Denafrips Terminator R2R Multibit, ultimate pcm redbook converter??

Recent review from Srajan over at 6Moons:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/denafrips/2.html

On discrete R2R: "R2R DACs aren't novel technology but the very first D/A conversion approach. Strictly speaking, using discrete R2R is no technological innovation but regression. It's the D/A integrated chip which is the embodiment of technological progress. From an audio perspective, it's simply not true that technical advances must automatically produce better sound. Sound is a simple yet complex matter. Sound is simple because it uses the most basic electronic knowledge. It is complicated because it also involves endless knowledge from outside the field of electronics where electronics suddenly become the most basic requirement. A good designer must also understand music cultivation, the recording processing, replay in a room dealing with specific acoustics and more. Good sound is about all of these intangibles. To reproduce high-quality music is not an easy task. To design good equipment, you must first know whether the sound is right or wrong; and then why it so. Playback must get as close to the recording as possible. So the designer must be able to recognize sonic differences and their poor aspects and possess the technical know-how to overcome them by electronic means.

Well I recently purchased the Denafrips Pontus and so far very impressed with it. I was going to go up the Gustard chain but already had a Gustard X12 with ES9018 chip. It wasn't bad for $535 CDN but this Denafrips kills the Gustard - but it should at 4X the price. And it even surpasses my Goldmund Mimesis 10c+ (old but good) in Redbook. I have no issues using J. River and running DSDx2. I am interested to see how much more performance I would get by moving up to the Venus or Terminator but only for curiosity sake. Otherwise a great price and glad I avoided problems heard about overheating on products like L.K.S MH-DA004. I disagree with an early comment about cheap build qualify. The aluminum panels are expertly engraved and are rabbeted together like fine furniture. Only anomalies are the small LEDs and typo 'Reserval' instead of 'Reversal'.

I cannot comment on how the Terminator compares to the various other R2R DACs mentioned on this thread (Soekris 1561, Holo Audio Spring Kitsune Border Patrol SE) because I have had no experience with them other than that which I have read about them... and what I have read has been very positive indeed. 

My experience with separate DACs, in my system, has been primarily with the, Metrum Octave Acoustics Octave which was supplanted by the Auralic Vega which, in turn, was supplanted by the AMR DP 777 SE.

The Octave was a very smooth sounding NOS DAC, but seemed to me to be a little boring musically. The Vega was more lively, but to my ears always seemed to have digital glare.
The DP 777 SE's output is tube implemented and it seemed to completely do away with any glare while retaining a lively musical presentation. I was very happy with it... very analogue sounding and never fatiguing. 

Why then did I decide to buy a Terminator? Because I heard one. I live in Italy and there was one ''on tour'' here. I put my name on the list and has the privilege of being able to audition it for 10 days in my home, in my system.  When it arrived it had been already auditioned by others and was fully burned it (about 400 hours). 

It took me only 3 days to decide that I wanted to own one. 

To my ears, the Terminator offers me an experience of music that seems more ''real'' more ''authentic.'' 
My standard for judging the quality of a system is its ability to faithfully reproduce the sound of real, non amplified acoustic instruments... timbral accuracy, if you will. And the Terminator gives me that in spades. With the Terminator, instruments, vocals, etc. just seem so real and, as a result, the music for me is even more emotionally involving.  

With respect to the many other parameters by which we judge our equipment... sound stage, holographic imagery, analogue sounding, PRAT, transients, decay, etc. there is not a big difference between the DP 777 SE and the Terminator. The Terminator is just as analogue sounding as the DP despite the fact that it does not employ tubes. To me, it also seems somewhat better with respect to transients and decay, which adds to the ''realistic sound of the instruments, but they are both good in that regard. Also, with respect to wide deep sound stage and holographic imaging, they both excel at this. 

Overall, I think that the Terminator's ability to reproduce dynamics is somewhat superior to that of the AMR, especially macro-dynamic shifts. 

But, oh that timbral/tonal accuracy. The AMR is good at it, but the Terminator is much better. And as I stated above, this makes for greater emotional connection to the music... at least for me. 

