georgehifi Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) Post your Denafrips Terminator reviews here. I started the Holo R2R one last week, now for the Denafrips. As most know, I'm shamelessly only into R2R Dac's for pcm Redbook 16/44, 24/96 or DXD replay One I just found. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/denafrips-terminator-jay’s-audio-cdt-3-mk2-a-review.879097/#post-14222200 And that's his second system, this is his first, in Audiogon https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6180 Cheers George Edited May 12, 2018 by georgehifi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SL1200 Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Useful thanks. I will follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 On 05/10/2018 at 11:50 AM, SL1200 said: Useful thanks. I will follow. Here is a great dac shootout between the Denafrips Terminator and other top dacs, it holds it's head up very well. https://audiobacon.net/2019/02/28/denafrips-terminator-review/ Cheers George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavtron Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Hey George, I really like the terminator - I borrowed one from @Dacman (a member on here that deals Denafrips gear, I also know him from work a long time before he was into digital hifi stuff) when he was in the midst of overhauling his system. I have also heard the Pontus + Ares DAC's - I like the Ares, but found the Pontus a bit dry for my taste.. maybe with a different source it could be warmed up a bit.. It's more open / detailed sounding than the Ares but seems to lack a bit of body. The Ares is warmer but not as detailed and the soundstage is a bit more closed in. The Terminator is in another league to the other denafrips gear - it has a more open and detailed sound than the Pontus and the body of the Ares Best of both worlds. The only downside of the Terminator is that it shows up a poor source - using it with geneic usb out from my non audio pc, the treble sounded a a little raw - swapping to an Auralic Aries via AES with the js2 psu (also on loan) solved that problem! I also have an optimised audio PC running server 2016, however there was an issue getting the amanero USB board in the DAC to work with it - apparently this will be fixed with audiophile optimiser v3 + server 2019, so not really a Denafrips issue. Dacman has a Soundaware D300 ref streamer running i2s to the terminator via roon - It fills the room with sound and comes really close to his vinyl rig - maybe bettering the soundstage. Unfortunately the price of the Terminator + streamer are outside my budget but if I get a sweet bonus from work I'd probably lock it in I've heard a few other DAC's - my current one is AMR DP 777 (I couldn't test it back to back with the terminator as it has an issue which is awaiting a fix from AMR) - and my preference is for the R2R / multibit sound, like yourself. I have read a few reviews (audio stream, SBAF) where people say they don't like the terminator, and varying descriptions of the tonality, so the best thing to do is have a listen, I liked it, but it needed a matching source for my speakers (event opal) which are on the brighter side.. once I had the terminator / Aries combo plugged in it was the best sound I've had at my place Cheers, gav. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunno77 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 This bloke has a pretty interesting channel with heaps of videos. There's a few vids on the Terminator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) Never heard this, it's Adel? On my computer speakers think I like the Terminator better. You can direct A/B the beginning of the song by going straight to 13.50 on the time for the Termi Cheers George Edited May 21, 2019 by georgehifi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunno77 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Yep it's Adele Shazam is a great phone app for discovering who is playing. He does a lot of comparison videos. He's definitely OCD too and does a lot of mods etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 13 minutes ago, Bunno77 said: He's definitely OCD too Too much audio not enough listening to music will do this I think. Cheers George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunno77 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Haha you are probably right but he does play some good and varied music in his clips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgehifi Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Bunno77 said: Yep it's Adele Off the 21 Album, sounds great on my computer speakers, and I bet in the car, and on personal ear buds. But I did buy it, and sold it almost the same day, I was so disgusted with it. As it was so compressed, all the instruments and voices are recorded at the same loud level, there is no dynamic range for a real audio system, and when you've got no dynamic range you've got no depth to the sound stage and no space between the voice and instruments, hence just sounds loud and flat. Same goes for the 25 album, why did they do this to such a great singer as me shaking my head. Look at the compression ratio of both albums, probably the worst I've ever seen. Forget about green (the best), orange next best, or even yellow, these tracks are all red the worst you can get. Not one of her albums hasn't been butchered this way, such a shame, for this great voice. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/159466 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/98834 They didn't bucher too much the 25 album on vinyl though. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/142281 Or the 21 unmastered download, too much either. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/116828 Cheers George Edited May 21, 2019 by georgehifi 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKay Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 11 minutes ago, georgehifi said: Off the 21 Album, sounds great on my computer speakers, and I bet in the car, and on personal ear buds. But I did buy it, and sold it almost the same day, I was so disgusted with it. As it was so compressed, all the instruments and voices are recorded at the same loud level, there is no dynamic range for a real audio system, and when you've got no dynamic range you've got no depth to the sound stage and no space between the voice and instruments, hence just sounds loud and flat. Same goes for the 25 album, why did they do this to such a great singer as me shaking my head. Look at the compression ratio of both albums, probably the worst I've ever seen. Forget about green (the best), orange next best, or even yellow, these tracks are all red the worst you can get. Not one of her albums hasn't been butchered this way, such a shame, for this great voice. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/159466 http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/98834 They didn't bucher too much the 25 album on vinyl though. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/142281 Or the 21 unmastered download, too much either. http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/116828 Cheers George I agree awful compression/mastering - I expect it was done for FM radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SL1200 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 On 21/05/2019 at 11:57 AM, georgehifi said: Here is a great dac shootout between the Denafrips Terminator and other top dacs, it holds it's head up very well. https://audiobacon.net/2019/02/28/denafrips-terminator-review/ Cheers George Thanks George. I have been on the lookout for a really a really great DAC. I was interested in the Terminator and in PS Audio's Direct Stream as they both had different technologies. I would still be interested to audition as it is too much dosh to splash out blind - or is that deaf? In the meantime I have found an absolute beauty! It is the Matrix Audio X-Sabre. https://matrix-digi.com/en/products/318.html I was running two DACs the Wyred DAC2 (via I2s) and the Oppo 205 (via USB). Like both those the Matrix Audio has the Ess Sabre 9038 chip. It is an absolute beauty. Good to look at and soundwise it is a real step up. Very solid build (think CNC machined body), easy to set up and has a good choice of inputs. I am currently running it with both I2S and USB from my PC source, and also running the TV into it via Optical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asedillo Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) Hi, I've heard this Terminator and Pontus from Stav at DACMAN Audio and I was blown away about Terminator's soundstage and details. I found the Pontus to have a bit of details compare to ARES but not as nice and warm sounding as ARES. I got an ARES I as a loaner from DACMAN Audio while waiting for my ARES II to arrive but after almost 4 weeks of wait time, I decided to buy the ARES I as well. SO now I have both ARES I and II and I am loving the warm sound of ARES. I'm sure in the very near future, the wife will allow me to own a Terminator Edited September 22, 2019 by Asedillo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asedillo Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 Hello, just sharing my Denafrips Terminator and ARES. Love them both Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts