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Denafrips ARES II USB R2R DAC Review

pinpoint_oxford

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I'm not a deity, so this is just a guess: I wouldn't be surprised if that 'also' is actually the main cause of your impression. The idea of R2R and your admiration of the design fabricates an audible difference in your mind. Not that there's anything wrong with that. An impression is an impression. But it shouldn't be allowed to skew any attempts at finding causation.
I'm not putting any evidence on my claims, so you are probably correct. That said, sometimes a placebo works, so maybe this technological placebo makes me enjoy the music more? I've also got a tube amp I'm not even going to pretend to defend, but I like it all the same.
 

funnychap

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Curious to hear your thoughts! I moved from a topping d10s in my main system to the ares ii and enjoy it quite a bit! I think it sounds better, more alive maybe? I also like the R2R topology and the engineering behind it. It's very clear denafrips takes pride in their engineering work and craftsmanship, which I appreciate.
I love the Denafrips Ares II 12th with my Arcam AVR5 receiver, sounds the most realistic ever so far like a live performance.
omg, the singers and band sound like they are in the room.
(I've listened to $90k, $200k, and $1m 2-channels systems with Wilson Audio speakers and either Burmester or Dagostino amps, that use delta-sigma dacs which sound powerful because I can feel the energy, and fuller but they don't sound realistic like a live performance...I still heard the equipments between my ears and the artist/instruments.)

Apple Music (lossless) --> iPhone 12 Pro Max --> Apple Lightning to USB camera adapter --> USB into the Denafrips --> RCA into the Arcam AVR5 receiver --> 2 speakers and 2 subwoofers (Definitive Technology Supercube SC6000 by the screen, and a SC4000 by my couch).
NOTE: my system is really a home theater 7.2.4, and now I'm upgrading the music side of it. Thus, I am using the existing speakers in the home theater and have to use RCA in the Arcam AVR5 (it does not have XLR input).
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I want the best sound quality that I can afford for my new Denafrips Ares II 12th so I bought a Parasound 2250 v.2
The Denafrips Ares II 12th sounds even better with my new Parasound 2250 V.2 amplifier than it already does with my Arcam AVR5.
The Parasound made the mids sound fuller and even more 3D live thanks to the Denafrips.

Apple Music (lossless) --> iPhone 12 Pro Max --> Apple Lightning to USB camera adapter --> USB into the Denafrips --> RCA into the Arcam AVR5 receiver --> RCA into the Parasound 2250 V.2 --> 2 speakers and 2 subwoofers (Definitive Technology Supercube SC6000 by the screen, and a SC4000 by my couch).

NOTE: My system is really a home theater setup as 7.2.4. As a positive side of effect of the Parasound upgrade for 2-channels music , movies now sound more impactful from all 3 LCR speakers and the scenes that have music sound way better. (before my LCR were powered by the Arcam AVR5, now the LR are powered by the Parasound and the Arcam AVR5 powers the center channel)
--------
I DO NOT recommend these:
Denon X3700H and Emotiva BasX-A3, while they sound ok for movies (I rate 3/5), they are terrible for 2-channels music (I rate 2/5).
Spotify is also terrible lossy music.
Many audio enthusiasts forget that dynamics are really that fourth dimension. Power is one thing, but resolution and low-level detail is another thing.

I've upgraded to these products that I recommended:
Arcam AVR5 receiver (I rate 4/5)
Parasound Zonemaster 2 (I rate 4/5)
Parasound 2250 V.2 (I rate 5/5, wide, deep and 3D live soundstage)
Apple Music

I recommend these DACs at each price point:
Topping E50 (I rate 3/5)
Topping E70 (I rate 4/5)
Denafrips Ares II 12th anniversary (I rate 5/5)
 
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funnychap

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Topping E50 (I rate 3/5)
Topping E70 (I rate 4/5)

you really hear difference between those 2?
yes. The E70 sounds better even though the treble does not go as high as the E50.
The E70 sounds more natural, smooth and the vocalists' vibratos are better.
 

zepplock

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yes. The E70 sounds better even though the treble does not go as high as the E50.
The E70 sounds more natural, smooth and the vocalists' vibratos are better.
They are all absolutely flat and noise floor is at 120db. You are either listening to music in a very quiet environment or you are fooling yourself (and us).
It's also possible you have different filters on those dacs which might affect slightly frequency response past 20khz. Your dog will hear that for sure.
 

funnychap

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They are all absolutely flat and noise floor is at 120db. You are either listening to music in a very quiet environment or you are fooling yourself (and us).
It's also possible you have different filters on those dacs which might affect slightly frequency response past 20khz. Your dog will hear that for sure.
The different filters on both Topping all sound the same to me.
 

zepplock

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The different filters on both Topping all sound the same to me.
Of course, it's unlikely many people can hear above 20khz. You also need music that has enough energy in that range, and speakers that do well 20khz+.
Combination of all of the above is very very rare, statistically.

That pretty much says that what you hear in D50 and D70 difference: 1) placebo, 2) different (unmatched) levels, 3) both 1 and 2.
 

funnychap

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Of course, it's unlikely many people can hear above 20khz. You also need music that has enough energy in that range, and speakers that do well 20khz+.
Combination of all of the above is very very rare, statistically.

