As someone who has worked in the electronics industry for nearly 40 years I really appreciate your clear concise explanation of circuits which no other reviewers do (probably) because they might get lost (Hans Beekhuyzen excepted). Love the channel, keep up the good work.

Tarun. Another great review. As someone considering a Denafrips DAC this review has been helpful. BTW I’ve been following your channel since its inception and thank you for what you are doing for the audiophile community worldwide. Greetings from Australia.

This was your most meaningful review "to me" so far! I have a Pontus II and LOVE it 😍. So excited about "your" comparison of these two great DACs, as my system "may" be worthy of The Venus. (DynAudio Contour 20s, Schiit Freya+ w/NOS Tubes, McIntosh MC152 Solid State Power Amp). Tarun, your THOROUGH , precision, informative review has me firmly seated & staying where I am with a smile on my face😊! Sounds like a mildly incremental improvement for my system that would not justify the expenditure & changeout.. You have stopped The FOMO for this audiophile!!! THANKS! 👍🏼

Tarun, a really well developed, planned, presented and informative review. Many thanks

I really enjoy how Tarun differentiates the classes by general price point and articulates the sonic characteristics of the devices. I can't understand how many 'audio reviewers' do not have the words to define what they hear. Sounds great! and 'sonic nirvana' are not precise terms. Well done Tarun! I believe you will continue to grow the channel and have great success.

This is exactly the kind of video I've been looking for. Thanks Tarun

It is nice to see when an upgrade model is really an upgrade and not just something different. One of my biggest upgrade failures was to put a moving coil cartridge on a vintage Pioneer turntable. I could not get it to work. It had a hum that I could not get rid of. This happened many years ago but I am still weary of moving coil cartridges and I prefer high output cartridges in general because of the signal to noise ratio that is better.

Just a couple random comments. First, what a great hobby this is. Once again it took me an entire Beethoven symphony to fold my laundry. Kept stopping and listening. And thank you Tarun. I realize how much effort your reviews require. While you have to listen critically, I can just enjoy the sound and music.

Thanks for your work, my personal experience with upgrades is I have Ares II and one day decided based on Sandu review to get smsl vmv d2, dac of the year, warm sound amazing resolution.... and it didn't come close to Ares being doubled the price of Ares. I was thinking I will get best of both words ( R2r and Delta sigma ), maybe one day technology will rich this point but not in this case. I sold the Smsl stayed with Ares and now safely going for Pontus. That's my expiriance with upgrading :))

Great review as always! Went from the Ares II and after a year and a half bought the Pontus II. Many have asked me if paying twice the price was worth it. And I put it this way; if the Ares II gets a rating of 100 for price relative to performance, I would give the Pontus II rating of 125-133 relative to the Ares II at 2x the cost. Was it worth paying double....absolutely!

Another spectacular review. After watching this and another where you said the Venus II was NOT going to be sent back, I wondered why I purchased the Pontus II and not the Venus II. I guess it would have been the 1,200-1,300 price difference. Not too terrible but I'm happy with my Pontus II.

Another excellent review. I got the Pontus and apparently it's still breaking in but at least it sounds good now vs cold start. I notice there is room on the back for two RCA inputs. I wish there was an extra RCA input as the Ares has two RCA inputs. Using BNC to RcA adapters I've been able to hear sonic degradation. With an Audiolab 6000 CDT and the Bluesound Node both with a Single RCA outputs, I need two RCA inputs and ordered my Pontus that way. Luckily they are flexible enough to do that for me at no charge. Shipping was quick. Five days from China to the US west coast. Their US repair facility added the extra RCA and the service was quick and expertly done.

Hi Tarun. Just ordered the Pontus 12th Anniversary. Keep posting great videos. As an educator, I truly appreciate how you visually walkthrough and breakdown your reviews. Cheers!

This was an awesome review! Wish I had both Dac's at the same time when I did my review, but it didn't work out that way. Glad to hear that the difference is noticeable once burn in was complete. 🍻

Another great review Tarun. And as always, your comparison of the gear under review is so useful. I'd go so far as to say that any review without comparison to known standards is merely advertising.

Excellent review and superb channel. It would be interesting to have you review the Gustard R26 r2r dac and get your opinion as to how it compares with the these Denafrips dacs.

