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Denefrips Pontus "burn in" period?

Hello all

 

Now there's a chance I may be a little premature with this, but I've received my Pontus 8 days ago and have had it running ever since, powered up, most of the time with signal going through it, and so far I'm a little concerned. I am aware that with this particular dac it is recommended to run it roughly 10 days before it really burns in, but being only a couple of days away, I can't say the sound has changed very noticeably. Matter of fact, when I A/B with my project S2 plus dac, and even my blue sound node internal deck, I can barely tell a difference! Does burning happen gradually? Is there all of a sudden a hallelujah moment where this thing starts kicking ass? Does anybody have more experience with this particular piece of gear? Current system is rogue audio ST100 amp, rogadio RP1 preamp, upgraded tubes, blue jean cabling, upgraded power cords on power amp and preamp. I had high hopes that this dac that has received so much high praise was going to blow my meager dacs out of the water, and so far not the case at all. I must say, the thing weighs a ton and looks gorgeous, but I'm getting a little concerned at this point that I may end up disappointed. Talk me off the ledge!

 

128x128jin78

Showing 5 responses by arafiq

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

I don't know which Bluesound Node 2 generation the OP has, but I can tell you the coax or toslink connections on the previous gen are a limiting factor. When I was using BS with various DACs, I was having a hard time discerning differences between a few DACs I tried. It was only after I moved to a better streamer supporting USB out that I was able to extract more out of my DACs. 

I have a Terminator II in my main system and recently bought an Ares II for the home office system. Both took over 100 hours to sound good. When I first got the Ares II, I wasn't sure what the fuss was about. It sounded pretty ordinary. But after two weeks, it came alive. I'm still shocked how well a DAC costing roughly $800 USD can perform. It is certainly better than my Audio Mirror Tubadour III (non-SE version) for sure. 

 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

@jin78 Sorry if you already mentioned it before, but how are you connecting the node to the pontus? If you haven't tried it already, can you try the usb out? I think the latest Node models now support usb out.

Almost every DAC I have tried thus far was a step up from the one in the Node (although, they might have improved in the latest generation). I'm wondering what else might be going on in your audio chain. Either way, I would give it at least another 100 hours before making a decision.

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

I think a lot depends on the DAC's USB implementation. Maybe I'm in the minority but I've always preferred USB over spdif and definitely over toslink. But then again it could be because the DACs I've owned are better with USB, who knows. Anyways, it's worth trying ... you might still prefer coax.

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

Yep that was my experience with the Node as well as I mentioned. Coax is the limiting factor. The performance improves by another step once you get a better streamer. 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 

In my case, the Node 2i and coax connection problem was not limited to a specific DAC. I tried 5 DACs with the Node, and in each case coax was the limiting factor. Toslink was maybe marginally better. IMO, the Bluesound Node is a good starter streamer with a below par DAC, but even as a streamer I feel that it can limit the potential of your DAC. I know it won't sit well with the 'all streamers are the same' crowd but I'm just sharing my experience.

Disclaimer: I had the prior version of the Node 2i (the one without USB out). It is quite possible that the new model has overcome some of the limitations in terms of SQ.

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