There is a little information about this DAC on the internet. Probably because Denafrips has not released any for review. It may be because they are trying to sell off the few Terminator + 12th's they have first which is just the fancy face plate vs the 15th. (I was told by my dealer that they have about 30 faceplates to use up, that is my source for this and he also took the DAC covers off to compare) The good stuff inside is identical and in fact the new Terminator 15th has the 15th firmware update through FPGA. I cannot comment on how they compare, but the Termy got a lot of great feedback from all the research I got. I had debated for a year on what was going to be my last DAC purchase for many, many years. Top contenders were Aqua La Scala, Lampizator Baltic 4 or maybe Atlantic TRP, T+A DAC 200 and a Terminator. It's so hard to decide, there are so many DAC's available. I decided against the Lampizators because the Tube rolling, cost of those tubes lack of being able to leave it on all the time and the fact that I probably would need to spend $12,000 on the one I really wanted. (I have transitioned from all tubed to all solid state for ease of ownership in my system now-I used to have VAC Amp and preamp) Same for the Aqua Scala-it has a tube too. So I narrowed it down the the T+A and the Terminator. I was so very close to getting the T+A but it was going to be at least $1500+ more, I didn't need the pre amp function or I don't listen to SD which really separates this DAC for the others-PCM is more average from what I could discern. I also had in house for 3 years the Denafrips Venus II and grown to like the "house sound" as well as the R2R presentation. The internal DAC on my Wavelet II is a chip based DAC and i felt the soundstage was flatter, not as wide and a tad more digital sounding so that gave me an idea what a chip based sound would be like, maybe I am wrong. I just don't have the funds to try a bunch of $6000-$12,000 DACs. One other things that tipped the scale is that since I already have a Hermes DDC and a Tubulous I2S cable I could enjoy. Secondly I wanted to take advantage of the clock sync function for further digital enhancement. I didn't compare with and with out the clock function as it takes programming both units and i wanted to get hours on the silver BNC cables ASAP. The MSRRP on this DADc is $6099 the T+ is $7600 USD. SO quite a break wit the new product line. This carries through with all the new 15th offerings, The Pontus, Venus and the Terminator are all now the next version in the chain. For example the Pontus is the old Venus, the Venus is the old Terminator II and so on. I can only compare the voicing of the Venus II and the internal DAC on the Wavelet II to the Terminator 15th. But for me in my system it is quite a step up everywhere. Soundstage depth, width (which easily exceeds the width beyond the speakers frequently now.) The midrange tonality is so pure and realistic. A big step up in bass, but not like big and boomy or overwhelming-just more accurate, it jumps out when it should, is so textured and real. The top end is so delicate, airy, with such decay and evident. Imagery and placement is so much more precise. It has a more smooth less digital sound now yet still improving upon transparency and detail. I guess I don't know how this compares with the Termy 12th but this to me is a damn good DAC and worth a try if you are in the DAC @ $6000 price range. It has really transformed my rig and was exactly what I had hoped for. I now have about 450 hours on it, it is still improving from day one. I guess there is a risk with purchase because there isn't a trail period. I just wanted to share my thoughts about it to any one interested in learning about it. Happy listening!
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