I have the Venus II and can confirm that it takes a very long time to properly run in. When HiFi Critic reviewed the Terminator +, Kevin Fiske observed that it needed around 800 hours of play before it truly came on song, and I suspect that's about right. Anyway, thanks for a well structured video review that confirms everything that I hear from my Venus II.

Thank you Tarun for another great review and comparison. Your impresions for the Pontus II Vs Gustard R26 comparison could be great too! Cheers!

Tarun, I just bought the Venus II after pondering a lot between it and the wonderful Pontus II. During this decision phase I was looking for a serious review comparing these devices and when I started watching your video I confess I was quite nervous but in the end I believe it was a good choice despite being sure that Pontus would already deliver me everything I need. Congratulations on the work with the usual quality.

Another great review Tarun. Thanks to your reviews I’ve now evolved my system to Sugden A21SE, Auralic Aries G1 with upgraded PSU, Denafrips Pontus II, Denafrips Hermes DDC, Proac Response D2R’s and Mogami w3104 speaker cables. Pretty much all from your reviews. The synergy is fantastic. Just need a pair of Target R1 stands now, keep your eyes open for me.

I can only say I'm pleased the new and younger audiophiles get to experience 3D holography and "musicality" from R2R DACs, same as I used to from analogue records and cassette and not that jarring, flat and "uninterested" Delta Sigma type sound, for that I am truly grateful.

Thank you Tarun for another outstanding review. I just ordered the Venus II 12th from Alvin. Your review kicked me over the edge vs the Pontus II. When you crack these cases open and go over all of the bits, it was difficult to not purchase the Venus. There is something about the Denafrips sound, and after dropping two new dedicated 20 amp circuits to my AV setup, the sound is simply getting better and better... I also added one of Alvin's linear power supplies to my (N130) Node, which kicked that up a couple of levels... Alright, heading up to the bank to wire Alvin the funds. Thanks again Tarun!

Yes spot on Tarun, the Pontus 2 is excellent and musical. May I suggest getting the Iris DDC with I2S ( Jays Audio ) to pair with the Pontus 2 instead of getting the Venus 2. I’m using Kef LS50 metas with Rel T5X powered by Willsenton R800i with rolled tubes. Sounds pretty good in my smallish room.

Thanks Tarun, you gave me a heart attack. 🤣 Got my Venus II some months ago as an upgrade to the Ares II. Anyway, kinda relieved now that you think the extra cash spent on the Venus II isn't all wasted.

Great video. System matching is important. I contacted Alvin and gave him my system specs and he pointed me to the Pontus 2 12th. Thanks

Wonderful | Insightful review as always….., by all means please keep them coming young man.😊

Tarun, thank you so much for your great review! This is one of the best reviews I have ever seen or read! You took your time and got those two devices at the same time for a longer periode to dive into the differences in sound and character. In my opinion this can only be done with enough time, when out consciousness drifts away and our for this matter much more powerful unconsciousness gets the calm/quiet to listen. I hope many people will join your channel, and prefer slow food over junk food, so that many distributors and brands will send you review units for a longer period! My system is mainly DIY, on a quite high level. I upgraded a Schiit Yggdrasil with a Mola Mola Tambaqui, and to no surprise, it was better. Until now I haven't compared it to other DACs in this league, but I'll do. And as the honeymoon is over, I can be realistic and maybe even objective in my findings when I do. Another area are cables, and I feel this is a minefield. I go slowly and enjoy the music on my way. All the best and take care! Matthias

I can’t stop staring at that gorgeous DALI speaker in the background.

I love the way you did the teardown. Id love to see more of these in future videos!

Great work Tarun. Excellent video. Thank you Sir.

Wierdly I also had to email Alvin re the lacklustre sound I was getting from my Venus II and that was after two weeks of non stop streaming via Roon. I was worried I had wasted money! Perseverance was the answer from Alvin and oh was he so so right, and as you have also found. It took a month for the sound to start revealing itself, almost growing up - height, width depth clarity as well as slam and fleshing out the body and dynamics of natural sound. It now sounds so natural, voices are breathtakingly big and real and full of inflection. In all it took a few months and swear improvements still exist after a couple of years. I couldn’t stretch to the terminator at the time I bought the Venus I really wonder what that next unit is capable of. Are you going to be in a fortunate position of being able to test the terminator at all, I would eagerly await a review to your usual very high standards 😀

Remarkably clear review and capable of technical insight. Fascinating comparisons were made between these two excellent DACs, which are different essentially in terms of component quality while the system architecture in each model remains similar. I’ve always been held with the NAIM philosophy - in the hifi chain, the source is the most important part of your hifi equipment because it gets all the musical information off to a great start, next is amplification, and finally speakers then connections. I would spend more money on the source than amplification and speakers because a modest amplifier connected to a superior source will outperform a setup with superior amplification and an inferior source. So the answer for all hifi is the source.

