Just about to pull the trigger on Pontus 15th ...

@halfastro can I ask you which dac you were using prior to owning your Ares 15th? 

I'm always curious what kind of differences you perceived..or what you like better with your Ares? 

@mattw73 I upgraded from the Geshelli Labs J2. I enjoy the smooth warm sound of the Ares 15th. It mellows out my Advance Paris A10 classic and B&W 705s. It makes a very nice sound. 

@halfastro right on. I'm familiar with the very early AKM J2. I felt it was a smidge "warmish" itself when I compared it to my sabre dacs. Not something I picked up on until I really compared them. For the money a good dac. I listened to their Dayzee at the last Florida audio show & thought it was really good. 

I have no experience with the Laiv products, but I do know that the distributor Alvin Chee is an amazing person to deal with.....as he was the former distributor for Denafrips. I spent some time with him at Axpona.

That being said, there is a huge installed base of Denafrips DACs that sing their praise......myself included.

I listened to their Dayzee at the last Florida audio show & thought it was really good. 

And Old Guy HiFi said Harmony micro Dac beats it... take with a grain of salt as always...