Usher Mini Dancer 2 or Q Acoustics Concept 500 - Marantz PM Ki Ruby

prashanth14485

Sorry for the late response, I was on vacation for a week

Congratulations on the Ushers, while I have not heard them....they have an excellent reputation.

Pontus II 12th - This is a giant killer of a DAC, much like your speakers....the kind of equipment that I am drawn to. IMO it is the best DAC under $3,500, and incredibly musical. I will only upgrade when I can afford a higher end Lampizator or the Denafrips Terminator Plus 12th or the like.

I use the Non Over Sampling mode (NOS), as I find it to be more musical and slightly warmer and "magical" especially on vocals. I can see some preferring the over sampling mode, to eke out some more detail, but I find it to be too analytical and less involving. I also use the slow filter, as I find the fast filter removes some of the detail.....it could be useful in a bright overly detailed system though

Another thing about the Pontus II (and other newer DACs frankly) is the use of an I2S input. I have a BlusSound Node 130, which has the USB output turned on (which your Node 2i does not). I take the output of the Node 130 via USB to a Denafrips Iris DDC and then I2S HDMI cable to the Pontus II DAC. This also was a very noticeable bump in quality, both the better clocking and the I2S connections probably equally contributing to the SQ bump.

prashanth14485

I get need to prioritize purchases, and like you will eventually be upgrading my streamer set up as well. Some have indicated that I'll no longer need the DDC after upgrade, but I'll let my ears be the judge.

I leave the light on, which is for positive phase....though like you, never heard much difference between the two. It was a couple of years ago when I tried though, and that was before I upgraded speakers, preamp, and two amplifiers