After your video I bought a Venus II (that came as a Venus II 12th Anniversary Edition by the way). Must say: you were right.

Tarun, your review made me want to give the Denafrips Ares II another few months of burn in. I bought the Denafrips Ares II and had it burn in for a 60 hrs or so when I first got it and to be honest, the sound was good after the burn in, a noticeable improvement from brand new out of the box. However, it wasn't noticeably better than the Topping D70s I had hooked up, which sounded very analogue already so into the closet it went for many months. I'm taking it back out today to replace the D70s for a few months to see if it would continue to get better. I'm also pairing it with the Burson Funk powering the PSB Imagine Minis on my desktop setup and also the Hifiman HE6SE V2 which I recently acquired for under $500 brand new from an Adorama sale. I think the quality of the gear should be able to show the difference between the D70s and the Ares II in a few months.

I own an Ares II and I agree that it is a very good DAC. My main caveat with it though, is its slightly "soft" (less dynamic) bass, that lack some of the clarity and control that the Bifrost 2 has, for example. So, I have been looking for another DAC ... and I have found one, from an unexpected source: Geshelli Labs now has their JNOG2 aka J2 with an AK4493 chip. Long story short - with a third party 12V 4A linear power supply - the J2 AKM has replaced the Ares II in my main system. It is better bottom to top, in every way - *including* soundstage, instrument separation, bass and midrange dynamics, and detail retrieval. I had been looking for an R2R like the Pontus II, or the Musician Pegasus, or the Ladder Schumann - but now I am no longer looking at a more expensive R2R DAC. The Geshelli J2 AKM is my new reference DAC.

Your reviews are remarkable. Thank You!

Excellent side by side internal examination of both DAC's. The Pontus II will be a future acquisition. A recent upgrade from the Quad S-2 (GBP 599.99) to the Ophidian Mojo2 (GBP 1200.00) backfired. After 3 months of extensive A-B testing, the Quad S-2 are better in all regards except mid-bass dynamics.

I too caught the Denafrips bug started with Pontus, then Venus, then Terminator. All serve a purpose as a great DAC under each budget range. From my experience, Pontus II is the sweet spot. But the Terminator II blows the other 2 away. I wish I had the budget for Terminator Plus, but my gut feeling is that it will sound very close to Terminator II since specs and parts are very similar.

Thanks Tarun. The Venus is obviously worth considering. I don't have a lot of stories about upgrading and partnering to share. But I will urge everyone who are buying second hand to be very careful about potential defects - those who are not experienced should get help. For instance, I have my eye on a second-hand Accuphase Class A power amp and I really want it. So much, in fact, that I am almost willing to assume it is without faults, as the seller claims.

Another cool video thanks. I always learn something watching your videos and I have gained a better understanding of the insides of equipment over the past few years.

I'm just amazed how companies like Denafrips and Audio-Gd can produce such kick-butt products built like tanks!

The Pontus has several times been reviewed to be the warmer more full bodied of the two. Just to confirm that this was not your impression (after full burn in)? Also great review as ever 😊

Great review Tarun. Both these DACS were on my shortlist but an almost-new Metrum Onyx NOS R2R DAC came up for the same price as the Pontus so I went for that and I'm very happy with it.

thanks for the review. it is reassuring that the burn in sound improvement I think to perceive in my system could actually be real ;o)

Thanks! This solves my doubts about Pontus and venus, the two have the same weight and size, but the price difference is so large

Very informative comparison. Well done and thanks!

I went with an Ares2 on my headphone desktop system and I love it. It's plugged into a BIC-500 balanced transformer.

I would really like to see a review of Gustard R26. Some says that it's holy grail of R2R DACS. With price of 1700 EUR it's the best dac under 3500 EUR and in some ways even better than Denafrips Terminator Plus. (according to soundnews review on youtube)

Great review Tarun!

