs sound. Let us know what have you decided after you listen to Denafrips dac.

@alexatpos 

thanks for your thoughts, this is one of the challenges of this hubby as in our daily life. Weighing pros and cons is never that easy. Going back, I think I will go to the direction of Terminator with heavy heart. I love how DCS lift the SQ of of my system.  You were right, service network should be  on my list. Terminator is sold in Singapore where is near, while  DCS is not represented in my country. Considering it is not anymore supported and near its EOL. 

I have owned Dcs Puccini with the clock (around 20k) which even today is teriffic sounding machine and Scarlatti total combo was 3 times more expensive (not saying that it was 3 times better, but..). Since than I have moved to Burmester 089 cd player (33k in Usa, 22k eur) which was introduced to market around same time as above metioned Dcs machines and is still in production as such. I prefer the sound of Burmester, but Dcs is great, aldo less to my liking. In all this time I have listened different dacs, from friends and dealers, mostly higher end PS Audio or Ayre and others and despite claims of digital advancing on daily basis, my impression is that mostly all stuff is produced within certain budget in mind, meaning, 'todays' 5 or 10k gear still cant copmare with 'yesterdays' of 20 or more. I admit that I have not listened Terminator dac, so its just my opinion, based on expereince with other brands. However and imho one should first  look for gear that suits his taste and the rest of his system (as Terminator nad DCS Scarlatti are very different sounding units, I believe) and than perhaps other things such as quality, possible service issues, service network and resale value...