DENAFRIPS DAC ---- Owner Impressions, Feedback, General Discussion, Questions and more....

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New Upgrade boards for Denefrips dac's

Well, I've been waiting for everything to settle in before giving my thoughts on the Pontus. I bought the demo at Axpona after hearing the all four in the Denafrips room. The Terminator was out of my price range and the Ares was gone, but the Pontus was right in my wheel house. My system: Amp: ATI 1807
                               Preamp: Modwright swl 9.0
                               CDP: Denon2900
                               Speakers: Usher Audio CP-6371
                               Computer: Asus desktop.
Once everything was plugged in I fired up one of my playlist on Spotify. I was not impressed. Everything sounded dull and lifeless. Cd's sounded just ok and I was wondering why this thing didn't sound like it did at the show. I changed ic's ,power cords and usb cables. I let it play for a week straight and no change. Then I read the manual. The button for NOS/OS was set to NOS(no over sampling) I changed it to OS(over sampling) and it made all the difference in the world to my ears. 
The Pontus is a very good dac. The sound leans ever so slightly to the warm side with a neutral presentation. Micro detail from the Pontus is so good , you will here new music in old music. On some familiar tunes I heard things way back in the mix.  I'm a jazz guy with a good amount of classical thrown in,  and the amount and sound of bass is perfect for me. You can hear the timber of the instrument whether plucked or bowed. Cymbals sound like cymbals, not white noise. Pianos are real and dynamic. With it being such a quiet piece of gear, you can hear the venues on some live classical recordings. I've never heard this in my room before.  
I started out using my Acoustic Zen silver ic's from the dac to the preamp, and it sounded fine. But Vinh and Norm with Gingko Audio gave me a pair of Dana Cable Onyx interconnects. I took out the Zen's and in went the Dana's. The Zen's gave me more air, but the Dana's made everything sound more natural and real. They will stay.
Some things I don't like about the unit are the tiny lights. Unless you have the dac setting at eye level you can't see them. So I moved in my rack so I could see them. Also a remote would be helpful in switching between sources instead of getting up to do it. All in all the Pontus is well worth the price. The music it makes will make you smile and listen. What more could you want. 

Jayctoy, I remember you too. Your wife was with you and we spoke briefly about being on Audiogon.  Yeah the Pontus make me smile every time I fire up my system. No regrets .

I have the Pontus and it didn't come with a power cord either. I'm using a Van den hul I've had for years and used on other components. It's always sounded great to me. 

canibefrank , if cost is a concern give the Denafrips Pontus a listen. It's head and shoulders above you're other choice. There are no slouches in the Denafrips line. I own the Pontus and have no complaints.