I've sold my $800-$1200 DACs recently, because the technical wizardry lost its appeal. Not to say they sounded bad (I liked them quite a bit), but I found after a few months, they were kind of lifeless compared to my waaay less expensive Cayin RU6 and Gishelli J2 AKM. Even though the more expensive DACs sounded larger and more detailed. Personal preference, for sure. I liken it to dating an amazing, exciting 25 year old person, or a more refined, calmer 35 year old. I could see the appeal of both.

I’m not sold on this China direct gear. The cost to send these things back to China to get fixed is crazy high. And all those capacitors are not going to fair well over time. Having said that I wouldn’t mind listening to a Holo Spring 3, they look nicely built.

Oh my friend, my audiophile journey hasn't been all that long. And it's more about headphones. I originally had a Nokia x2-00 and on-ear headphones with a 3cm driver for $1.5. Oh nokia gave such a dense and dynamic sound! But I tore these headphones, I tried to get drunk, but not enough for a long time. I just got high on this sound. But when I changed phone to my first Chinese phone I compared its sound with my Nokia Nokia had much better sound. But then 3 years later I bought myself a Leeco le max 2 and bluetooth on-ear headphones for $20. Oh, they sounded terrible, but after half a year I tried the equalizer built into this phone and lo and behold, I tweaked the settings and it was a shock, I was just not happy with myself. Such a sound, and such a chic quality of voice calls! But one day I fell asleep on the bottom and the mount cracked and problems began with the convenience of wearing. I had B. W px (failed mid) and Tecniks za60 (too cutting selfies). But no high-end headphones can compare with those Chinese. And the main thing is my Leeco le max 2 source. I had a Meizu 16 phone and then I realized what a gorgeous sound Leeco le max 2 has. And most importantly, I realized that the magic was in this phone, firstly there is a sound technology that gives gorgeous sound. And his equalizer, he changed the sound of the headphones without distortion! Unfortunately, in order to make the sound of PX and za60 adequate, you have to edit their tone through the AIMP application on android. Yes, high-end ear muffs give more separation of layers and details. But if you, by ear, are able to set the perfect tonality, for you it is more important than any details and layers! And of course, the source, especially in headphones, is even more important than the extraction device itself!

Great comparison Tarun. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Aqua range of DACs, La Voce and La Scala vs Denfrips.

Brilliant sincere review. Thanks.

Excellent review, as always. I had the original NAD 3020 and Mission bookshelf loudspeakers, which I always enjoyed. I “upgraded” the amp to a Plinius integrated amp which was objectively better in all respects. But…I found the sound too cold and analytical. I never had the “emotional” connection that I did with the NAD.

Thx for the excellent review. Good info.

Ty. Have a dac in my h90. It took a time before I used it with hi res audio(tidal) use a topping d50 to my tube amp. But mostly bt in my bedroom. But I had a cable,a silver one bought by meters,no connection. A pretty cheap upgrade. Borrowed a 150£ cable and it became muffled and worse I thought. Build a supra cable and yes, I lost a little top end but gained grip and texture in the bass. Warmer midrange but didn’t loose resolution in the details. Mabye I will test other cables in the future.

Mr. Tarun, how would you quantify benefits of going from Aries II to Pontus II vs Pontus II to Venus II ? BTW outstanding review, as always. Live Long and Prosper!😊

Great review as usual

Was looking forward to this review! Thanks for all the info. I love your video's. I have a Pontus 2, Hegel H190 and Harbeth p3esr XD. I'm considering the Venus 2 because I find the Pontus 2 a little bit intens and bass heavy. I listnen in NOS. I have it for 6 months now. I liked the toe tapping at first but now I find it a little much. Is the Venus 2 a bit more relaxed and balanced? Or is this the Denafrips house sound? I didnt experience this with the ares 2. Might the Spring 3 be a better fit? Thanks in advance.

Great Review Tarun, as always. Thank you. After seeing your reviews of Pontus II, Spring 3 and now Venus II, I was wondering which one would be the best option to add to my Totem Sky Tower.

