I was comparing the Gaia with i2s with the Terminator connected direct to my Roon server via USB (AQ Diamond) and via a Bryston BDP-2 streamer using AES3 (DH Labs D110). Using the Bryston was slightly better than connecting the Roon server directly to the Terminator. Replacing the Bryston with the Gaia connected to the Terminator via AES was a small improvement. The biggest improvement came from switching to i2s from the Gaia. This was all before I replaced the Terminator with the Terminator +. I sold the Bryston, because once I had the Gaia, I did not notice any improvement adding the Bryston in the mix.
Denafrips product owners please fall in
- Thread starter Abyss Man
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Hello,
Want to introduce myself here, a recent Denafrips owner. This is CK, originally from Hong Kong but now work and live in Shanghai China. Recently, a poisonous friend raved about how good Denafrips' Terminator Plus + Gaia combo are. That this combo beat a million (HK) dollar set up on one of a well known audiophile in Hong Kong. So I took the bite and purchased them without listening to them.
Even in the first two hours, it beats my Linn Akurate DS in resolutions, and more importantly dimensions of soundstage. Echoing some of comment i read, it's almost holographic. So it makes me a very happy and proud owner.
Looking forward to learning from you how to bring out the best of this combo. Just one seeming dumb question to start, can you turn off the Gaia?
Cheers,
CK
Want to introduce myself here, a recent Denafrips owner. This is CK, originally from Hong Kong but now work and live in Shanghai China. Recently, a poisonous friend raved about how good Denafrips' Terminator Plus + Gaia combo are. That this combo beat a million (HK) dollar set up on one of a well known audiophile in Hong Kong. So I took the bite and purchased them without listening to them.
Even in the first two hours, it beats my Linn Akurate DS in resolutions, and more importantly dimensions of soundstage. Echoing some of comment i read, it's almost holographic. So it makes me a very happy and proud owner.
Looking forward to learning from you how to bring out the best of this combo. Just one seeming dumb question to start, can you turn off the Gaia?
Cheers,
CK
Hello,
Want to introduce myself here, a recent Denafrips owner. This is CK, originally from Hong Kong but now work and live in Shanghai China. Recently, a poisonous friend raved about how good Denafrips' Terminator Plus + Gaia combo are. That this combo beat a million (HK) dollar set up on one of a well known audiophile in Hong Kong. So I took the bite and purchased them without listening to them.
View attachment 77563
Even in the first two hours, it beats my Linn Akurate DS in resolutions, and more importantly dimensions of soundstage. Echoing some of comment i read, it's almost holographic. So it makes me a very happy and proud owner.
Looking forward to learning from you how to bring out the best of this combo. Just one seeming dumb question to start, can you turn off the Gaia?
Cheers,
CK
No, it automatically turns on when plugged in. I think it's recommended to have it on 24/7 to warm up the high end clocks.
My first post here - thank you Alvin for posting the instructions above I created as all of a sudden I could not play DSD files anymore after adding the Gaia to the T+.
I was sold 4 years ago on R2R with the Holo Spring DAC while working in mainland China. Back in the U.K. a friend offered to buy the Holo off me, so time for a replacement. I realised that I had not been listening to my high end CD player for the past few years after spending spare time over a year to create lossless rips of my 1000+ CDs and SACDs. As the Gaia came highly recommended this was a logical companion to the T+.
The final piece fell in place a few days ago with the arrival of the Athena as a replacement of the ATC CA2 pre amplifier.
The setup now shows its synergy by providing a detailed, spacious authoritative sound, even when the system plays at relatively low volumes.
My main listening is classical music as I play classical violin myself.
Finally enjoying listening to a high res DSD recording by Nigel Armstrong which until now was actually unlistenable due to the thin violin sound. Now the instrument has been given a full bodied sound and the music can be enjoyed!
I was sold 4 years ago on R2R with the Holo Spring DAC while working in mainland China. Back in the U.K. a friend offered to buy the Holo off me, so time for a replacement. I realised that I had not been listening to my high end CD player for the past few years after spending spare time over a year to create lossless rips of my 1000+ CDs and SACDs. As the Gaia came highly recommended this was a logical companion to the T+.
