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

Sorry didn’t mean to cause consternation with my comment above - I had limited exposure to the unit - about 1.5-2 hrs listening to it and other DACs (Chord Dave, current Yggy, higher Auralic,) in a good friend’s system - Conrad Johnson/Primaluna tube gear, Kef Reference with Rel subs. Not sure the state of break in of the various units. Yggy was even more bass light than Denafrips, Dave had most fullness of tone. No doubt the KEFs have a modest upward tilt in its character but this sense I got was hearing the various DACs through the same system otherwise. Anyhow, this is just one data point... always trust your own ears more than anyone else’s!

No consternation! Just happened to be listening to my Termi when I saw your post.  I had never thought of it in those terms. When I had it playing exact same track side by side with my vinyl rig the Termi beat it in both those areas so my curiosity was piqued.  I love hearing other perspectives on all equipment.  I’ve never heard the Dave, so it’s interesting to hear your thoughts. Still curious, any idea if his Termi was the latest model or has new board?  What was the source? 

Hello audio folks. I just received my ARES II today and hooked it up. I am now a bit confused. I have a Dell laptop from which I get the usb output from. I have installed the Denafrips usb driver. Installed on the laptop is Foobar2000 to play my musical selections. My selections include 44.1 K  some 96K some 192K and some dsd. When I play any of the musical selections the led indicators on the ARES II always show 44.1 K X1.  I thought the indicators would respond to the input such as 96K etc. Foobar2000 shows at the bottom of the screen the specs of the tune being played. The  info appears to be correct as in displaying 44.1K 96K etc. So  my question is what am I doing wrong? I will add that the music plays just fine with any of my selections. I could add some additional detail but I thought for now this would be enough to get started. I apologize for not being a whiz at the ins and outs of the digital realm but I'm pretty old...This Dac stuff i new to me.

Thanks

Terry

Hi @wegenert,

Thank you for your support. You've done the first right step to install the USB driver for Windows (Thesycon v4.82.0), that's a good start.

To unleash the full potential of the Computer Audio System with DENAFRIPS DAC(in fact, all DAC), please consider to use the following software:

• Roon
• Jriver
• Foobar
• Audirvana 
• Amarra
  
• etc

These applications have the ability to control the USB DAC in Exclusive Mode. This is the keyword. Exclusive Mode bypass Windows Mixer, allow the applications to take full control of the USB DAC. 

For your case of Foobar, please use use WASAPI output. Some guides can be found here:
https://www.highend-audiopc.com/PDF/Fidelizer-Pro-User-Guide.pdf
https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/Foobar.htm

Manual, Video Guides to configure NOS/OS, Filters, FAQ can be found on the DENAFRIPS website: 
https://www.denafrips.com/support

Hope this helps!

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,
Alvin Chee
www.vinshineaudio.com

For those interested in the DSP 'upgrade,' here is owner Art's feedback on doing so with his Pontus DAC:

https://www.denafrips.com/single-post/2020/06/04/PONTUS-DAC-It-is-an-astounding-value?utm_campaign=31799a0d-dd95-41f8-8fcb-af94cc4e451d&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=6a6bbfad-aefa-4c9d-9edc-f0321a709747

 PS. Love the simplicity and beauty of those speakers of yours, Art.