Thanks! Good to know. I also have TPlus, just submitted the photo of the chip. Too bad I have to wait till May to do the update... :)
Showing 18 responses by liangx5
Besides the burn in, there are still other issues needed to be considered, such as system synergy and weak link in the system. The new firmware may not be the weakest link in your system. Or, it may just be not suitable to your system. And, if you don’t try you will never know. I would say "Take this opportunity. It is free of cost. :) My highest appreciation to Denafrips and Alvin."
Totally agree! I have seen enough positive responses not to be tempted to give it a try. The bad news for me is that my T-Plus is the last one in line to get updated, the good news is that hopefully by then they would have already learned and come up with a better/improved firmware :)
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From what I read in HeadFi forum, apparently Denafrips are aware of the complaints and diligently working on releasing new firmware updates for Pontus II with both EP4CE22F and EP4CE6F chips. We shall see... Anyways, I have never seen such an active interaction between a manufacturer and audiophile community... simply amazing. |
@dman1974 and @stevebohnii FYI, I saw this review from a Venus II owner at pinkfishmedia.net. I have a T+ and can't wait to try the new firmware :) https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/denafrips-pontus-ii-fpga-firmware-upgrade-2023.278879/page-5
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From Vinshine this morning...
The reason for this is that we are collaborating with DENAFRIPS to develop a firmware that offers the best of both worlds: bug fixes, new features, and the same high-quality sound that DENAFRIPS is famous for. I appreciate your patience and understanding during this time We plan to roll out the firmware update for Terminator II/Plus DACs at a later date, tentatively: Terminator II / Plus (1st June 2023) Please find the full news in the link below:
Thank you for your kind patience and consideration. Many thanks.
Project x FPGA Firmware Update" |
I can attest to what Alvin said. My Terminator Plus was bought used from previous owner(s), and I was able to upgrade to V3.7 firmware using software tools provided by Vinshine team. I filled out the upgrade request form indicating it was purchased as used and sent in the form along with a photo of fpga chip inside the DAC. I was never asked to provide the original purchase receipt. |
@liquidsound I suggest you try it yourself. It is not hard at all, especially if you have a Mac laptop. Once I downloaded the firmware update tools, it took me less than 3 minutes to update my T-Plus to V3.7 and the same to revert it back to V1.0. To my ears, the sound of V3.7 is more detailed and focused with more texture and 3-dimentionality. Yes, there is more treble energy as far as I can tell. Also, the sound is not as lush and rich, and less forgiving (for bad recordings) as V1.0. |
Good point! Speaking for myself, I was not looking for any change in sound as I am happy with the sound of the DAC as is. What prompted me to try the update is the claim by Denafrips that they fixed issues such as "audio latency", "phase difference between L/R channels", "buffer overrun/underrun due to the Source's Clock and the DAC's Clock differences", etc. I couldn't care less about what they did with "Optimized DSP to improve the sonic performance"... |
@anzaanimalclinic Thanks for sharing your experience. I had reservations about TP running V3.7 fw at the beginning due to added brightness to my system even after hundreds of hours of burn-in, although it did give more details, focus, and transparency to the sound. A week ago I changed XLR IC from pure silver to copper (Oyaide TUNAMI TERZO XX V2), left it on 24/7 with V3.7. I listened to the system again this morning, it sounded much better, the brightness has been tamed. Yes, I also like the OS mode now as it is more dynamic and 3-D, the sound in NOS mode in comparison is somewhat muddied and flattened. I prefer slow filter for my system. It just sounds more natural. This was done with USB connection only, I didn't compare with Iris DDC I2S connection since I don't like having to switch I2S settings between FLAC and DSD playback. I'll give the DDC away to a friend ;)
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FYI. Denafrips is still working on a fix for I2S in old DDCs that are not compatible with the DAC running updated firmware. It seems more complicated than updating DAC. Here is what Vinshine tech support said this morning: "The latest DDC are already installed with the latest firmware update which includes similar i2s optimization as the 12th firmware for the DAC. As a result, the i2s will be compatible. Regrettably, the firmware update process for the DDC is more complex compared to the DAC, primarily due to limitations imposed by chipset variants. The firmware update process may not be straightforward, and it could potentially require a programming tool. This could make it more challenging for customers to perform the update on their own. Consequently, we are still exploring for a feasible solution to get this fix. " |
A quick update on the I2S connection issue for Iris DDC and T-plus running V3.7. Denefrips said they would no longer work on a firmware fix for the old (my bought in Oct 2021) DDC since it is replaced by the new 12th Ed. I bought a new Iris DDC 12th, installed it last night and tested for both PCM and DSD playback. It is now working perfectly via I2S connection to T-Plus running V3.7. The pinout configuration remains as 000, I did have to switch DSD right/left channel set up. Very happy with the sound so far, better than USB direct connection and also better than the old DDC I2S -> T-Plus running V1.0.. Will evaluate more after a few days.
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@marco1 Was that also Iris DDC 12th? The version of DDC could make a difference, I think, since the new 12th has some improvements e.g. power supply, new FPGA chip, etc. I could not compare the two DDCs since the old one is not compatible with my T+ after updating to firmware V3.7. I also remember hearing improvements over USB direct when I first installed the old Iris DDC 2 years ago, that time my T+ was running on V1.0 fpga firmware. BTW, I have clock sync set up so the DDC is using T+'s OCXO clock instead its internal TCXO clock. |
@christianb5s4 Check out this site for opinions from some T-plus owners. My experience was similar. I had reservations at the beginning because of added brightness, also didn't like the fact that I had to switch to USB direct due to incompatibility with my Iris DDC. Burning in did help with the brightness issue, but I was still not completely happy till I installed the latest Iris DDC 12th last week. https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/terminator-plus-fpga-firmware-upgrade-review.36987/
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