Denafrips Aries II DAC Questions

[KA7NIQ]

My good friend plans to buy one of these, and tells me it does not have ANY Digital To Analog Chips in it, at all ?
I can not understand how this can be, because you can have all the precision resistors you want, but you still need a way to convert the digital signal to analog, right ?
Can anyone enlighten me about this DAC, and it's so called performance advantages ?

 

[KeithPhantom]

Can anyone enlighten me about this DAC, and it's so called performance advantages ?

No advantages at all. It does the same as any other DAC, but for the price and competition, it does it worse, but still most likely audibly transparent, thus nothing different will be heard by human ears.

 

[Chrispy]

There's a difference between delta sigma chip based and R2R dacs....pretty much same end result if done right.

 

[BDWoody]

Can anyone enlighten me about this DAC, and it's so called performance advantages ?

No.

 

[KA7NIQ]

There's a difference between delta sigma chip based and R2R dacs....pretty much same end result if done right.

My friend has bought into the idea that the resistors are a better way to do digital to analog conversion.

 

[AnalogSteph]

My friend has bought into the idea that the resistors are a better way to do digital to analog conversion.

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Or the measurements in this case. The ARES II is by no means bad (see Amir's review), but for what it costs you can also get DACs based on boring standard modern IC tech that perform better and are more flexible in application (a volume control for use as a preamp replacement is pretty common in this class nowadays). This one even is barely a third the price.

 

[Arnas]

My friend has bought into the idea that the resistors are a better way to do digital to analog conversion.

Some people just like distortion. It not better or more accurate, but if friend wants pleasant distortion then old tech can deliver.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Some people just like distortion. It not better or more accurate, but if friend wants pleasant distortion then old tech can deliver.

surely the distortion in this particular example of old tech is inaudible?