What USB and HDMI cables are you using now?
i2s Cable for Denafrips Iris -> Pontus?
Hi all! Finally got all the pieces to my digital front end puzzle and am getting things hooked up and set up.
What I landed with:
Innuos Zen mk3
Denafrips Iris 12th DDC
Denafrips Pontus II 12th DAC
Right now, I have USB running from the Zen to the Iris DDC, and then using an HDMI cable for i2s out from DDC into the Pontus. I got things setup to where sound is playing, but I have some observations so far.
1. I was using the Zen into a digital input on my integrated. It sounded ok, but wasn't great. I wasn't expecting much, but wanted to have a baseline to see how the Denafrips gear would improve on this.
2. Connecting the Pontus on its own to the Zen, there was an immediate, drastic improvement in pretty much every aspect of the sound.
3. Adding the Iris and getting it configured is where I ran into an interesting issue. No problems getting sound to work by following the walkthrough video, so that was good. However, there seems to be a very slight muffling to the sound overall vs the DAC alone. The sound is less holographic and it took some of the sparkle off. To me, currently, it sounds like a slight downgrade vs the DAC on its own, which shouldn't be the case.
While some of this may be 'fresh out of the box' syndrome that break-in might change a bit, I suspect that possibly using a random HDMI cable for the i2s isn't the best approach and may be contributing to this issue.
Not sure if others that have this combo have run into this at all. If so, would like to hear if the cable choice was the problem or if it was some setting somewhere. The instructions for these aren't the most thorough, so it's definitely possible it's a setting issue as well.
Thanks for any help!
Showing 7 responses by soix
This is polar opposite to my experience adding the Iris, but I bought mine used and was already broken in so maybe just give it some more time to burn in. Incidentally I’m using a $7 6” HDMI cable from Monoprice and still got excellent results. I’ve read from other folks that they didn’t hear big improvements with significant HDMI cable upgrades so that might explain my results, so I think you’re right to not stretch too far for one. |
Funny, given your price point I was gonna recommend this DH Labs HDMI cable (BTW, your HDMI cable should be as short as possible and preferably 1 foot or less as i2S don’t do distance well)… https://silversonic.com/products/digital-cables/hdmi-2-1/ Not sure if you ordered a USB cable, but especially give your initial impressions I’d say this one’s worth a look given its silver DNA and high-end features like physically separate data and power legs at a very reasonable price https://www.lavricables.com/cables/ultimate-silver-dual-usb-a-b-interconnect-cable/ Anyway, very interested in what you find as things progress. |
@jl35 I use 6” cable from Monoprice for under $7 I mentioned above… https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13578 Given my results and at this price I’d highly recommend giving it a shot and see if something else can significantly better it. Frankly I’m seriously wondering if cable quality or length is more important for an HDMI cable for i2S, and given my experience and what others have said I’m leaning toward the latter. FWIW. |
Congrats! As I always say — don’t matter how you get there, just that you get there. Goodonya for not giving up and sticking with it, and now you reap the rewards of your effort. Would be interesting to hear if you heard more difference improving the USB or HDMI cable if you could ever do that comparison. Congrats again! |