Help choosing a DAC

This is a nice summary of the Denafrips lineup

I have the Pontus II and Hermes DDC. It’s a great combination. The Hermes lowered the noise floor and opened up the soundstage, improved imaging and transients etc. It has an I2S connection too which is nice. $2500 would get you that combo used. Not having heard the Venus I would still hazard a guess that my setup is close to its level, although it likely sounds different. There are also other R2R DACs out there that folks seem to like such as the Gustard R26 or the HoloAudio May. If I were to replace what I have it would likely be with the Terminator or something similar. However, I am more than happy with my setup and plan on enjoying it for a very long time.

@shrapnel Nope having two boxes doesn’t bother me at all. They complement one another actually. I like having the better oven controlled clock in the Hermes and the I2S connection as well, it seems to help clean up the USB connection and any jitter. I just posted some pictures of my system if you want to take a look for yourself and see what it looks like.

+1 for TMR, I bought my Hermes from them. There is a Pontus II and a Hermes for sale there at the moment, at least a couple of days ago there was.  There’s a Venus II for sale at UpscaleAudio, which is much like TMR as they test components and have a return policy.  It’s an older version though, not the 12th Anniversary or the 12th-1 (I’m not entirely sure those aren’t the same).  Might be worth taking a punt on as you can return it if you don’t care for it.