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Denafrips Terminator vs other dacs

Hey everyone I have owned the denafrips Terminator in my system for approximately one year and am enjoying it. However I have not compared it to many other Dacs. the only one really being the Burson conductor SL 9018 and the hdv 820 and both of these were with headphones not speakers.
Initially when I was buying I was looking to spend around 4,000 and was deciding between the PS audio directstream and the Terminator and after lots of reading eventually settled on The Terminator.

So in this thread my aim is to get all the people who've either owned the Terminator or heard it to chime in on there impressions of it specifically compared to other dacs. Some of the other dacs I'm thinking of are the chord Hugo 2, tt2, Dave. The bricasti M1 SE. PS direct stream. Metrum pavane. Holo spring l3. And any other dacs that you heard that you have compared to the Terminator.

I realize that there are other threads that discuss the Terminator but I have not seen any that focus on comparing it to other dacs which is what I want this thread to be focused on.
Thank you so much.
smodtactical

Showing 3 responses by jriggy

jriggy's avatar
jriggy
549 posts
 
@smodtactical, 
the DS DAC has been said to be smoother (softer / rounded off transients) and the Termi having more ‘pop’ but that doesn’t equate the DS being more analog. The Termi is very natural. I’ve read to many times the opposite re the DS. So some must find it at least a little...what? Synthetic? I don’t know. I learned a while ago that there are audiophiles that don’t actually know natural timbre.
System dependent but I love the Termi. Great blend of natural musicality and resolution, with good presence too. And of course that natural timbre. For the price 
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
549 posts
 
^ Speaking of listening for pleasure... That equals Lampizator for me, which I’ve gone back to. I tried the other rout but ultimately returned to my Lampi going direct to amp, as that brings me closer into the recording and totally connected to the musical intent of the artists.
There is a difference to me between best sonics and best connection to the music. In digital it’s easy to get steered astray searching for the best in frequency extensions, soundstage size, linearity etc...only to find over time that the emotional connection is diminished... Like choosing left-brained over right-brained listening.
jriggy's avatar
jriggy
549 posts
 
@jab
Look up LampizatorNA and contact Rob or Fred. They are the NA distributor for Lampi. Or go over to their circle on Audio Circle and ask or hit them up over there. They’ll take care of ya.. 
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