Some background first of all before I comment on my most recent purchase...
I grew up, in hi-fi terms, working in a Linn dealership as a Saturday boy while at school and college in the 80s. I arrived assuming the digital revolution would be in full swing there but it wasn't long before my first Linn LP12 turntable was installed at home and the world of vinyl opened up to me.
There were a number of key attributes that I loved about vinyl. To quote Linn's own criteria, being able to follow the tune played by every instrument, not just the lead. Being able to listen into a depths of a recording, noticing those tiny musical timing clues, feeling like it was a real band playing together rather than just a set of noises. These are the things I love about a live performance... and what I've always valued from my hi-fi.
However, as time went on, the takeover by the CD took place and so I needed to join the digital world too. So a Linn Karik / Numerik combination arrived and of all the CD players I've heard, it's still one of the better options for those musical attributes... albeit never reaching the heights of my Linn LP12 (classik Ittok, Troika, Lingo, Linto combination). The sync cable between the Karik and Numerik is clearly the magic ingredient here... remove this and those musical clues fall away leaving just sounds. Clearly digital audio is more than just the 1s and 0s.
Coming up to the current day and streaming is the next requirement for the music lover. I have been using separate streamers and DACs because often there are multiple digital sources involved, such as TVs, computers etc. I have used my Linn Numerik, I've used a Benchmark DAC2-HGC and played around with a SMSL M300 to see what a AKM chip device is like.
The problem was I couldn't use a sync cable with a streamer with my Linn Numerik, so the timing and nuance was never there. And I was never satisfied with either the Benchmark or SMSL - they both had that "digital" sound to my ears. Further research revealed that both of those devices used Sigma-Delta converters (ESS ES9018 and AKM AK4497) whereas the Burr-Brown PCM1702 used in the Linn Numerik uses a R-2R ladder approach.
I wondered if I could find a R-2R ladder DAC with better syncing with the data stream (via a USB link looked promising) to match the approach in my Linn Karik / Numerik.
I started reading about the Denafrips range of R-2R ladder DACs and so ordered a Denafrips Ares II from Willow Tree Audio. It is being fed from a Raspberry Pi running Moode as a Roon endpoint with my Mac Mini as the Roon server. All connections are wired, the Raspberry Pi has a iFi iPower supply and I'm using a Kimber USB cable. The settings on the Ares II are for oversampling with a slow filter. It has had many hundreds of hours of play now so is fully settled.
What what have I found?
For the first time, I now have a digital system that is much, much better than my Karik / Numerik... which dates from 1996, so maybe no surprise there. Except that the Benchmark DAC2-HGC didn't manage it in many musical respects. It has all the musical timing and nuance present and the ability to listen into the depths of a recording is quite unlike anything digital I've ever lived with. It has been described as having an "analogue" sound and it has made a major jump towards the things I love about vinyl.
The greatest complement I can pay it is that I'm now constantly reaching through the back catalogue and playing albums I haven't heard for ages, wondering "how will it sound on this" and noticing musical details that had previously passed me by. Particularly albums I've never owned on vinyl. It's been one of those purchases that is an absolute joy from the start and I'm so pleased that the decision to buy it purely based on internet reviews (albeit with a money back guarantee) has paid off so handsomely.
I appreciate that compared to Linn's own £30k R-2R ladder DAC / streamer, my purchase is quite down to earth, but I imagine if Linn folk from back in the 80s were to choose a sub £1k DAC in today's market, the Denafrips would be high on their list.
Anyway, I wanted to post here to give the Denafrips Ares II a wholehearted recommendation. I have no doubt the more expensive models are terrific too... but the £800 Ares II is, in my view, quite the bargain.
Thanks for reading and happy listening.
Chris
I grew up, in hi-fi terms, working in a Linn dealership as a Saturday boy while at school and college in the 80s. I arrived assuming the digital revolution would be in full swing there but it wasn't long before my first Linn LP12 turntable was installed at home and the world of vinyl opened up to me.
There were a number of key attributes that I loved about vinyl. To quote Linn's own criteria, being able to follow the tune played by every instrument, not just the lead. Being able to listen into a depths of a recording, noticing those tiny musical timing clues, feeling like it was a real band playing together rather than just a set of noises. These are the things I love about a live performance... and what I've always valued from my hi-fi.
However, as time went on, the takeover by the CD took place and so I needed to join the digital world too. So a Linn Karik / Numerik combination arrived and of all the CD players I've heard, it's still one of the better options for those musical attributes... albeit never reaching the heights of my Linn LP12 (classik Ittok, Troika, Lingo, Linto combination). The sync cable between the Karik and Numerik is clearly the magic ingredient here... remove this and those musical clues fall away leaving just sounds. Clearly digital audio is more than just the 1s and 0s.
Coming up to the current day and streaming is the next requirement for the music lover. I have been using separate streamers and DACs because often there are multiple digital sources involved, such as TVs, computers etc. I have used my Linn Numerik, I've used a Benchmark DAC2-HGC and played around with a SMSL M300 to see what a AKM chip device is like.
The problem was I couldn't use a sync cable with a streamer with my Linn Numerik, so the timing and nuance was never there. And I was never satisfied with either the Benchmark or SMSL - they both had that "digital" sound to my ears. Further research revealed that both of those devices used Sigma-Delta converters (ESS ES9018 and AKM AK4497) whereas the Burr-Brown PCM1702 used in the Linn Numerik uses a R-2R ladder approach.
I wondered if I could find a R-2R ladder DAC with better syncing with the data stream (via a USB link looked promising) to match the approach in my Linn Karik / Numerik.
I started reading about the Denafrips range of R-2R ladder DACs and so ordered a Denafrips Ares II from Willow Tree Audio. It is being fed from a Raspberry Pi running Moode as a Roon endpoint with my Mac Mini as the Roon server. All connections are wired, the Raspberry Pi has a iFi iPower supply and I'm using a Kimber USB cable. The settings on the Ares II are for oversampling with a slow filter. It has had many hundreds of hours of play now so is fully settled.
What what have I found?
For the first time, I now have a digital system that is much, much better than my Karik / Numerik... which dates from 1996, so maybe no surprise there. Except that the Benchmark DAC2-HGC didn't manage it in many musical respects. It has all the musical timing and nuance present and the ability to listen into the depths of a recording is quite unlike anything digital I've ever lived with. It has been described as having an "analogue" sound and it has made a major jump towards the things I love about vinyl.
The greatest complement I can pay it is that I'm now constantly reaching through the back catalogue and playing albums I haven't heard for ages, wondering "how will it sound on this" and noticing musical details that had previously passed me by. Particularly albums I've never owned on vinyl. It's been one of those purchases that is an absolute joy from the start and I'm so pleased that the decision to buy it purely based on internet reviews (albeit with a money back guarantee) has paid off so handsomely.
I appreciate that compared to Linn's own £30k R-2R ladder DAC / streamer, my purchase is quite down to earth, but I imagine if Linn folk from back in the 80s were to choose a sub £1k DAC in today's market, the Denafrips would be high on their list.
Anyway, I wanted to post here to give the Denafrips Ares II a wholehearted recommendation. I have no doubt the more expensive models are terrific too... but the £800 Ares II is, in my view, quite the bargain.
Thanks for reading and happy listening.
Chris