TARUN , IMHHO I BELIEVE MY KIT IS RESOLVING ENOUGH …but my budget isn’t 😢and never mind the WAF 😅💚💚💚😊

Great review .. you had mentioned that the review of the holo may dac compared to the Pontus 2 is that the holo may was more resolving do you think that the Venus 2 is as resolving as the May with also keeping the warm mid range?`

Great review Tarun. I had seen (heard) a comparison between the Denafrips Terminator, Venus 2 and Ares 2. I liked Venus 2 the best. It was somehow very open and uplifting compared to the other 2. It is on the TheAlphaAudio channel. By the way, is your son for hire for breaking in audio equipment? ;)

Electronic circuits do not “burn-in” in a way described here. Manufacturers burn-in a product to test for weaknesses in design or components. Hearing a new piece of equipment for the first time and the brain will compare the experience with the sound it is familiar with from the previous equipment. A common reaction is to dislike the new sound but the brain adjusts to the new sound over time. It if like a new pair of spectacles, it takes a while for the brain to “click-in”. The lenses have not changed, it is the brain.

I just got my ares 2 over a week ago and am quite disappointed with it. Honestly just feel it’s quite boring and very little standing out as great. But, it’s good to hear from others how long these really need to sound just right. Happy to hear you gave the Venus the time 😉

very informative as usual. Pontus sounds like ideal for my set up now. Tarun is right about DS dacs which can be quite "sterile" on some recordings.

Thanks for all the reviews you are doing. If I may ask for your insight : The denafrips (Ares 2) can't be used with both the rca and XLR at the same time. I need this function. Any dac that comes a bit close to the Ares 2 sound, perhaps VMV D2r? i can get it for 750.

Thanks for a great review. For some time I've been trying to decide whether to get a Pontus II or to spend the extra money for the Venus II. I would like to get your opinion on whether my system is likely to be able to take advantage of the Venus II. My speakers are Audio Note AN-E/LX Signature (with external crossover networks). I have a tube pre-amp and 2 monoblock tube amps that were custom built for me by a high-end audio shop here in the USA. Given that they are custom built I know it's hard for you to evaluate the amps, but for what it's worth I paid $5K each for the monoblocks and a bit more than $6k for the preamp back in 2006 and I will say that analogue (via one of the better ClearAudio turntables) sounds fantastic. I'm mainly interested in streaming and right now I'm using a Bluesound Node (the most recent iteration of such) but I'm willing to upgrade to a better streamer (any recommendations?) if that is the weak link. What do you think - Pontus II or Venus II for my system? Thanks!

Tarum. Great review. It is worth it to change from Pontus 2- Iris combination to Venus 2 Dac? My system includes: Naim Supernait 3 integrated amp with Hicap DR, Proac’s D20R speakers and Auralic Aries LE streamer with Sbooster power supply. Witchhat phantom speaker cables and Chord interconects.

Great review , I wonder which IEM or headphone amplifier can I stack the VENUS 2 with ?

Hi Tarun. I have been down the upgrade path with my system so many times that it makes my head spin just thinking about it! My biggest success is definitely my turntable. I started with a 2018 Rega Planar P3. This was great but I wanted to be different and unique'ish with my upgrades. I purchased a new aluminium subplatter and a Delrin platter for £380 then rebuilt the turntable onto a kit from SRM Tech which replaced the whole plinth assembly for a dual layer acrylic affair. This was about £330. Once built, I replaced the tone arm with an Origin Live Illustrius for £1920 and the Cartridge with a Lyra Delos at £1300. The phono stage is currently an ifi audio iphono 3 with iTube 2 at about £1400. Add to that a £300 outboard power supply and the results were stratospheric. Including the original P3 the total was about £6400. Yes I know this is a lot but it was done over time. This piece of kit sounds more natural and more hologrphically analog than other turntables costing significantly more. The great thing about my turntable is, ' I had a large part in making it sound this good' something I am very proud of and would not be able to say if I had just purchased a 6 grand or so item from the dealers. I posted a rather long waffle last week on your review of the r800i about tube upgrades. Since then, we have burnt in the 300b Black treasures. They are epic. They blow away the Electro Harmonix gold grids. This amp now is ready to take on all comers. It is truly a thing of sonic beauty. Vinyl through the 800i is a thing to behold. They say that the sound quality of vinyl does not reach its true potential which can be beyond that of digital until you have heard a proper high end turntable. I can attest to that and thanks to the 800i it is dripping with organic analog, holographic goodness.

