Denafrips ARES II USB R2R DAC Review

[Lambda]

There would need to be a pretty comprehensive contract agreement in order for me to loan/lease/rent out a AP if I owned one. One mistake connecting that bad boy and I imagine it would go pOOF?

Some rent there Car... some loan there analyzer?!

goldensound review and numerous other subjective reviews

well his work with the proper gear is anything but subjective.

https://goldensound.audio/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Denafrips-Ares-2-SPDIF-Sharp.pdf

Wold love to see this kind of automated and comprehensive report for every truly objective review.

Beeing able to look at "all" the data and just the data makes it hard for the Publisher to hide something or leaf something out.
So in a way i find it more objective.

Either you're joking or the panther fooled you into thinking amir loaned goldenears the analyzer lol.

So @goldenears made a joke?
and who gave the AP analyzer to him?

 

[Zensō]

Oh, I didn't need your permission, but happy to oblige.
Happy trolling...elsewhere.

Ah, Woody. I hope @amirm buys you a beer or a cup of coffee now and again. It’s such a thankless job, being the moderator of an Internet forum.

 

[lordvader]

Another soul lost over Ares, oh well.

...

What's wrong with that? The DAC reviewed well here - sits firmly in the "these distortions are inaudible" category. Reviewed well elsewhere too. So, another soul is using a good dac?

Misread your post! Sorry!
Read that as "lost to Ares", instead of "lost over Ares"

 

[billyjoebob]

Deep down I'm pretty sure the V8 guys hate the living hell out of the Tesla's... Look who's projecting now...

WRONG!!!!!
V8 drag racer here.
No hate at all for the Tesla.
Just don't got's no class!

 

[billyjoebob]

Are you lost? Need a moderator to show you the way to the door?

So do you boot everyone on this forum who challenges the group mentality.
Sounds like a bunch of flat earthers.

 

[Doodski]

So do you boot everyone on this forum who challenges the group mentality.
Sounds like a bunch of flat earthers.

Only those that are being facetious, ornery, insulting and then apparently look for sympathy as a victim.

 

[billyjoebob]

Only those that are being facetious, ornery, insulting and then apparently look for sympathy as a victim.

I dunno.....
Seemed like it was dog pile on the rabbit for user helom.
He stated his view and was immediately pummeled and banned.
That appears to be true of his accusations of conforming.

 

[billyjoebob]

I joined this forum to join in this discussion of the ares ii, since I have been contemplating purchasing one.
I am an objectivist by nature, but the very nature of sound has to have a degree of subjectivity.
Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.
I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?
Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

 

[Zensō]

I joined this forum to join in this discussion of the ares ii, since I have been contemplating purchasing one.
I am an objectivist by nature, but the very nature of sound has to have a degree of subjectivity.
Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.
I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?
Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

I don’t see any hate for the RME. I don’t even think most here dislike this DAC, but they may take exception with subjective claims of superior sound that aren’t backed up by data. This is supposed to be a science forum, after all.

 

[voodooless]

I am an objectivist by nature, but the very nature of sound has to have a degree of subjectivity.

For speakers, sure, but DAC’s? Other than the outside box.. not really.

Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.

The problems are the claims of extraordinary performance and the refusal to back any of it up. The DAC was never the problem.

I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?
Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

I actually think the RME is one of the most popular DAC’s here. Why? Because they don’t claim supernatural performance, have a feature set that fits many people, and a nice display to boot.

What I can agree with you on is the banning. Personally I’m against banning except for the most extreme cases. This would not be one of them.

But hey, the other forums seem to do the exact same thing for the opposite standpoint. So balance in the force I guess?

 

[Veri]

Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.
I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?
Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

They only get "shut down" when magic is involved. "It just sounds better" "Trust your ears" "Smooth sine waves" "More analogue" ....
If you want to have a grown up discussion, that is welcomed, but parroting myths and magic is not in the spirit of this forum.

 

[BDWoody]

What I can agree with you on is the banning. Personally I’m against banning except for the most extreme cases

I generally agree, and if he hadn't asked...

 

[voodooless]

I generally agree, and if he hadn't asked...

Sure, but the only thing it accomplished is exactly what he wanted: another reason to brag in other places that he was banned from ASR. Admittedly, this happens here as well and it’s funny, so won’t blame him for it if he does it

 

[mansr]

I generally agree, and if he hadn't asked...

He was also quite rude. That's enough to get oneself banned in most places.

 

[Killingbeans]

Sounds like a bunch of flat earthers.

Yeah.... "You're a flat earther!" -> "No, you're a flat earther!". Repeat ad infinitum

I dunno.....
Seemed like it was dog pile on the rabbit for user helom.
He stated his view and was immediately pummeled and banned.
That appears to be true of his accusations of conforming.

