Mola Mola Tambaqui

yes - but it is unclear that the scaler + dave is markedly superior to the dave itself

the scaler was co developed generationally with the hugo tt2, i understand from rob watts that those two are truly the most synergistic

anyhow, they are all up in the stratosphere of the best performing digital front ends out there, regardless of price

@kw6

I am narrowing it down to Pontus II and AN 0.1x or SW1x dac 1 special. Both those dacs use the Phillips TDA 1543 chip with a tube inside. My question is can those units sound as full and resolute as the Pontus?

sorry i can’t help you there, as i have heard neither the baby a-n dac nor the sw...

my advice in general on dac selection is don’t make too much out of the specific dac chip or topology... what matters is how it all comes together, there is so much more to how a dac sounds than the d-a engine

for example the weiss dac 501 is one of the best dacs in the world regardless of price, daniel weiss uses ess sabre dac chips in it... he has worldwide acclaim, won grammy awards for his recording and sonic excellence, he knows how to make the whole package sound truly wonderful

@kw6

pontus has a slightly warmer tone than ares and also better clarity - it is the warmest of the dena dacs in midrange and midbass that i have tried (ares, term, pontus - i have not yet tried a venus) the terminator provides more deep bass and a forward but still refined treble, the ares has the least clean treble, a problematic sibilance no matter what mode and what filter is used, and a somewhat ill-defined bass compared to the better ones - thus i have kept the pontus which is my favorite among the dena dacs

one other thing to note is that the pontus dacs received running changes over cy 2020 and 2021 before they officially marketed it as a version ii unit in spring 2021 ... thus many that are not marked as pontus ii on the faceplate have the ’version 2’ upgrades -- wima caps in power supply, new dsp board, tripod feet denote the pontus 2 essentials

@kw6

i have not heard the musician draco, but i would advise doing considerable research into the musician brand - their pegasus dac has had some documented issues... be wise to look very carefully on this one before you leap

i have also not heard the audio note dac 2.1, i know one is offered for sale on the used sites currently... i will say that i have the big brother 4.1 and it is a wonderful, wonderful dac... very vivid, yet beautifully saturated, a notch above the dena dacs in 'analog-ness' of the presentation imo

good luck, and enjoy the hunt!

@kw6

what is it you want improved over the sound you hear from your ares?

if you want the same basic sound signature, with more refinement in the treble (my problem with the ares was the sibilance) and more dimensionality and bass impact, the pontus would be the natural move - the improvement is pretty substantial

if you want more sweetness of tone and subtlety and bloom, you would head in the direction of some tubed dacs

the op of this thread is known to be a bore and troll

but still the mola mola is a very good unit, and deserves some discussion and recognition on this board

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhi1iFKRyB4

interesting perspective from hans

one of a number of very very good big dollar dacs (as they should be for the asking price) 

enjoy