Musician pegasus DAC or Denafrips Aries 2

The Musician company may be one you want to be careful of   Apparently, they don't just lend a product for review to youtube reviewers, they give them the DAC to keep.  That's way outside the norm.  Perhaps that helps to explain the nothing-but-platitudes reviews I've seen.   Also, one reviewer could not get any support when their DAC misbehaved.

Meanwhile, Vinshine, Denafrips' distributer has gotten nothing but praise here and elsewhere.

I suggest you do some serious research before sending your money away.

As for the Pegasus being on the level of the Pontus, I don't know what @soix is smoking.  There seems to be a lot of smoke regarding this brand.

@soix 

Well, your DAC may be "built like a brick sh*thouse" and it may sound OK.  But as for your ridiculous comparison with the Denafrips Pontus, I'll just inform you that for one thing the Pontus has a far more serious power supply, really supplies.  The Pontus has DUAL O-ring transformers.  One is part of the digital power supply; one is part of the analog power supply keeping those two very different systems completely separate.  This compares to the single transformer in the Pegasus serving all circuits digital and analog.  Moreover, in the Pontus these transformers are completely screened from the sensitive electronics in the upper chamber.  The transformer in the Pegasus, by contrast, is open and in proximity to all the circuits.  I could tell you more, but if you didn't even know this, and it's very easy to know, and value the difference I'd be wasting my time.

As for reviews, I usually have little use for them.  But as for Vitalie reviews in Soundnews.net, I was once convinced to waste my time reading his 8000 word "The One to Beat: Gustard X26 PRO DAC Review" wherein he claimed this is the world's best DAC.  It wasn't then; it isn't now.  Perhaps he says this about every DAC.  I don't regard Vitalie or his one-man rag to be a serious factor in the audio world.

As for the ethical failure in giving DACs to reviewers to keep, and the lack of support even to reviewers, you might have a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH0MY044X8Q&t=3s.  These guys really know their stuff.

Now tell me @soix, really--just between us, what were you smoking?
 

@soix 

Yes, the Pegasus is cheaper than the Pontus because it's made cheaper.  Much cheaper.  Half the cabinetry.  Half the power supply.  Just for openers.  And as for the resister ladder: Is it the same?  How do you know?  Just because they look the same?  Did you put a meter on each of the resistors?  Could the resister ladder be Denafrips rejects?  Is the FPGA programming that controls the conversion exactly the same?  Are the clocks identical?  What do the analog sections look like?  Are they identical?  And exactly what is the exposed transformer radiating?

The reason I pay such little attention to reviews is that they are written by people like you.  People who know little about what's actually going on inside a component.  And if you're any example they are willing to overlook what is a clear breach of ethical standards.  I give you clear evidence of a payoff and you ignore it.  Finally, most commercial reviews these days are simply recitations of multiple audio platitudes.  To me that boils down to: "This week I really like this one."  

Looks like you're still smoking from the same stash.