Denafrips Pontus *15th* ?

I had been looking at the Pontus 12th-1 but am now going to wait til things shake out. In the meantime, I’m trying to understand the current state of affairs, and the post from @painter24 with Denafrips EU email is helpful (but confusing).

From the Denafrips website, the "Pontus 15th" does indeed look like Venus 12th. In fact, compare these two images of the recent Pontus generations:

1. Pontus 15th (Denafrips website) vs Pontus 12th (online image). If you zoom in on the P-15th you’ll see "FVenus 12th" etched onto the board.

2. Now look at the Venus II 12th-1 (Denafrips website). There are design differences with the P-15th...and the etching on the board says "FVenus II".

Is it that Denafrips is importing older Venus tech into the Pontus line? If so, this may explain the lower relative cost of the Pontus 15th vs the Venus II 12th-1. The same strategy might be used for the Enyo and Ares products. If this is the case, then the Pontus 12th-1 that I was planning on buying (now dubbed "Ares 15th") could be more affordable now ($1200 vs $1800). Or the "Venus" line is now more in reach than before (Pontus 15th).

But I won’t be buying anything from Denafrips until they clarify things.

Well spotted; that's really interesting, and hence why Denafrips are saying for example the Pontus 15th is on the same level as the Venus, or words to this affect.

But I agree, they really need to clarify what is going on

What we all thought has been officially announced by Alvin, please see below;

https://youtu.be/ksjgWvRLor0?si=zGpdQFU3lbkUjCQU

@agonomics-sf It looks like the main difference between the P15 and V12 is the clock.  If so, and with current 10% off sale, wonder if P15 is one of the better values for DACs under $2000. Also wonder how both units would compare to the new LAiV Harmony that has been getting excellent reviews and costs $2700.

@classic8 I’m curious where you found the specific details about the difference between the P-15th and V-12th? I had been looking for more information but the Denafrips site doesn’t help much. Plus there are no reviews (unless you speak Vietnamese) on YouTube about the P-15th to help assess it on its own merits, or ideally vs. the Venus 12th and P-12th.

I’be also been disappointed by the lack of head to head comparisons between the Laiv Harmony and these 3 Denafrips DACs. It seems that those reviewers aren’t willing to go on record about how good (or not!) the Harmony is compared to Denafrips DAC, or what the sonic differences are. Is Vinshine selling the Harmony at some point and if so I hope that will encourage the Youpsters to post some credible reviews.

in the meantime I’m saving my ¢’s but am likely to get a Pontus 15th unless some new startling information is released in the next couple of months. If you’re in the same spot I recommend reaching out to a Denafrips dealer on its webpage to see if they will sell and ship to the US. I started exploring this option with Dave Chu (the HK distributor) and he quoted me a lower total price for the P-15th (fedex’d to the US, including customs declaration provided to him by Denafrips).