bigbird
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The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 5, 2021 10:12:34 GMT
I’ve had the terminator for several days now and I have to say I am now at last very impressed . My mission when looking for a dac was to find something that got pretty close to my analogue front end . Digital has always been a bit fatiguing for me as I found it harsh ,sibilant, glaring , sharp etc so I was really happy when finding out that the R2R dacs were back with a bang . Upon plug in and power up I was really underwhelmed ,gutted actually. I thought Sh#t I’ve made a really expensive mistake here . It was muddy ,bloated , bass heavy a bit sharp and sibilant and no way near my vinyl levels, not even close . But it was fresh out the box so I knew I had to give it some hours to burn in. I’ve left it on none stop with playlists from Spotify playing through it quietly and constantly for 4 days solid and forgot about it while I was busy with work and renovations . During that time I added playback software and adjusted some settings too and had a little listen every once in a while to see if things were improving. And to my relief , they were . Fast forward to now and I haven’t played it for 48hrs due to other commitments and Christ it’s like a different machine. Man has it opened up and settled down. I’m listening to Miles Davis kind of blue 50th anniversary SACD FLAC and I have to say that it’s so close to my analogue rig now that I can hardly tell the difference . There are of course some differences, the dac has more low end weight, the vinyl a touch airier and open , but as a whole the level of playback is almost up there with a serious TT and phono combo and the beauty of it is... it’s sounds analogue . None of those annoying digital traits that always put me off investing in the format . I can’t wait to add a streamer and digital cable and do away with the noisy laptop/USB combo. I’m sure we will unlock more sounds and who knows ,could it beat my TT?? We will have to see about that. I will always buy and play vinyl till the day I end up in a box but sometimes you just want to stick something on without the faff . This has solved the problem big time So did I find a dac that can mix it with my analogue gear without being fatiguing. The answer is yes. I’d say that’s mission accomplished Highly recommended chaps. It’s fuckin bonkers good I’ve added a little imgur clip so you can hear for yourselves . When the horn kicks in around 30seconds I had to go and change my underpants . Cheers Karl imgur.com/a/KVBhSKo
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Post by macca on Jun 5, 2021 10:29:11 GMT
sounds good even through my laptop speakers.
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Bigman80
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AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 5, 2021 10:42:16 GMT
That is some proper kit!
I have fancied one of these for ages now and everytime i forget about them, another ~happy Customer~ drops a review with their enthusiasm for it plastered all over it.
Glad it's worked out and yes, you need a proper file delivery system.
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bigbird
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The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 5, 2021 10:56:21 GMT
sounds good even through my laptop speakers. Cheers Macca .. it’s a real eye opener that’s for sure . I’m listening to Santana abraxas MFSL FLAC and it’s better than my vinyl pressing for sure. The separation is unreal . Have I been converted to the dark side ?? 😂
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bigbird
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The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 5, 2021 10:57:39 GMT
That is some proper kit! I have fancied one of these for ages now and everytime i forget about them, another ~happy Customer~ drops a review with their enthusiasm for it plastered all over it. Glad it's worked out and yes, you need a proper file delivery system. Yep don’t worry mate that next on the list . One thing at a time. I’m still getting over this purchase. And I need to put aside a good chunk for a whole new drawer of undies
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Post by macca on Jun 5, 2021 11:21:44 GMT
what were you using for digital before the Denafrips?
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bigbird
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Post by bigbird on Jun 5, 2021 11:45:47 GMT
what were you using for digital before the Denafrips? Just a marantz CD player/dac combo ,nothing special . I’ve never invested in it properly as every time I’ve auditioned something or tried something I’ve found it so far off what my vinyl can do and unnatural sounding I’ve just stuck with analogue . I started to change my opinion of that a year or so ago when I heard some really good stuff at a local Hifi show that sounded smoother and less fatiguing so I started planning on which route to take and the R2R was the one I chose .
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Post by stevew on Jun 5, 2021 12:06:18 GMT
Oh well done! I’m hoping to get one myself at some point when I’ve replenished my funds! (Or a Venus if I can’t stretch to it) Whilst the Denafrips Ares 2 has been a revelation it has become transformed by streaming through an SOtM sms 200 se Then I’ve added their filter cat 6 thing which has cleaned up the signal even more. Highly recommended.