Once again, a very good review Tarun. You are one of the best (Steve Huff, Hans and you rule the industry for me). 🙂 As I just got the Pontus 2, 12th anniv.ed., you wrote below: "I have the Iris. It improves the Pontus II but still not as to the level of the Venus II.". 1. Since I will never have the Venus 2, is this $700CAD upgrade (Iris DDC) worth it? 2. You had already told me to spend these money elsewhere for a substantial improvement, but which one? I'm thinking of finally changing my iFi Zen streamer for a Volumio Rivo. 3. Is this the right choice? Please know that this is the last time I will ask your opinion for this improvement, not wanting to be busy. Please know that your professional opinion counted a lot in the acquisition of my components (Hegel H190, iFi Zen Stream, iFi iPowerX, Denafrips Ares2/Pontus2, 12th. anniv. ed., with the exception of the SVS Prime Pinnacle speakers and the SKW cables ). I thank you GREATLY! All this for the immense pleasure of music. 🙂

There are several excellent DACs available for a fraction of the price of these units. I suggest no Audiophile would be able to choose the “best” DAC in a properly conducted listening test. There may be subtle differences in analog output tone, but it may be a personal preference. Firstly, the quality of the original recording can be a limiting factor. A poor recording will forever sound poor, even on the best system. Secondly, listening room acoustics and choice of loudfpeaker have way, way more effect on audio quality than differences in DACs. No loudspeaker is close to perfect and even the best speaker combined with room acoustics will produce huge levels os various types of distortion that can totally masks differences in quality electronics.

Interesting opening comments. I recently bought an Ares II and Iris DDC to replace a Metrum Acoustics Musette in my headphone system. Out of the box it sounded bloody awful. I've had it running Roon 24/7 for the last few weeks and while the musicality has improved, the clarity and detail I experience with Metrum Acoustics DACs just isn't there. I'm now trying to decide whether to go Pontus II with Hermes DDC, Schiit Yggdrasil LiM or completely empty the coffers and go Metrum Acoustics Pavane. I'd be far more confident to try the Pontus if Denafrips had a return policy; I really don't want to get stuck with a DAC that doesn't suit me. Thanks for the upload!

Can't wait for the Terminator II review :)

Good evening! Could you explain a bit the 6:16 part where you'll say later (6:37) "the more resistor you have, better resolution you can get"... Do you mean by that that 2 resistors of say 200 ohms in parallel perform better (higher resolution) than a single 100 ohm resistor, for example? Thank you very much.

For me, sound is about the least possible changes through devices. A preamplifier should produce the same sound as you put into it. same with an amplifier! It's the end result that counts! You get better sound if you use a cheaper NAD amplifier on a good speaker than the opposite!

Ryder Cup Polo shirt, nice one Tarun. Watch a lot of your videos and always learn something, keep up the good work. Just a quick question. I have a Roksan K3 CDi, Roksan K3 and Spendor A2’s. I find it hard to criticise my current system, and have had it for 5 years, just got an itch I have to scratch. I like my current sound, neutral, detailed, slightly warm. Not a fan of dry, lean, analytical sounds, which I find tiring. I am interested in a demo of the Exposure 2510 and XM CD player with my Spendors. Is this worth it, or is it diminishing returns? And lastly, would a 3510 make a significant difference? Thanks

I appreciate your advice about amplifiers but am not sure if any of my integrates our on par with your separates. Would a Yamaha AS2200, Vincent SV237 MK II, or Decware Zen SE84UFO be good enough to take advantage of a Venus or is Pontus a better choice?

I'm also in favour of a review of the Gustard R26. Would be nice to have your opinion 👍

Another amazing episode of new stuff im learning... on a 1 to 10 scale where is the dacmagic 200m to a venus 2 my monitor system is flat 12hrz - 16k

Hi Taurun. Have you updated the firmware for your Venus.? I just updated to the 3.5 version released in July of this year by Vinshine audio and I really like it. The midrange feels a bit warmer/fleshier, but there is still plenty of detail and air. Overall, just a nicer, less fatiguing presentation. Interested to hear your reaction.

Excellent review as usual. Thanks. Now, knowing how unreliable auditory memory is, let me ask you: how do you compare, in general terms, the Venus to the Holo Spring 3? Or at least, which one do you prefer?

