👨🏻Lol, yes, knew that, thanks for the review.😉

I have 2 Denafrips DACs (Pontus II 12th-1 and Ares II 12th). The Denafrips Iris 12th makes the sound even better with either DAC. The Cardas Clear USB cable sounds even better than the already great freebie cable from my Eversolo DMP-A6. The Cardas Parsec RCA cable sounds even better than my already great WorldsBestCable (using Mogami 2549 and Neutrik connector). streaming source=Apple Music lossless.

I just returned my Gustard u18 ddc. I was using it for my bifrost 2/64, it didn't do anything at all for my setup. The bifrost 2/64 is good enough to where there is no noise at all. I was using my schiit jotunheim 2 amp as well. I really wanted it to do something but with my ears their was no gain at all in sound quality.

Denafrips also do a more expensive DDC

I didn't have SU-6 until after the Iris left, unfortunately.

MCRU brought my RME dac to life. I’m an LPS believer now.

@@morespinach9832 yeah these regulated linear power supplies make a huge difference. I got one this month with ripple of less than 80 micro Volts. That's insane for the price i paid.

the only thing that makes a "massive" difference in the audiophile world is when things are broken. if you blind tested this vs the straight up USB input on the topping d50 you wouldn't be able to pick them apart. massive difference? only if you're doing sighted listening.

@@sauhamm3821 i don't have any topping product. I like r2r dacs. Noise in input matters a lot.

@@sauhamm3821 not at all dear. I can tell Chi-fi instantly with the highly sibilant outcomes. Anyway here’s a test for you - use any low end streamer (Node, IFI, Cambridge Audio MXN 10, Limetree Bridge II) with its own power supply and then withMCRU linear power supply for the same. Blind fold yourself if you wish. The difference is so palpable that even a regular Bose or Beats person will hear it.

Nothing wrong with that!

I was wondering the same thing?

I recommend to buy the higher tier DAC Pontus. Only if your digital source is considered to be very bad, then maybe the other way round.

Depends. I did not think much of the Pontus II's usb input. If you compare usb performance to usb performance a DDC is going to be quite a large improvement in all but a few cases, with those few cases being mostly very expensive dacs where a higher quality usb implementation is part of that cost. But if your digital source is CD transport with very high quality digital output or a quality streamer with a good I2S output already then a DDC may have minimal positive impact, or could potentially get in the way.

If the Node is your primary source I'm not sure you need a DDC at all. I'd connect the coaxial spdif output of the Node to the Geshelli, especially if you're maxing out at 16/44.1 PCM. If you want a warmer sound from there it's likely attainable with an amp. What amp(s) are you using?

Hi. Thank you for your answer and your help. BS Node and CD Transport (Audiolab CDT6000) are my main sources. Beside vinyl. 😅 Geshelli with AKM chip. My amp is the Exposure 3510 Integrated. I would like to achieve the next step and upgrade my DAC „sound“. But I do not need a more warmer sound. Could a Soekris DAC maybe be an option too? I am from Europe.

@@wavetheorysoundHi, any further thoughts? ;)

Most streamers use their own onboard OS so it ultimately doesn't matter if you use Mac or PC. As long as the streaming protocols are supported in whatever app you're using you should be fine. I recommend deciding whether you want to go a bit-perfect streaming route (in which case Zen Stream is decent) or an upsampling route. If you want to go in HQPlayer, I'd skip the Iris and combine the funds that would have gone Iris + Zen Stream and get a Sonore ultraRendu. The ultraRendu will support up to 768 KHz sampling rates. The Zen doesn't do so great with higher bitrates. Also, the Ares 12th has a good USB input now so you may not need the Iris regardless. If you get the Zen just plug its USB out direct into the Ares.

IFI Zen is ok but finicky in day to day use with Connectivity. Skip that league and upgrade to Lindemann Limetree. If you upgrade later with an MCRU linear power supply you’ll see this gets you to almost an Auralic range of audio quality at 1/5th the price.

It is USB only. It might work if your TV has a usb audio output on it...rare? Dunno. At the moment I'm having difficulty seeing the advantage this would provide specifically for tv use...but then I haven't tried it so it could be great.

Is there a big difference in sound from the iris to Hermes?

I would also like to know the answer to this?

Thanks for waking up just for my video 😜😆

Nobody needs a DDC, nobody needs a dedicated DAC but sometimes a good DDC can improve the performance of a DAC when using it.