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bigbird
Regular
The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 5, 2021 12:29:39 GMT
Oh well done! I’m hoping to get one myself at some point when I’ve replenished my funds! (Or a Venus if I can’t stretch to it) Whilst the Denafrips Ares 2 has been a revelation it has become transformed by streaming through an SOtM sms 200 se Then I’ve added their filter cat 6 thing which has cleaned up the signal even more. Highly recommended. Cheers mate I don’t have any experience with the Venus but if it’s anywhere near the level of this termy you would be very happy. This thing is insane . What’s the filter cat thing ? A friend has got sotm neo200 se with upgrade silver and caps inside it and he’s frustrated that it doesn’t sound as good as his audio lab 6000 cdp which was cheaper . We were thinking it could be the USB causing the issue?
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Post by macca on Jun 5, 2021 12:34:15 GMT
what were you using for digital before the Denafrips? Just a marantz CD player/dac combo ,nothing special . I’ve never invested in it properly as every time I’ve auditioned something or tried something I’ve found it so far off what my vinyl can do and unnatural sounding I’ve just stuck with analogue . I started to change my opinion of that a year or so ago when I heard some really good stuff at a local Hifi show that sounded smoother and less fatiguing so I started planning on which route to take and the R2R was the one I chose . Yes, hearing digital 'done right' was what spurred me to push on but I can't recall where that was now, possibly at Marco's I wouldn't underestimate the benefit of getting that Neurochrome in the system. Amplifiers like that really exploit the strengths of digital IME.
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Post by stevew on Jun 5, 2021 13:32:55 GMT
Oh well done! I’m hoping to get one myself at some point when I’ve replenished my funds! (Or a Venus if I can’t stretch to it) Whilst the Denafrips Ares 2 has been a revelation it has become transformed by streaming through an SOtM sms 200 se Then I’ve added their filter cat 6 thing which has cleaned up the signal even more. Highly recommended. Cheers mate I don’t have any experience with the Venus but if it’s anywhere near the level of this termy you would be very happy. This thing is insane . What’s the filter cat thing ? A friend has got sotm neo200 se with upgrade silver and caps inside it and he’s frustrated that it doesn’t sound as good as his audio lab 6000 cdp which was cheaper . We were thinking it could be the USB causing the issue? It’s this thing. www.eliteaudiouk.com/product-page/sotm-iso-cat6-isolation-transformer
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Post by stevew on Jun 5, 2021 13:34:49 GMT
The guy from Elite explains it better than I could
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Post by stevew on Jun 5, 2021 13:38:32 GMT
Oh well done! I’m hoping to get one myself at some point when I’ve replenished my funds! (Or a Venus if I can’t stretch to it) Whilst the Denafrips Ares 2 has been a revelation it has become transformed by streaming through an SOtM sms 200 se Then I’ve added their filter cat 6 thing which has cleaned up the signal even more. Highly recommended. Cheers mate I don’t have any experience with the Venus but if it’s anywhere near the level of this termy you would be very happy. This thing is insane . What’s the filter cat thing ? A friend has got sotm neo200 se with upgrade silver and caps inside it and he’s frustrated that it doesn’t sound as good as his audio lab 6000 cdp which was cheaper . We were thinking it could be the USB causing the issue? Oh yes, and one other thing. Luckily I had a 9volt SBooster spare. That also made a difference.
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Post by sq225917 on Jun 5, 2021 15:43:10 GMT
Lol, £350 for a digital isolation transformer. Two cat6 sockets, 3 quid of traffo and a handful of dipped poly caps.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 5, 2021 16:35:18 GMT
Lol, £350 for a digital isolation transformer. Two cat6 sockets, 3 quid of traffo and a handful of dipped poly caps. It's in a nice case?! 😉
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Post by stevew on Jun 5, 2021 17:43:07 GMT
Lol, £350 for a digital isolation transformer. Two cat6 sockets, 3 quid of traffo and a handful of dipped poly caps. Maybe so. But I’ve been listening to stuff for several nights on the trot now, and everything’s so much more natural and flowing. So... whatever .. it’s good
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 5, 2021 17:48:03 GMT
Lol, £350 for a digital isolation transformer. Two cat6 sockets, 3 quid of traffo and a handful of dipped poly caps. Maybe so. But I’ve been listening to stuff for several nights on the trot now, and everything’s so much more natural and flowing. So... whatever .. it’s good If it works, it works. Can't argue with that!