Great review and insight, thanks. My upgrades have been Pontus/Iris to Venus; and mac mini/zen stream to Lumin U2 Mini with SBooster, not to mention a great AES cable. I’m definitely in a better place now, but I do wonder now if my amp is worthy of my digital frontend, this being my SET EL34 integrated. It didn’t cost $5K or even half that, so am I getting all the glory I could? For now I’m content, but realize an amp upgrade is in my future.

Great review does the Venus 2 offer a more resolving top end then the Pontus 2 that’s it on the same level as the holo May spring?

Funny thing that Denafrips have just lunched the 15th version of the Pontus which looks like it has taken a few components from the Venus II. Not sure if these will change the sound sufficiently in the direction of the Venus II or retain the slightly warmer fuller body of the Pontus II.

Really good review. I might have to upgrade to your Patreon reviews, will it be an upgrade? Will it be a noticeable uptick in quality reviews? I don't know. I might have to live with it for a few months to do an A/B test. 😎🆒

Really interesting to hear that your longterm test paid off! After purchasing my Terminator+ after owning the original Holo Audio Spring lvl 2: was I convinced having made the right choice? Initially I could hear ‘potential’ - it took months before it really came alive. Other upgrades have worked out - but usually costing twice as much or more each time : E.g. Dynaudio Contour 3.0 to ATC 50 active. My sideways step to surround with SACD was a wasted effort, but still convinced me that SACD was superior to CD in dense orchestral classical music.

Just subscribed your channel. I must comment reviewing some American channels they have absurd systems that obviously require a special room. Its reassuring your set up is in a family home. That said. Iam in a juncture of the road. My main source is CD...Naim CDS3 plus 555PS. Unfortunately I recently visited a small hifi show and listened to a streaming system with a Chord Dave DAC. I was blown away about the smoothness and detail that breathed without constraining or hard edge glare. I now feel that it may be time to review my source and have move to a CD transport and a good DAC, thus allowing me more flexibility in the future. Yet its going to take months of sourcing retail outlets and taking my beloved cd set up to them to do a true AB comparisons. Can you suggest another approach. I am not an impulse buyer by any stretch of the imagination. Apologies for the the long text, keep up the good work, your appraisals are incitive and balanced.😎👍🎵🎵

I recently have replaced the Denafrips Ares ii with the Daccord a design of Jan Meier, the Daccord sounds more natural to me. The mids are much better, more 3d.

I love the brand name 'Denafrips.' Say it.... 'Denn a fripps.' The way it sounds. 'Denapfrips.'

I paid 5k usd on a DAC that did not work out, probably synergy. I ended up picking up a used pontus II for 1/5 of the prince I paid for the Ayon. I also tried a Benchmark. I heard great things about Benchmark but my bass nearly disappeared. I was afraid even after burn in, the DAC would be too lean. One of the tech’s from Benchmark wanted me to try to move some jumper cables to better match the impedance of the amplifier but in the end I decided to return it.

Hi Tarun. I have the Hegel h390 running Proac response d2r's. So Venus ll or Pontus ll. Many thanks.

Thanks Tarun, these Denafrips DACs look great. The Ares II is now £865 if bought from the authorised dealer in the UK, is that still worth the extra outlay over for instance the Schiit Bifrost 2 given that when it was originally available it was well under £800

You should try the combination Pontus + Hermes DDC. The sound wins again significantly and my dealer recommended the combination Pontus + Hermes instead of the upgrade to Venus. Since then I no longer listen to records.

Excellent video as always. Like many, I’ve been on a pretty steady upgrade path and the Ares II was my last real significant addition. It was a real eye (ear?) opener in terms of improving the digital sound. Just wondering….my digital system is as follows. Bluesound Node 2 or Marantz CD5005 -> Ares II -> Schiit Freya+-> Parasound A21+ -> Magnepan 1.7i (w/ Rel T/7i sub). As well, I have an excellent listening room with very good room acoustics (including some absorbing/diffusion additions). Do you think this system is resolving enough to appreciate an upgrade to either the Pontus II or Venus II?

Tarun, which power cord are you using with the Venus?

How would the Iris+I2S+Pontus II compare to the Venus II. Is the small savings if using a usb only source worth it?

Hello. Very good presentations of the products I have to say. There is a dac from T+A DAC200 that you can review and compare to denafrips dacs. I really want to know the differences. Thank you