Mr. Pontus gets
Terminated !
I have been around way too many years in
this addictive audio hobby of ours.
There were the earliest days when, at the ripe old age of 14, and much to
the chagrin of my parents , I mounted 4 speakers on the ceiling over my
bed. Driven from a mono clock radio, the
sound was anything but stellar, but humble beginnings we all have. Through the
high school and college years there were many amplifiers, speakers, turntables
and the like. I found myself visiting
every showroom I could find; I even had fun at one of the largest Lafayette
radio stores back in the 1970’s ! Now a retired electrical engineer, I look
back and realize I have certainly chased audio nirvana with an undying passion. In the 1980’s the first CDs did not impress,
so I never sold my turntable. However,
in the last 10 years or so I have gotten on-board with the digital revolution in
reproduction. Have tried many DACs,
happy but never totally satisfied.
I
said all that to say this, the Denafrips Terminator R2R DAC is the last DAC I
will need to, or want to, purchase . . . . period. It is simply that good, and by good I mean
accurate and engaging at the same time.
A simple visual analogy is in order here. It is like looking at a
perfect photograph, spot on focus, nothing overexposed or under exposed,
perfect color balance, realistic depth of field, etc. In short, looking at a
perfect photograph transports you to the time & place where the photo was
taken. It is as though you were there
with the photographer, seeing what he saw.
As good as the Denafrips Pontus DAC is,
the Terminator is on the ultimate musical plane. Its sound signature is
definitely in the Denafrips family, it is just that it bests the Pontus in
every aspect (and I assume also the Venus but to a lesser degree). With Termy (my nickname for him ) the ease of presentation witnessed
with Pontus is taken to a level where you wouldn’t even mention it, because it
is a nonissue. Music just flows with no
sense of struggle or limitation. It
feels like when a subcompact car would have done the job, you instead have an
earth-moving vehicle ! The bass
definition is so good that identifying the particular bass instrument in any
song is child’s play. Massed strings and harmonized voices are what really
stands out for me. Just prior to writing
this report I listed to The Manhattan Transfer : “Boy From New York City”, “BirdLand”, and one
of my favorites “Java Jive”. All of them
left me with a new appreciation for this tight knit singing group, just
awesome. Next up was Joe Cocker, his
soulful voice came through like never before.
Every inflection and intonation was brought forth in living color !
My Termy now has about 80 hours of break-in,
I know there may be a bit of improvement still left but at this point I have
not complaint one. I’ll follow up when Termy has in excess of 200
hours . . . so stay tuned ! BTW Mr. Pontus went to a good friend, he
couldn’t be happier . . . or could he?
sincerely,
Dana (aka danasam)
