Hans is the most technical, eloquent and engaging of the audio youtubers. Absolutely consistent and excellent analysis found throughout his videos. No one else comes close. Thank you Hans!

Your passion for audio is extremely obvious and thus infectious!

I recently stumbled across your no-nonsense videos and find them to be among the very best audio commentary I’ve watched and/or read. In fact, a confirmed analogue aficionado, this video influenced me to order a Terminator in the hopes that it will permit me to enjoy serious listening of Classical Music on CDs and through streaming. Many thanks.

Every bit of new detail in sound is a new emotion in life, for an Audiophile. Thanks again for bringing this enthusiasm to us deliberately .

It would really be nice if you put a score or a ranking system for the ares, pontus, venus and terminator so wed know how big of a jump in sound quality we could expect from going up the ladder.

very eloquently described performance of the terminator. your comments on transparency being addictive are quite correct, be it on a DAC a preamp, etc. Nice review and technical presentation.

Hans has the perfect wife for an audiophile. She doesn’t care about the stuff you’ve bought (ergo no “what’s that big silver box you just got?”), she just cares passionately about the music.

Thanks Hans, have been reviewing all your Denafrips product line videos and based on my opinion, reviews, research and already owning an Ares II, at least to me, and offers immediate improvement and great value for money, I am leaning towards the Pontus II. Very excited indeed, cheers!

Thank you so much for all your effort to be consistent and concise.., really get that you do everything that might be required to give as accurate information and thoughtful review as possible🙏

6:53 a peculiar looking heatsink which is thermal epoxied atop SMD voltage regulators.

Thank you Hans. You should maybe revisit some DACs in this category. What about the Hugo TT2 for example? a bit cheaper but very different technologies applied. It would be intesreting to compare these two now that you have the Ayre AX5.

OMG Hans, that seems like a impressive component. DENAFRIPS seems to know what they are doing. I love this Asian companies that can blow away the competition a keep the prices competitive, not a cheap DAC, but compare to something like a DCS it seems like pocket money. I would love to know how the DAC preforms connected to a CD or SACD player. Best whishes from Colombia

We love ya, Hans! The information, analysis, insight and consistent excellence of your reviews provide is unsurpassed. Keep up the great work.

A very thorough and well explained review. Thank you.

What a beast! And the Denafrips looks pretty impressive too! Seriously, what a lovely piece of kit. Too good for the rest of my 'setup 1' but nice to know how good things can be. I heard your voice quiver with emotion when you described your experiences.

Nice review! Next insert the Gaia DDC to engage the clock out feature of the Terminator Plus. The already incredible transparency with the Terminator Plus (a level of transparency that you think cannot possibly be improved) jumps to an even higher level.

Thank you so much Hans. Very educational as always.

If Hans's wife says now it really sounds good, then there's just no contest here, we're talking about the very best. :) I've really enjoyed the dissection of the parts to understand how far it goes to reach this level of performance.

sold

Another great review. Honestly I think you could talk about house plants and I would still find it very entertaining. Of course it doesn’t hurt that your reviews are also informative.

Thank you for a very thorough and excellent review!

Love it when you mention Within Temptation.

I would imagine venus is enough of a jump... thanks for completing the series Hans!

In about 3 years I will be at this level of DAC.

Thanks, Hans!

Bugger!, after clearly honest review... I’m forced to sell limbs to get one😬

I love that you listen to Within Temptation and Getter. 😀

Great set of Denafrips reviews Hans. Now it begs the question... Which one is best value for money? Thw law of diminishing returns being what it is...do you have any thoughts on this?

Great review Hans, would this become your new reference in setup 1? :)

Excellent work - thank you for your clear reviews! I am hoping that you can review the Holo Audio 'Spring' and 'May' DACs. They seem to be of this same quality.

Based on your excellent review I'm sure the DAC has a great sound and performance. But the absence of a remote control and the lack of some kind of display screen on the front panel showing the current mode and other bits of info seems to be an unfortunate oversight on Denafrips part and may hurt sales of this unit.

Hi Hans, thanks for an excellent review! Request: If possible, please review the Resolution Audio Cantata 3.0 DAC. Thank you, Jean

This is definetely one my planed purchases (though there others - amps , phono preamps also winking at me :) ) By any chance, do you ever plan to review the Denafrips D/D converters Hans? They seem intriguing to me..

