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Denafrips Ares II - is it really worth it?

srkbear

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i have Ares ll and find it to be very natural sounding. i have played in orchestras. the timbre of instruments are spot on imho. i have played just about every major Grand in the world. the weight and authority and harmonic decay of the piano is very convincing. i realize that not everyone has a musicians ears. my musical journey started at a very young age however and was encouraged by a parents who where music lovers.
You don’t have to lay an egg to know if it tastes good, Stravinsky. Let that put to rest any notion of your sublime “musician’s ears” (I added the apostrophe for you).

And as a pianist myself, although I may possess a few skills to play one, I’m well aware that I know very little about how to design one. And no matter how skilled I was, I wouldn’t dare make the claim that I had “played just about every major Grand in the world” without making my nose light up so folks could line up taking turns punching it.

Look up “ultracrepidarian”—it means the tendency of some highly educated individuals in one field of study to presume that the they are qualified to challenge the accepted tenets of another field with some sort of authority.

Or at minimum, please be mindful of the effects of someone trained to play music tediously pontificating to an audience trained in the science of music players.
 
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felbj-htd.

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So amirm could stop using his expensive equipment, sell it and hire you and your ears to do the measurements :)

Maybe LG measures their displays with some dudes eyes that devoted his life to watching movies.. who knows.
Many people love "tube sound," even though tubes very often measure poorly. If I need to, I will choose equipment that sounds great to my ears, not the one that measures well but excites me less.
 

Mart68

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Many people love "tube sound," even though tubes very often measure poorly. If I need to, I will choose equipment that sounds great to my ears, not the one that measures well but excites me less.
I choose music that sounds great.to my ears instead. I don't want the equipment to have a sound of its own at all. The diametrically opposite approach. :)
 

felbj-htd.

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I choose music that sounds great.to my ears instead. I don't want the equipment to have a sound of its own at all. The diametrically opposite approach. :)
I think you know what I mean: we listen to music we are pleased with at home or on the go, using some equipment, don't we? I personally can't do it without it. ;-)
 

BDWoody

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Their claim is the evidence. They hear the difference, and this is enough for them.

That's the problem for those who want more than anecdote. We can fool ourselves too easily for uncontrolled listening impressions to mean much.
 

Abe_W

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You don’t have to lay an egg to know if it tastes good, Stravinsky. Let that put to rest any notion of your sublime “musician’s ears” (I added the apostrophe for you).

And as a pianist myself, although I may possess a few skills to play one, I’m well aware that I know very little about how to design one. And no matter how skilled I was, I wouldn’t dare make the claim that I had “played just about every major Grand in the world” without making my nose light up so folks could line up taking turns punching it.

Look up “ultracrepidarian”—it means the tendency of some highly educated individuals in one field of study to presume that the they are qualified to challenge the accepted tenets of another field with some sort of authority.

Or at minimum, please be mindful of the effects of someone trained to play music tediously pontificating to an audience trained in the science of music players.
If a electronics/measurement guy thought he knew more about how an instrument sounds than a musician who sat with that specific instrument for 40 freaking years, that would so very 'ultracrepidarian" of that measurement guy.
 

Trell

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If a electronics/measurement guy thought he knew more about how an instrument sounds than a musician who sat with that specific instrument for 40 freaking years, that would so very 'ultracrepidarian" of that measurement guy.
The electronics/measurement guy probably knows a thing or two about recording and the reproduction of that recording.
 

Mart68

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I think you know what I mean: we listen to music we are pleased with at home or on the go, using some equipment, don't we? I personally can't do it without it. ;-)
I know what you mean and yes I've done the 'tube' thing for a few years. I got bored of having the same colourations plastered over every recording. The sound of each recording is unique, I prefer to hear that instead of the sound of the equipment.
 

srkbear

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If a electronics/measurement guy thought he knew more about how an instrument sounds than a musician who sat with that specific instrument for 40 freaking years, that would so very 'ultracrepidarian" of that measurement guy.
Mmmkay, if you say so.
 

srkbear

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Your response was a false equivalence. I’m going to leave it to you to figure out why. If you don’t grasp the point I made, and are determined to defend the fallacious (not to mention unbelievably pretentious) position of our resident Mozart here, then I have no idea why you’re on this site.
 

felbj-htd.

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I know what you mean and yes I've done the 'tube' thing for a few years. I got bored of having the same colourations plastered over every recording. The sound of each recording is unique, I prefer to hear that instead of the sound of the equipment.
That is a very valid point.
 

jonboudreaux

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This one is easy...yes, it is. I graduated from an ESS Sabre DAC (SMSL SU-9) to the Denafrips Ares II and I could immediately tell a difference. The difference wasn't "night and day", but the Denefripps' presentation had more "weight". The overall sound of the DAC is heavier and more substantial than my sabre DAC. Don't get me wrong, once I listened to the Denafrips, I did realize the value in the SMSL, especially for it being a $400.00 DAC. The SMSL sounds very clean and musical. But, by comparison, I also noticed it sounds "thin". Nonetheless, I DEFINITELY prefer the Ares II. It's true what people say about it being very "vinyl" like. On my setup, Analog is king....music simply sounds better on vinyl. I have a Rega P2 with an Audio Technica VM540ML cartridge upgrade and it sounds incredible. I listened to Nirvana's Nevermind on vinyl (analog) then again through the Denafrips (16/44 FLAC digital) and the digital spin was the closest I've ever heard digital come to Analog. If you use a Chromecast Audio, make sure to connect it to the Denafrips via toslink.
 

Veri

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I wish we cold measure that DAC "weight", maybe amir should buy some kind of audiophile scale..? :D
 

Overseas

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I always wonder & marvel how such profoundly technical rational scientifical objective minds claim that 99% of DACs sound the same, then some, many of them pay loads of money for the expensive ones...
 
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