Received my Denafrips Venus 15th

@skasundr   The Iris is only useful if you only have a need to a single USB input. If you have more sources you want connected than the Hermes is the way to go. I use USB, Coaxial and AES/EBU connections.  Clock sync feature too.

@fthompson251 True, that is definitely a reason to at least upgrade to the Hermes if you have that need (the Gaia does not offer anything more in that regard).  My Auralic Aries S1 gives me those same extra inputs. If I had not gotten the Musician Pisces first, the Auralic Aries S1 would have been able to serve as a high quality streamer, galvanic isolator, and a reclocker for all those sources (albeit no I2S output). It is able to reclock, resample, and isolate allow of those sources just like a DDC. I think just pairing the Aries S1 to any Denafrips DAC is a great match for only $2000 (without the extra Auralic linear power supply which is $1000 extra).  The I2S from my Pisces sounds great, but I tested Aries straight to Venus from its USB without the Pisces in the middle, and it also sounds just as good.  Just another option for those who don’t want to buy both a new streamer and a new DDC at a higher cost.

If additional inputs are needed and you don’t need a new streamer or you just want to have a DDC for the I2S output (and you don’t care to slave the DDC to the Venus), I would get the Laiv uDDC at a lower cost of $849 vs $1299 for the Hermes.  The uDDC has a good clock (not as good as the Venus, but likely not a huge sonic penalty), and also offers an I2S input.  It, however, only has I2S output.

ejspain2020

Sorry for the slow response, damn work has gotten in the way of my hobby.

I appreciate the input, and I did go back and read that article. The first thing I noticed is the article is from January 2022, before Vinshine/Denafrips had even introduced their firmware updates; of which many were released; and three years before the 15th series were released.

Three years is a LONG time ago in the DAC and streamer world, and I'd venture to say USB implementation has come a long way in three years too. Before I'd get rid of anything, why not try things out to see how they sound? My DAC and streamer will be upgraded this summer, and I'll try all options to see which SQ I like best.

As I always say on this subject "It depends", and the depends only comes from listening in my system, or a system that I know well. If I were to make a decision today, I'd likely end up with an Aurender N200 or N20, and a DAC from the Terminator 15th (or upcoming Terminator Plus 15th), Lampizator, Weiss, T+A, etc. group.

Whether I'd add a DDC depends on where I end up sound wise, but I do have my own Iris DDC; and access to a Gaia and Hermes DDCs that my friends own.....and I will try them all. The Denafrips DACs hold a VERY dear place in my heart, because to my ear they are extraordinarily musical and fun.....but I will keep an open mind as well.

@vthokie83 Really great point about the rapidly changing USB tech in recent years, and I agree that listening with your own ears should be the final deTerminator  with a DDC like with everything else in audio.  I always thought that a decent DDC would likely improve sound (and at worst do nothing).  I have a few DDCs, and with most streamers I have had, there is definitely an improvement with adding a DDC to the chain and going I2S out to a I2S capable DAC.  However, two instances where I favor no DDC over having a DDC is with my now years old dedicated PC streamer with a JCAT Femto USB Card powered by a Keces P8 LPS (not sure if this JCAT card just has a really good USB implementation) and my Topping D90III Discrete DAC (USB always sounds better than I2S no matter what DDC I have tried with it).  Also, from my experience, DDCs have really made a big difference when they have a master clock input and I am able to sync my entire chain with the same external master clock (though this is not really something that can be done with the Denafrips and Musician DDCs as they don't have 10 MHz master clock inputs and only have dual 45 and 49 kHz word clock inputs).  I know its only with my ears (n = 1) and applicable to just the 4 streamers I have tested (Wiim Ultra, Eversolo DMP-A6 Gen 2, Fiio SR11, and Auralic Aries S1), but I have noticed that using a Musician Pisces slaved to the Venus 15th DAC's OCXO clock and going I2S into the Venus results in an improvement for all of them.