The final piece fell in place a few days ago with the arrival of the Athena as a replacement of the ATC CA2 pre amplifier.
The setup now shows its synergy by providing a detailed, spacious authoritative sound, even when the system plays at relatively low volumes.
My main listening is classical music as I play classical violin myself.
Finally enjoying listening to a high res DSD recording by Nigel Armstrong which until now was actually unlistenable due to the thin violin sound. Now the instrument has been given a full bodied sound and the music can be enjoyed!
Alvin,
Do you put the DAC in standby? or leave it on.
You now have the Terminator Pro costing nearly double the price of the original Terminator and recently announced the terminator MK II which has a new internal clock and sells for the same price as the original. I use the Terminator with the Upgrade PCB but I haven't heard the other two. Has anyone any feedback on the new models?
Was looking around YouTube and came across this interesting video. For a tldr - USB bad, introduces voltage noise and jitter - hence why DDC is beneficial. But can get away without a DDC by using a source with i2s. And get better performance than with a DDC.
Anyone have any experience with some of the conclusions?
Anyone have any experience with some of the conclusions?
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I had a W4S music server with I2S out and a W4S Dac with I2S input. The USB was better however I did not use a good I2S cable which I have discovered to be critical for good I2S. The I2S from an Iris DDC is much better than USB and adding the clock out from the TP puts the Iris/Hermes/Gaia DDC's over the top and further separates it from USB. Again like USB I found the cables to be critical, my current I2S cable was the same cost as the Iris or maybe a little more which makes the Iris a steal.
Hi,
I hope all in our Denafrips group are doing well. I am wondering if anyone else has any input on an issue I am having.
I installed the latest Denafrips driver on my laptop for my headphone setup. The driver shows up as installed. I get sound just fine, the problem is, when I move the Denafrips volume slider, the volume doesn't change. If I move the slider to off, the sound stops and things are silent. But once I slide it back on the volume level is just steady.
The result is, I have to control volume with my preamp. This is not a major issue but it is inconvenient sometimes as I am working from my laptop and would like to sometimes control volume by clicking on the Denafrips volume slider for convenience.
I have tried un-installing and re-installing but no luck. My laptop is a PC, running Windows 10 Pro. (i5-8265U CPU, 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
TIA
I hope all in our Denafrips group are doing well. I am wondering if anyone else has any input on an issue I am having.
I installed the latest Denafrips driver on my laptop for my headphone setup. The driver shows up as installed. I get sound just fine, the problem is, when I move the Denafrips volume slider, the volume doesn't change. If I move the slider to off, the sound stops and things are silent. But once I slide it back on the volume level is just steady.
The result is, I have to control volume with my preamp. This is not a major issue but it is inconvenient sometimes as I am working from my laptop and would like to sometimes control volume by clicking on the Denafrips volume slider for convenience.
I have tried un-installing and re-installing but no luck. My laptop is a PC, running Windows 10 Pro. (i5-8265U CPU, 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
TIA
DENAFRIPS USB receiver disabled the Mac/Windows mixer for bit perfect operation. You may use the software's (youtube/jriver/roon etc) to adjust the volume.
My recommendation is to use a proper preamp for volume control. I personally avoid digital volume control as *I prefer analog volume control, for now
My recommendation is to use a proper preamp for volume control. I personally avoid digital volume control as *I prefer analog volume control, for now
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That depends on the implementation.
It is correct that a volume reduction of about 6 dB costs 1 bit. If a 16-bit CD has a dynamic range of 96 dB, then a digital volume control could loss of informations.
The reality is that digital volume controls known to me, such as Roon or HQPlayer, extrapolate the music to 64Bit beforehand. That is not a problem and also lossless. In this way, any volume control can be implemented without losses. And that has advantages: for example, there are no channel inequalities and no channel crosstalk.
Thanks for the information Alvin! I am definitely in the analog volume control camp with you. @StreamFidelity makes some good points as well. I know this is a touchy subject and can lead to world wars. I have no problems if others prefer digital attenuation, so I'll just leave it at that.
Totally my bad. Just revised my reply.
What matters most is - enjoy the music!
What matters most is - enjoy the music!
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