@@sjqideez6626 Sounds like an audiophile bandaid.

I added a network bridge to my system. Allo digione signature. Dac is Hegel hd25. There is basically no difference since the Hegel has excellent usb implementation.

It's more about overcoming the shortcomings of your source/streamer as opposed to an inherent deficiency in the DAC of choice.

😂

It's a YT comment section, it's made to be broken.

@JohnDoe-dd2jx is there a fly buzzing around somewhere..so go enjoy your ChiFi...

Do your research!

"And yet it moves." - Galileo Galilei

Your disbelief does not alter truth in any form. Nor does your intuition. More homework needed you get a F for feelings

@@erics.4113Neither does any belief.However, in contrast the disbelievers have mathematical axioms and theorems on their side. Besides I provided arguments against whereas you didn't and only constructed a vague statement, assumingly based on pure (flawed) human experiences which are heavily flawed by their senses.

@@little-endian5957 I'll agree with you that beliefs do not alter truth either. But I fully disagree with you on DDCs being voodoo. Accurately reconstructing your digital stream does not require voodoo, it requires accuracy. Whether or not your system/chain is sufficiently accurate is another question entirely. Stating that no positive change can come from a DDC is just not true.

@@erics.4113 ​Just skip-watched throught that video again as it has been a while. Got reassured that it is really nothing but the usual absolute bullshit and technical nonsense (such as "upper bass", "soundstage", yadayada. It apparently never gets old) for easy-to-catch individuals with similarily easy money to spend on useless products. Fairly entertaining when one once again can't sleep too well, which probably had been the reason I was watching it in the first place, but a nightmare on its own when it comes to proper and realistic delivery of facts. Keep in mind that all you get here esentially is (KZfaq)-Advertisement, but certainly no education about how stuff really works. And since most individuals, even IT-affine ones, often lack even basic understanding of digital audio, they are easy victims. By contrast, I can highly recommend resources, e.g. the book "Principles of Digital Audio" by Ken Pohlman as well as the KZfaq-Channel of "Julian Krausse", which is completely voodoo-free, but admittedly also a bit "drier" than the usual gobbledygook one gets from this channel, the "cheap (as in: rather expensive) audio man", "the british audiophile", "GoldenSound" (although somehow I get the impression that this guy actually knows better), you name them. The definition of "voodoo" is certainly a tough one. Normally it is only used for the really entirely insane and useless stuff, but depending on the strictness, one could even count in quite a few products from per se prestigious companies such as "RME" (768 kHz having no benefit, the fempto-clock marketing also being borderline bullshit) or "Benchmark" (like the DAC-series, me happening to still own their DAC1 myself) because despite their excellence, most of the improvements are simply way out of scope of any human's auditive system. In other words: they are also already too good and more expensive than required for the sake of pure engineering ego and measurements while being indistinguishable from any dirt-cheap DAC. That doesn't mean that there aren't other factors like build quality, driver and customer support, reliability, etc. worth a surcharge. But the pure audio quality aspect is a done deal - since decades, unless human ears become better through evolution one day. Also, if I haven't missed anything here, this Denafrips Iris DDC thing doesn't even resample anything where one could give some credit in terms of the "oversampling" aspect, although DACs not already doing that at their own are rare these days, but here, whatever this thing does, it could already be inside of any DAC "worth its salt", so to say. As I already mentioned, IF that kind of device would have only the least audible effect whatsoever, it would directly proportionally discredit any DAC which "reacts" to it, becoming a case for the trash can as its jitter rejection would habe to be really terrible. One of the "reviews" of that obscure DDC on some website, begins with a common misconception, being part of the emperor's new clothes - confusion: "You can best understand the idea behind any DDC (Digital-to-Digital Converter) if you think of it as a “cleaner or scrubber” for a digital signal." There is no such thing as a "digital signal". That actually already is a misnomer because any signal itself is analog in terms of being time- and value-continous. It may however (optionally) carry digital content (which in fact is a matter of definition) which again is a purely logical abstraction. Physically, it doesn't manifest in such a discreet way (taking quantum effects aside here as that doesn't seem to play any role in macro dimensions). Hence, while the analog "envelope" may be "cleaned" or "scrubbed" (having no effect on the digital content as long as it is within defined thresholds), the digital content cannot as one can hardly "clean up" numbers.