It wasn't his views that got him banned. It was his bad attitude. If he had just kept his cool and had engaged in an actual discussion, none of this would have happend.

Instead he started postulating and stating negative assumptions about the users on ASR as facts. It's the kind of behaviour that will get you banned anywhere.

Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.

Interest is fine? Isn't it just when people claim that the Ares II can break the laws of physics, that the users jump on it?

Like Amir indicates in the review; it's a perfectly good DAC, and if you want to buy it, just to own something different, nobody's going to look down on you.

I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?

Some use whatever built-in solution their gear has, and others use DACs at different price points for whatever reasons.

Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

The RME DACs get a lot of love here on ASR. They are serious powerhouses of functionality.

I wouldn't focus so much on approval from others. If it does what you need at a price you can agree with, that should be enough for your own approval.

 

[Xulonn]

For the purely subjective audiophile, comments like the one below (from a TechWeek review) about the popular RME ADI-2 DAC/HA are all they need. Can the Denafrips ARES II match those holographic bulges of focused musical images?

The sound is balanced, rich in timbre and energetic. But I would especially like to note the excellent separation of all melodic lines and the holographic bulge of focused musical images. This is not just detail, but its, so to speak, the next version. At the same time, the feed is solid, without gaps and inconsistencies. In compositions of any complexity, each element takes its place and organically complements the others.

I did not know what a "holographic bulge" was, so I looked it up on Google, and I still don't understand it's relevance to audio.

----------------------------
Some of us have other criteria - I think I will stick with science and engineering...

/snark

 

[Maki]

I joined this forum to join in this discussion of the ares ii, since I have been contemplating purchasing one.
I am an objectivist by nature, but the very nature of sound has to have a degree of subjectivity.
Reading thru this entire thread, EVERONE who expressed an interest in this product has been shut down and silenced and I can't for the life of me understand why.
I am not joking here, but is everyone on this forum using a $100 dac?
Why the hate for the ares ii or even the RME. Is there a dac that is approved over $100?

Nobody hates the Ares, the engineering going into making an R2R measure this well at its price is impressive. What is getting hate is the people insisting it's somehow magic and makes everything sound better. It ain't magic. It's just a DAC.

 

[billyjoebob]

Nobody hates the Ares, the engineering going into making an R2R measure this well at its price is impressive. What is getting hate is the people insisting it's somehow magic and makes everything sound better. It ain't magic. It's just a DAC.

Maybe this is my issue with all this!
The purpose of any audio upgrade is for better sound.
I'm not looking for magic, I am trying to improve my sound system.

There are so many recommendations from reviewers, forums and personal usage that say this DAC is above average and worth the investment.
Are they ALL wrong and every one here right?

Then there are (sorry to say) dumb ass comments that the ares ii is no better than a $9 dongle.
That just shatters ANY credibility.

Maybe this dac ain't the bee's knees.
I don't know?
I never heard one in person.
And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the majority of na sayers have not either.

 

[Jimbob54]

Maybe this is my issue with all this!
The purpose of any audio upgrade is for better sound.
I'm not looking for magic, I am trying to improve my sound system.

There are so many recommendations from reviewers, forums and personal usage that say this DAC is above average and worth the investment.
Are they ALL wrong and every one here right?

Then there are (sorry to say) dumb ass comments that the ares ii is no better than a $9 dongle.
That just shatters ANY credibility.

Maybe this dac ain't the bee's knees.
I don't know?
I never heard one in person.
And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the majority of na sayers have not either.

All anyone asks is the people declaring it superior do so after some degree of controlled listening between it and the other/ previous DAC and are prepared to detail what those controls were.

The "wired it into my system, pressed play and the veils lifted, angels took flight" contingent arent going to get a good hearing here. Nor are the "trust me, it just is and I have listened to the highest of fi " brigade. Enough people on here have detailed enough for me to wonder if its worthy of more detailed study. But I am sceptical that even if golden ears can tell a difference in tightly controlled tests, that Joe Schmo can hear the angels in his parents badly treated basement.

 

[BDWoody]

Then there are (sorry to say) dumb ass comments that the ares ii is no better than a $9 dongle.
That just shatters ANY credibility.

I don't believe that's what was said.

It likely won't SOUND better. These are both beyond the threshold of competence, so good luck telling them apart in a real room with music.

It's also hard to get your head around if you haven't heard this blasphemy before.

Careful you don't go down Troll St. as you adjust to the reality around here of what passes for evidence, and what gets dismissed as anecdote.

There are so many recommendations from reviewers, forums and personal usage that say this DAC is above average and worth the investment.
Are they ALL wrong and every one here right?

Found any that use listening controls? Meaning level matched, unsighted, etc...?

It isn't that they don't hear what they describe. Most aren't outright lying, but that doesn't mean their uncontrolled listening sessions mean much.