That pretty much says that what you hear in D50 and D70 difference: 1) placebo, 2) different (unmatched) levels, 3) both 1 and 2.
Whichever puts a bigger smile on my face is all that counts ;-)
 

pinpoint_oxford

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Apple Music (lossless) --> iPhone 12 Pro Max --> Apple Lightning to USB camera adapter --> USB into the Denafrips --> RCA into the Arcam AVR5 receiver --> RCA into the Parasound 2250 V.2 --> 2 speakers and 2 subwoofers (Definitive Technology Supercube SC6000 by the screen, and a SC4000 by my couch).
I'm happy to hear you're enjoying your setup! I am curious about your use of the iPhone like this. That would drive me bananas. You may be well served by getting a dedicated streamer to use with your Ares II.
 

Snoopy

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I'm happy to hear you're enjoying your setup! I am curious about your use of the iPhone like this. That would drive me bananas. You may be well served by getting a dedicated streamer to use with your Ares II.

Problem will be finding a streamer that supports hires apple music and the atmos recordings.
 

BDWoody

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yes. The E70 sounds better even though the treble does not go as high as the E50.
The E70 sounds more natural, smooth and the vocalists' vibratos are better.

Let me guess... Sighted and with no effort to match levels, right?

Are you interested at all in whether all of these differences in sound quality you consistently claim to hear might exist only in your brain?
 

pinpoint_oxford

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Problem will be finding a streamer that supports hires apple music and the atmos recordings.
Would an Apple TV do that? I don't use apple devices, so I wouldn't know. All my music is locally ripped flac or mp3 or Qobuz and just about everything supports that.
 

Snoopy

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Would an Apple TV do that? I don't use apple devices, so I wouldn't know. All my music is locally ripped flac or mp3 or Qobuz and just about everything supports that.

New Apple TVs have no digital out anymore. Only hdmi. And the hdmi is limited to 24bit 48khz.
 

funnychap

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Would an Apple TV do that? I don't use apple devices, so I wouldn't know. All my music is locally ripped flac or mp3 or Qobuz and just about everything supports that.
No, AppleTV4k only supports normal lossless, not hires lossless.

The advantage of using my iPhone instead of AppleTV4k is the TV/projector doesn't need to be on which heats up the room even more than just my amplifier.

I only use the AppleTV4k for Apple Spatial Audio (Dolby Atmos surround music) or movies that have Dolby Atmos/DTS:X in a 7.2.4 setup.
 
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This is a review and measurements of the Denafrips ARES II USB DSD DAC based on R2R architecture. It is on kind loan from a member. I think it costs US $680 so not too high for a custom DAC.

The overall look of the ARES II is rather plain:


The LED indicators are quite tiny so standing top of it, I could not tell they were on.

There is a large toroidal transformer in there making the ARES II quite heavy. So at least on that front, you get the feeling that you are getting your money's worth.

The back panel has the usual connectors:


I was pleased to see balanced XLR outputs as this increases the cost substantial in R2R implementations. I used that for all of my testing.

R2R DAC Audio Measurements
As usual we start with our 1 kHz dashboard:

View attachment 47939

Oh, this is pretty good! THD+N is 10 times better than the specification and the highest distortion product is below -100 dB. SINAD as a result which represents level of distortion and noise is respectable for R2R DAC:

View attachment 47940

Signal to noise ratio is very good:

View attachment 47941

Intermodulation distortion is very important in the case of custom DACs like this and here, we do see variations that are level sensitive:
View attachment 47942

There are some clear jitter components visible but they are well below audibility threshold:

View attachment 47943

Linearity once again is good for an R2R DAC:

View attachment 47944

Multitone response representing "music" is surprisingly good:

View attachment 47945

THD+N vs frequency once again shows better than expected performance:

View attachment 47946

The spec says there are two filter settings but I could not figure out how to change that. Here is the only one that I used for all my testing:

View attachment 47947

Thermal Stability
There seems to be no change in performance with temperature:

View attachment 47948

Yes, I got bored and stopped it. :) Usually when the performance has temperature dependency, it is obvious out of the gate.

Conclusions
It has become a common retort to say that R2Rs measure poorly. Indeed even the manufacturer says this. Good thing that is not the case here as that is just an excuse. The Denafrips ARES II has very good performance as an R2R DAC. And its faults if any, should not be audible.

So if you are itching to have an R2R/custom boutique DAC, the ARES II makes a good candidates.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

The panthers are complaining that they are looking too short relative to the size of the speakers I have been testing as of late. So they are demanding that I buy them pedestal shoes to make them appear taller! These are not cheap as there is not a big market for such shoes for panthers. So please donate what you can using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
thank you again for your amazingly detailed reviews and measurements Armir.
Is this the best measurements usb r-2r dac ever measurement on ASR? I recently purchased another chinese brand (some say is the OEM manufacturer of Denafrips) -i wont mention the brand for nobody acuse me of "maketing troll" - of r-2r dac and can't be happier it sounds more warm and "natural"
 
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Amir does it sound more analog like as per current internet buzz? When you listen through your headphones!
We said in Spain "when the river sounds, water it carries" so many times the buzz are true , if many people say the same perhaps its right, and thats my experience with another brand of asian r2r dac with aes, usb, i2s, coaxial and optical imput heheheh but i wont mention the braand but yeah it sounds little more liquid analog and tubey to me, perhaps im wrong or my ears are lying me
 
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Killingbeans

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Is this the best measurements usb r-2r dac ever measurement on ASR?

Not even close. The Holo May leaves it in the dust:

 
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