Denafrips product owners please fall in

[CKKeung]

An Avatar & T Plus owner friend of mine has got his ordered Tubulus silver hdmi cable for I2S connection.



Here is his comment :
" ... they gave me a 10% discount as a returning customer. I would think the tubulus HDMI is a must for avatar /T+ connection. Think of 30% improvement as what we heard in LS place. Improvement in all aspects, may be most impressive in the bass but actually everything is just more realistic and enjoyable. Separation of voices and instruments is just incredible, really 3D like. ... "

 

[Blake]

RAL HDMI arrived. Got it much faster than I expected, so nice service from Brad at RAL. Gonna burn this sucker in for 2-3 weeks, then see how it compares to my Tubulus Argentus HDMI.

 

[mikey8811]

I eventually auditioned Avatar + Terminator Plus today!

It's not yet Sept today but I can confidently say that the Avatar is one of the two "Steals of 2020" I have experienced so far!
A must-buy for all Terminator Plus owners!

@CKKeung what CD transport did you compare it to or what did you use before? I was wondering how it compares to the top transports of the 90's if used with a DAC that isn't the T Plus and so will not do the same synergistic reclocking.

Thanks

 

[Abyss Man]

View attachment 68826



RAL HDMI arrived. Got it much faster than I expected, so nice service from Brad at RAL. Gonna burn this sucker in for 2-3 weeks, then see how it compares to my Tubulus Argentus HDMI.

2-3 weeks? I am a man of little patience Blake. Bake it the oven will you? LOL. It looks damn cool and congrats on the new purchase. My HDMI cable choice is now resting with your FR. Thank you so much for this sir.

 

[Blake]

2-3 weeks? I am a man of little patience Blake. Bake it the oven will you? LOL. .

I just checked the warranty details on the RAL and it doesn't say anything about oven baking voiding the warranty, so I might just give that a try!

 

[justubes]

Blake, any 1st impressions or thoughts, generally on the overall characteristics upon swapping out with the RAL?

 

[tobiasrankin]

For those of you with Terminator Plus.

1. How much better is it over terminator?
2. What other dacs have you compared it to? Has anyone compared to rockna wavedream? Chord Dave? Ayre etc

 

[Blake]

Blake, any 1st impressions or thoughts, generally on the overall characteristics upon swapping out with the RAL?

Due to operator error on my part, it is going to be several more weeks.

I have been crazy busy at work, so not really paying much attention. I inserted my RAL in my system and hit play on Roon, streaming Tidal for the burn in. I just happened to take a look yesterday to make sure the music was still streaming (my power amp is off for burn in so I looked at my MBP) and then I remembered our internet went down shortly after I installed RAL, which stopped Tidal/Roon.

So no burn in has been taking place. Ugh!

 

[StreamFidelity]

Can the spikes be unscrewed and replaced by others without opening the chassis?

I found the answer: the spikes are loosely attached with a rubbery sticky substance. Recesses are milled into the floor to ensure an exact position. I replaced the spikes with fis Audio Magic Spacer Z1, which coincidentally fit exactly into the recesses.

The matching part is fis Audio Magic Disk 2. The set includes various spheres. I used the steel balls because of the precise size. Resonances are now mechanically minimized.

I consider resonance minimization to be very important for devices with sensitive clocks. Subjectively, the stage has gained in space.

 

[alvin1118]

@StreamFidelity , awesome system you have there!

 

[StreamFidelity]

@alvin1118 , thank you very much. And you sell very good audio equipment.

 

[Abyss Man]

For those of you with Terminator Plus.

1. How much better is it over terminator?
2. What other dacs have you compared it to? Has anyone compared to rockna wavedream? Chord Dave? Ayre etc

1. Compared to the Terminator, the plus offers better detail retrieval, holography and bass decay but having said that, the Termy is no slouch either, it’s a mighty fine piece of engineering and will hold up well against higher priced DACs.....no sweat. Mate a Gaia to the Termy and you will be a very happy bunny till you hear the TP/Gaia combo of course. The TP is a reference model.
2.Once you hear the TP, nothing else matters. LOL but personally I’m not a fan of Chord cause I find them too analytical and mechanical. R2R is my cup of tea. I had the Qutest once and a Pontus side by side. I have heard the Wavedream only once, so no comments there.

 

[tobiasrankin]

1. Compared to the Terminator, the plus offers better detail retrieval, holography and bass decay but having said that, the Termy is no slouch either, it’s a mighty fine piece of engineering and will hold up well against higher priced DACs.....no sweat. Mate a Gaia to the Termy and you will be a very happy bunny till you hear the TP/Gaia combo of course. The TP is a reference model.
2.Once you hear the TP, nothing else matters. LOL but personally I’m not a fan of Chord cause I find them too analytical and mechanical. R2R is my cup of tea. I had the Qutest once and a Pontus side by side. I have heard the Wavedream only once, so no comments there.

