Denafrips product owners please fall in

Blake

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2018
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On a somewhat related note, I finally received my replacement Revelation Audio Labs HDMI (6 month wait). I haven't had any chance to compare it to my Tubulus, or to a Belden I got from Blue Jeans, but will report back once I've had a chance to go through the comparison process. I also need to burn in the Revelation cable, which reportedly requires a very long time.
 
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Todcakes

New Member
Feb 5, 2021
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Sorry for the late reply to your kind advice @Blake @RikkiPoo and @Jaytor - all well received

To keep things simple I just went for the Sommer cables for both clock out. I figured they have a decent reputation on this forums, are cheap and have also been recommended for this purpose by Alvin @ Denafrips. Ignorance will indeed be bliss on this one, @RikkiPoo! Thank you for the offer on your used HDMI cables, by the way. Now I was thinking of that Excelsior for the i2S to start with but after a fair amount of circular reading / following of links on the subject I have made a punt on an older cable (used) which seems quite highly regarded at the price. I've gone for a 1m Wireworld Starlight 5.2 HDMI cable (managed to get hold of for 100 euros). We'll see how that goes, it's not an expensive punt and I can upgrade at a later date.

@Jaytor - I read your experiences with cables with some interest. Fascinating that you had such good experiences with the $11 HDMI cable from Amazon and the increased spend on the Tubulus did not seem to provide great value for money. When you said 'but adding the Gaia with the cheap i2s cable provided a significantly better SQ improvement than moving up to the more expensive i2s cable.' were you moving up from another DDC to the Gaia, or were you using the I2S directly from a source into the DAC before you bought the Gaia? Either way, it's great that you are enjoying the setup so much now.

@Blake - I'm pretty much following your advice on going reasonably priced on then cables for the IRIS at first, and we'll see what happens later down the line.

Looks like you now have moved to what seems like the 'end-game' HDMI/I2S solution for many - the RAL HDMI. Be great to get your thoughts as it burns in. Funnily enough, I ordered a cable from Brad and it took 6 years to arrive (no joke) - I got it last year. He really needs to sort out his production process and customer service.....
 

Blake

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2018
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@Blake - I'm pretty much following your advice on going reasonably priced on then cables for the IRIS at first, and we'll see what happens later down the line.

Looks like you now have moved to what seems like the 'end-game' HDMI/I2S solution for many - the RAL HDMI. Be great to get your thoughts as it burns in. Funnily enough, I ordered a cable from Brad and it took 6 years to arrive (no joke) - I got it last year. He really needs to sort out his production process and customer service.....

6 years?!?! Wowza! Yeah, Brad is so hit and miss.

I guess it still beats the LH Labs (Larry Ho) Indiegogo scam. I lost about $4,000 on that deal, with absolutely no products to show for it and unfortunately our legal actions didn't work. Live and learn. I look at these experiences and then compare to the unbelievable customer service Alvin provides. Night and day difference. It is so refreshing to deal with someone like Alvin.
 
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Jaytor

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2020
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@Jaytor - I read your experiences with cables with some interest. Fascinating that you had such good experiences with the $11 HDMI cable from Amazon and the increased spend on the Tubulus did not seem to provide great value for money. When you said 'but adding the Gaia with the cheap i2s cable provided a significantly better SQ improvement than moving up to the more expensive i2s cable.' were you moving up from another DDC to the Gaia, or were you using the I2S directly from a source into the DAC before you bought the Gaia? Either way, it's great that you are enjoying the setup so much now.
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.
 

ck563

New Member
May 2, 2021
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Shanghai, China
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.

dena + linn.jpeg
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
 

BobbinHobbin

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2016
15
4
108
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.
 

alvin1118

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Nov 2, 2015
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Singapore
www.vinshineaudio.com
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Wouterk

New Member
May 3, 2021
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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!
9509802D-8B40-4EE3-87A9-F14E5F46609D.jpeg
 

alvin1118

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2015
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Singapore
www.vinshineaudio.com
Just one seeming dumb question to start, can you turn off the Gaia? :)

Hey @ck563 , sorry to miss your question. DENAFRIPS DDC(s) are designed to be kept on 24/7.

I personally keep the streamer, DDC and DAC turned on 24/7. I spent some 10 hours a day listening to the ... news :)
 

RikkiPoo

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2020
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Hey @ck563 , sorry to miss your question. DENAFRIPS DDC(s) are designed to be kept on 24/7.

I personally keep the streamer, DDC and DAC turned on 24/7. I spent some 10 hours a day listening to the ... news :)
Alvin,

Do you put the DAC in standby? or leave it on.
 

Jaytor

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2020
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I leave my DDC and DAC on 24/7.
 
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alvin1118

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2015
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Singapore
www.vinshineaudio.com
@RikkiPoo , i leave my streamer+DDC+DAC on 24/7 :)
 
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andrewbrownstone

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2019
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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?
 

abg12

New Member
Jul 20, 2020
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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?

 
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RikkiPoo

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2020
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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.
 

Blake

Well-Known Member
Jun 28, 2018
248
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170
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
 

alvin1118

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2015
45
87
150
Singapore
www.vinshineaudio.com
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 :)
 
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StreamFidelity

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2020
110
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Rostock, Germany
griggaudio.de
I personally avoid digital volume control as it's lossy.

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.
 

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