DAC better than Denafrips Pontus II

no idea what 'better' means to you

Sold my Pontus II, got LAB 12 DAC 1 Reference. Little more money but worth it.

@rohlim 
Why did you sell it and what are the differences between them ?

I asked myself the same question, @colpgmrguy, the only one that seemed equalish in value but different was the Chord Qutest. Based on everything I could read, plus my own listening experience with other higher priced models from both companies, I thought the Denafrips would be a better fit for my system and taste. 
After a number of months owning the Pontus II, I've got nothing but great things to say about it. FWIW, I'm a mostly "analog guy" with a higher priced turntable setup. The Pontus is more analog-like than most of the DACs I've heard, even a number of them > $5K. It's pretty damn good overall and especially at its price point. Fit/finish, build quality is a reassuring bonus. Cheers,
Spencer

the denafrips dacs do best with i2s... their gaia connects most effectively that way, improves sq with many streamers and certainly with computers supplying the bit stream - though with other connections the pontus still sounds very good - in the 1800 to 2000 dollar price range the pontus is indeed hard to beat

two in the price range (roughly) worth mentioning are the mhdt tube units modded with better caps and resistors, and the better soekris models

i do have dacs that are notably better than the pontus to my ear, but they are more expensive... upper chords, weiss, audio note (will also soon be getting a mojo dac, which may well join this tier as well)