So... more timbral accuracy, tonal density, powerful dynamics... these are the parameters in which the Terminator excels over the AMR DP 777 SE...

And this is why I decided to buy it. 

A couple more thoughts:

Last year I drove a couple of hours to hear an over $300,000 system featuring very high end costly speakers. The DAC in this system was the 4 box dCS Vivaldi system (priced at $108,000 in 2014 by Stereophile Magazine).
Not only was the sound of this system very digital, it actually was painful for me to listen to.
The demo was held in a high end store, in their best acoustically treated room and the speakers were set up by none other than the designer/manufacturer himself. So the sound could not be attributed to room anomalies or improper speaker placement. Nor could it be attributed to faulty source material. In the course of the hour long demo  the first minute of many many CDs were played and they all demonstrated that harsh digital quality that I find objectionable. 

It was something in the system itself that was the ''digital'' culprit. 

There were approximately 35 of us listening to that demo and I am of the opinion that no one was very impressed, because at the end of the demo, there was only silence. And when the speaker designer/manufacturer asked for comments or questions, no one said a word. 

I was very glad when I arrived home, fired up my system and listened to what I consider to be very a musical and analogue presentation. 

And this was before I had the Terminator and I was still using the AMR DP 777 SE.  

Of course, I could never do a comparison in my system between the Terminator and a DAC that costs $100,000. I don't have that kind of money. Hell, I couldn't do one with DACs costing $10,000 or $15,000 dollars. My limit was the AMR which cost $4995. 

But lack of direct comparison notwithstanding, the fact is that I could not stand the sound of that very costly system and, if I hadn't felt it too impolite, I would have left after 10 minutes of it. 

Of course I cannot single out the Vivaldi as the culprit... but it was an integral part of a system that, in my opinion, sounded awful. 

I guess the real point, however, is this: 
That demo confirmed something that I firmly believed... price is NO guarantee of quality. It is possible to have high-end sound without paying high-end prices. 

And the Denafrips Terminator is a good example of this... because its sound is indeed very high-end. 

Last thing:
If you use Facebook there is a Denafrips thread with 437 members that has been in progress for quite awhile. On it Alvin Chee of Vinshine (the Denafrips distributor in Singapore) today has posted a review of the Terminator by written jtl@hendy. The review is entitled ''Terminator-an End or a Start?''
The reviewer says that he has had a number of different DACs in his system. Amongst them he mentions are Meitner DAC 6 $10,000) and the La Scala.

Most germane to this thread however is that his latest DAC prior to the Terminator is a Holo Springs.... which he was very impressed with.  
However, If you are interested in seeing how he compares the Terminator to the Holo Springs, just go onto Facebook and type Denafrips Audiophile Owners in the search field.  

My system: 
MacMini running either Pure Music or Audirvana 3.0 > Denafrips Terminator via USB > Crayon CFA 1.2 > Spatial Audio M4 Triode Master speakers. 

When I went to hear the demo, I did not have either the Terminator nor the Triode Masters. At that time I was running the AMR DP 777 SE and Spatial Audio M4 Turbo S. 
Both the Terminator and the Triode Masters have brought significant improvement to my system. 

@lolligager ,
Thanks for sharing your impression of the Terminator DAC in your system. This DAC is on my radar, so I appreciate hearing from another owner/user.

Your statement: "That demo confirmed something that I firmly believed... price is NO guarantee of quality. It is possible to have high-end sound without paying high-end prices" is so VERY true.

Again, thanks!!

You are welcome, Muzikmann.
I am a musician and my reference is the sound of real music... live, non amplified, acoustic instruments. If a system gets that right, then it gets it all right. After all this is the definition of ''fidelity'' in the phrase ''High Fidelity'' is it not?
In reviews (both professional and by owners) it is often sited that a system, or component, ''sounded very close to real live...''  or ''suspended disbelief...''  
I liked my AMR DP 777 SE so much that I thought I would never abandon it.  
But the Terminator simply got me that much closer to that ideal.

Email Vinh from Gingkoaudio.com He has a demo at Axpona 2018.He is a nice guy. Alvin send him four model of Denafrips , I bought the Ares, the other guy bought the Pontus....

Here: https://www.denafrips.com/news