When you did this comparison which version of dsp board was in the original terminator?

Right now I am doing terminator v2 + DI20HE and pretty satisfied with the results. DI20HE is awesome.

 

[Abyss Man]

When you did this comparison which version of dsp board was in the original terminator?

Right now I am doing terminator v2 + DI20HE and pretty satisfied with the results. DI20HE is awesome.

The board was the newer version. It was upgraded when it became available. I have been running Denafrips DACs since day one, I bought the Pontus, then upgraded to the Termy and then changed out the board when it became available and now am a proud owner of TP with Gaia.

Not too sure about the audio-gd cause I have never heard it before, but if you are happy that’s all that matters.

 

[Huang]

I just posted my review on audiophilestyle:

https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...enafrips/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-1070186

This is great I was thinking I needed a M-scaler for my Qutest & then I stumbled on this thread thank you!

 

[richard_crl032]

Hi,

Hope not and just in case especially those not using denafrips products at default i2s hdmi setting, please note both standard and plus version of Terminator is default at negative phase after powering up else it will not sound best nor right .. if you are not sensitive to correct phase and somehow missed RYFM.

My audible illusion L3A preamp is also negative phase and hence no issue from day 1 ... free upgrade in sound quality if you had been hearing wrongly phased setup.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[richard_crl032]

@CKKeung what CD transport did you compare it to or what did you use before? I was wondering how it compares to the top transports of the 90's if used with a DAC that isn't the T Plus and so will not do the same synergistic reclocking.

Thanks

Hi Mikey,

By itself, the Avatar is just a vfm philips cdm4/19 transport with femto clock especially your dac does not have compatible i2s input .. my previous Jay's Audio cdt2 with same cdm4/19 cost me another 50%.

The magic of Avatar is with TP with SINGLE synced ocxo clock of the TP just centimetres away from the other needed electronics (arguably better than using a common master clock to devices since without needed cable) as well as its compatible i2s output .. it does not reclock but avoids and replaces the lower quality femto clock with the sealed oxco clock in handling your digital signald.

This is especially if you plan for denafrips' ddc for other digital sources to take advantage of the conversion to i2s as well as this SINGLE synced of the TP's sealed oxco clock .. I found out that you can daisy both Avatar and the GAIA ddc to the TP.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[mikey8811]

By itself, the Avatar is just a vfm philips cdm4/19 transport with femto clock especially your dac does not have compatible i2s input .. my previous Jay's Audio cdt2 with same cdm4/19 cost me another 50%.

Thanks for your feedback.

My DAC has an I2S input. I do not plan to get a TP nor a Denafrips DDC so I was wondering if it is as good without the synergies you mention.

Denafrips have run out of stock of the Avatar and have raised the price somewhat (to USD 1,698) so it is only USD 700 less than the Jay's Audio CDT Mk 2.

For a bit more you can get a near top flight transport from yesteryear, used. I understand Schiit also has a CD transport in the works and being ex Theta guys would be proficient at digital gear.

 

[richard_crl032]

Thanks for your feedback.

My DAC has an I2S input. I do not plan to get a TP nor a Denafrips DDC so I was wondering if it is as good without the synergies you mention.

Denafrips have run out of stock of the Avatar and have raised the price somewhat (to USD 1,698) so it is only USD 700 less than the Jay's Audio CDT Mk 2.

For a bit more you can get a near top flight transport from yesteryear, used. I understand Schiit also has a CD transport in the works and being ex Theta guys would be proficient at digital gear.

Hi Mikey,

Got it .. hard to say then but i2s for sure preferred for me.

Even if same $ for me, I will get Avatar since there is seems to be some synergy of Denafrips products .. it sounds obviously better than Jay's cdt2 even when I had the standard Terminator with femto clock as well as without fanciful synced clocking.

For transport being electro mechanic, it may not be what is was due to wear and tear and you have the risk of having a dead weight especially with displays which were often customised.

Cheers.

Richard

 

[Acholate]

1. Compared to the Terminator, the plus offers better detail retrieval, holography and bass decay but having said that, the Termy is no slouch either, it’s a mighty fine piece of engineering and will hold up well against higher priced DACs.....no sweat. Mate a Gaia to the Termy and you will be a very happy bunny till you hear the TP/Gaia combo of course. The TP is a reference model.
2.Once you hear the TP, nothing else matters. LOL but personally I’m not a fan of Chord cause I find them too analytical and mechanical. R2R is my cup of tea. I had the Qutest once and a Pontus side by side. I have heard the Wavedream only once, so no comments there.

Hi, my first post here.
Since you tried all combination, can you give a score or in term of % for each.

1. Stand-alone Termy
2. Stand-alone TP
3. Termy+Gaia
4. TP+Gaia

If possible, can you describe the sound difference between stand-alone TP vs Termy+Gaia.
I'm Terminator owner, still deciding on how should I upgrade.
Thanks