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Post by jimbo on Jun 8, 2021 6:20:32 GMT
Nice one Karl and congratulations on taking a not inexpensive punt! I have been reading very good reviews of the Terminator for the last few years and nice to hear it has hit the spot and elevated your digital listening experience. Along with the Kitsune DACs and DAVE the Terminator I am sure will be be up there with the best.
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bigbird
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The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 9, 2021 8:58:46 GMT
Nice one Karl and congratulations on taking a not inexpensive punt! I have been reading very good reviews of the Terminator for the last few years and nice to hear it has hit the spot and elevated your digital listening experience. Along with the Kitsune DACs and DAVE the Terminator I am sure will be be up there with the best. Cheers Jim . It’s been a real eye opener this week mate. Now I’ve got about 150hrs on it ,it has really opened up . To the point where I now believe it’s probably better than my vinyl rig. The sheer depth and detail is very hard for my Art 9 to match . I think I will need a sizeable upgrade to get a cartridge that can do what this does . I think the rest of my analogue rig is more than a capable though so I will be able to level the playing field again with some tweakage. It wasn’t cheap no , but I sold all my Croft amps so that paid for it thankfully .plus the guy did me a deal so it worked out i got it a fair bit cheaper than it works out for UK buyers to get one imported . I’d been doing a lot of research and speaking at some lengths with the denafrips distribution here in Aus and he convinced me that the Terminator 2 was the only one that could get me to the level I wanted . He was raving about it compared to the last model along with just about every other reviewer I’d watched and read so it seemed like an easy decision to make in light of all the information I had . Yes it seems like a big kick in the bollocks letting 3 grand go out in one go but you’d probably have to spend double on a vinyl rig to get this level of playback . Christ knows what’s going to happen when I add a streamer and digital cable . Maybe there won’t be any way back for the vinyl in my realm of affordability ?? I very nearly bought a termy locally on eBay. as the guy said it was a T2 that he’d bought used a few months ago but never got round to playing due to renovations . I actually paid for it but he wasn’t very helpful at answering even the basic questions or info which got me concerned so I got the denafrips guy here to have a look at some photos and it turned out it was the first version of the Terminator. I was informed by him that there are now 4 versions of the termy. The first one, the updated dsp version, the 2020 clock upgrade and the new version with updates and trickle down tech from the T+ . He told me to avoid the one on eBay as he thinks that the newest one is in a different league to the first ones and the guy was still asking T2 prices for it . I told the seller about it and he was gutted and confused . He really thought it was the new model so he obviously got told that it was from the previous seller . Thankfully my due diligence helped me swerve a bullet . I’m sure it would have been great still but not at the price he was wanting for it and he wouldn’t drop it either so I cancelled the order . he didn’t even drop the price in light of the new info so no doubt he’s done a sneaky and not told the next buyer about it and they’ve paid top whack for a 4 year old dac . Anyway I’m more than happy with the performance mate . Very analogue indeed , so much depth and detail, non fatiguing . As always getting the right mastering is essential but when you do my god it blows your socks off . I have a feeling my records will be getting even dustier for the foreseeable
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optical
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Post by optical on Jun 9, 2021 9:29:47 GMT
Terminator 2 better than the original . . . . been saying that for years to be fair.
I'll be back.
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bigbird
Regular
The Racing Snake
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Post by bigbird on Jun 9, 2021 11:59:01 GMT
Terminator 2 better than the original . . . . been saying that for years to be fair. I'll be back. Haha . I don’t care what anybody says about you mate . I think you’re quite funny
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optical
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Be Excellent To Eachother
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Post by optical on Jun 9, 2021 12:17:19 GMT
Terminator 2 better than the original . . . . been saying that for years to be fair. I'll be back. Haha . I don’t care what anybody says about you mate . I think you’re quite funny Lol, thanks Karl . . . . far be it from me to stop anyone making me the subject of some ridicule! (For the record "The Terminator" film actually runs T2 pretty close in my opinion, I've given the decision much thought over the years). Bit off main topic but this is pretty impressive:
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