Thank You Very Much for this review,! I was setting my crosshairs on the first Terminator after much reading and watching of what those reviewers that I relate to say... and then the Plus came out???... So what to do... the Plus has had several great reviews, some of the reviews included a DDC the GAIA... which does something with clocks... I don’t understand that very well.. but apparently it was reviewed to make things noticeably better... (imagine that ) Do I need one of those? Also one reviewer was a bit confusing when he basically said it did everything unbelievably amazing!... but it wasn’t his thing and preferred the original Terminator. 🤔 After your as always trusted and detailed review my mind is made up... going to put in my order for the plus after Christmas! I’d love for you to touch on what that GAIA is / does and how would I know if I might want to consider one? Thanks for all you do Hans! You Rock!...lol

What did you listen with, OS or NOS? And which filter if OS? - Also, have you ever heard Chord's DACs, I'd be interested in seeing you review and your opinions on both the Qutest and TT2 (and the Dave, but that's way beyond my budget!). Cheers

I love this guy

Well done Hans, Your king of the castle when it comes to reviews 👌, wonder how the terminator compares to Chord HugoTT🤔 .

Hi Hans, your videos look so much better than they used to, did you upgrade your camera equipment recently?

Excellent review. My Terminator II is on order and your reviews of the 4 Denafrips sealed the deal for me. Hans, what's your current audio nirvana setup right now? For streaming, I'm guessing...Roon NUC, SOtM SMS-200 Ultra Neo, BOTW P&P Eco 24V MkII, Terminator Plus? Keep up the great work, my friend.

Thx so much for the brilliant summary of this DAC! As you already reviewed the Holo Audio May DAC I want to kindly ask which of both you prefer? Hans, really thx for your work and your brilliant presentations!

Hans, any chance that you could review the Doge 7 tube DAC?

ouch that price ($6500+) but man that performance -

Finally!

Do you have any plans to review the Denafrips Gaia (D to D converter), especially in context of other Deafrips DAC's. Many thanks for your work, especially since I live in a country where I'll never get to hear this gear in person.

Great as always. Hans, would you give an approximate comparison with regards t o the following. I am looking to possibly upgrade and cannot afford the Terminator+, The Ares II is the model I own and is wonderful. Since you have auditioned all the Denafrips models, in your opinion is there greater/lesser difference between the Ares II and Pontus as compared to the Pontus and Venus? Thank you.

Geweldig

Too bad that you didn't tell something about using the clock output and how it effects the music reproduction..

I could see his marriage being one of those opposites attract relationships.

Thank you for a great review. Given that you have reviewed a number of Denafrips DACs, if you were to buy one with your money, which one would you pick?

Nice review as always! Impressive product indeed, would you go as far to compare with a dCS DAC or something in this price category?

Even the construction on the inside looks very nice. But why an OCXO instead of MEMS?

Frequency response: Venus ii 20hz ~ 70khz Terminator Plus 20hz ~ 40khz Hi, I thought the higher model should have better frequency range, but Denafrips seems the opposite way, did you check with Vinshine?

Hi Hans. Enjoying your channel. Wondering if you have any thoughts on NOS filterless DACs and how safe they are. I have read comments online how they let a lot of "high frequency hash" through and that not all amplifiers can deal with that. On the other hand, people use these DACs and we don't really hear of amplifiers failing because of them. Still, it makes me a little hesitant to try such a DAC.

Hallo Hans, you compared the Auralic Sirius; but did you compare the Denafrips Gaia? Seems one of the best at the moment for a third of the price..

Hi hans! Can you explain the difference characteristics between this dac and the kitsune holo may dac? Which one do u personally prefer? Thanks!

Hans, love the channel - understand this review not exactly the correct topic to post this question - do you use “audiophile performance” Ethernet cable between your modem & the router /switch ? Note I have AQ vodka between computer & router as well as between ultrarendu and router, would I benefit by a third higher quality cable between the two boxes from the cable company ?

Hi Will the terminator play alac - apple lossless from an iPhone full resolution? Thank you!

Hans, this seems to be a very good product. Is there a chance to hear this product somewhere in Germany

Knowing that a quality DAC can fit in size form factor of a USB thumbdrive... it amazes me how big this thing is. It makes my fairly large Nuprime DAC with XLR ports and Class A stage seem tiny as well.

Hi Hans, thanks for making informative, solid and dependable videos! The Denafrips Terminator Plus seems indeed an intriguing dac, but rather expensive though. If I may be allowed to make an inquiry for a coming review, an interesting subject I think, would be the czech Okto Research dac8 Stereo. For more plain man's finances :-) this one according to Stereophile, at less than €1500 including VAT, is described as competitive with a more than 10 times expensive high end dac (MBL N31)

how does the sound quality compare between oversampling and non-oversampling? is there any hint of unnaturalness to the sound when oversampling?

Hans, how do you turn off critical listening and get back to enjoying the music. I have two fairly high-end systems that sound different from each other which makes it even more difficult.

Hi. I'm sorry if I missed it. Do you have any opinion on this vs the holo may? I'm considering getting one but can only afford one after saving for a while

Me Me Me ..want

Now I will have to be jealous for the rest of my life.

Guy keren Hello sir , What do you think will be a better investment combo the Venus 2 and the auralic g2 or the terminator and the auralic g1. Thanks a lot Great fan, Guy

If you want a R2R dac for redbook playback, what bargain solution should you choose?

How could you integrate with Roon best ?