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

@sls883 

That’s fantastic. I believe Gustard gear works with either waveform, but according to their website, a sine wave connection is actually recommended—and the chart reflects that. You might want to try and compare both.

The 50-ohm impedance matches, right?

This suggests that the LHY 10MHz master OCXO is quite good, elevating the performance of already state-of-the-art gear. I’m tempted!

@lanx0003 Yes, 50 ohms.   I had read that sine wave was recommended, so I hadn't tried square wave.  After you mentioned it, I did some internet searching and found forum posts where people found that the square wave yielded additional detail. Some felt it was too much. I figured it was worth a try. 

I think the LHY clock is definitely better than the clock in the Gustard U18.  I haven't tried the internal clock on the dac with square wave going to U18.  Figured it made sense to connect them both externally, but maybe it's fine to mix them.

Thanks again for the suggestion. :)

I have the Ares 15th and I think it’s great. 

@lanx0003 

Whatever tariffs (taxes) are decided on goods imported to the US from Singapore, will be payable by you, the importer, to the US government. You’re paying it as a tax to your government. 

Alvin made an personal announcement earlier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wy5-Jw1phY

Basically, what he’s saying is that May 2nd will be the start date for the incoming tariffs, and he urges people to act by April 20th to ensure they have enough time to process and ship their products before the deadline. I assume he was speaking only on behalf of Vinshine, not manufacturers in general.

There was a question to Alvin—would we need to handle any potential import duties at customs ourselves, or will Vinshine take care of that for the buyers once we’ve paid the asking price? He didn’t address this in his earlier announcement.

@lanx0003 

Read my previous statement. You have to pay the tariff to your government. It’s an import tax. You’re importing it, you pay the taxes. And what difference does it make if you are paying the seller/manufacturer, or your government directly? It still has to be paid. 

Got it, Thank you @perkri.

Would not go with Pontus if it was me. I have second iteration. Lacks notably in soundstage height. Emphasis of high frequency detail which is quite nice but is not  the incisive dynamic sound I prefer. Haven't heard Harmony, but would definitely make sure there is a return policy if you don't like it. Make sure seller pays for shipping in the event you have to return it.

Thank you for the impression on Pontus II.  The refund policy by Harmony is a flat fee of $100 based on my understanding.

@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...

Still scratching my head at how this thread ended up in the Analog forum...

+1 Ozzy62.

@tablejockey Move the thread to digital.

He mentioned that at the beginning, so I thought he might be the person who could move it from the back end. Anyway, it was my fault for accidentally putting it in the Analog category.  

@lanx0003 I wouldn't say I was blown away by the Dayzee but from my listening experiences it's good. Not a lot of micro detail popping out..music sounded good though. If I could do it all over again I would go with the Micro Laiv..& saved a good deal of cash to boot.