Hi Jay Thanks as always. One quick question. The board on the bottom of the Pontus 15th , is that a Venus board or Venus ll ? Thanks

Congratulations Jay, well deserved!

Hello Jay ! Wich one you would recommend with a Sugden A21SE class A ? Pair with An-J LX ? Thank you 😊

Will be debating between Pontus and Cyan 2 for a future purchase.

Price to the side, which one would you recommend between Meze 109 Pro and Hifiman Arya Organic?

Whoever buys a retail version needs to lift the lid to make sure this is actually what they get... The cynic in me tells me this might just be in the review item?

Love my Pontus II 12th, won’t be upgrading to 15th. Fed by an IRIS DDC, not a 12th Anniversary, won’t be updating that or my Forte IIIs to IVs. Actually very happy with my #1 rig, imagine that!! Pontus 15th a good option for someone upgrading overall system, e.g., delta sigma to R2R, or Ares to Pontus. 15th Anniversary looks to be a great buy on a Venus in Pontus clothing. Love the Denafrips R2R house sound, organic detailed, non-fatiguing analog like presentation with no tape hiss or vinyl cracks and pops!

It's now almost a Venus II (11th or earlier) with the exception of the R2R ladder resistor tolerance in the Venus is 0.005%, they're 0.01% in the Pontus range.

Refarding the physical appearance, I much prefer the money to be spent on the circuit design and quality components rather than bling bling on the outside. So I much prefer the Denafrips approach

They may put the brass plated terminal in reverse. Where gold suppose to be on positive side.

I have a Denafrips Terminator 15th coming, from a US Dealer in Maryland. He told me it is really the "old" Terminator Plus now. Hopefully Denafrips loostens the wallet and releases one for your review Jay, I think you do an excellent job of describing the sound for possible buyers. My Termi is replacing a 3 year old Venus II. Thank you for the review.

Hmm do i now have to get back with denafrips? Fine, ill buy it…. 🎉 selling ifi idsd pro…

I wont consider a denafrips product after what they did to Alvin. He built the brand for them and as soon as it started being profitable they kicked him to the curb. I can see why OCD mikey dumped this brand too.

Jay, I love your "sommelier" approach in this review. With high end components, it really comes down to system synergy rather than a blanket "this is better than that".

FYI Be VERY careful with the lid, it can slip out of your hand. Mine did and fell on the floor breaking the complex internal mechanisms. Making matters worse, had to order replacement from China. 3 weeks , still waiting

This was great. Thanks Jay and Danny.

Thank you Sir! Please help ! I’m torn between the 6000Mii and the 600MII. I can purchase either. Will use in a 20 by 30 foot room. Which sounds better? Are they equal? Simple, direct answer PLEASE. Thank you Sir!

I find it unusual this upgrading of mid tier products. You’d think they’d focus on the flagship model more. Of course, they are playing to people with different budgets.

As of writing this, my Pontus 15th has 534 Hours of warming(burn-in) time so far, and has changed quite a bit in some key areas. The most important change that has occurred is in the bass dept. It digs much deeper and has more drive than out of the box new. The top end has gotten more resolute and sweeter at the same time. These Denafrips dacs take quite a long while to break-in, especially when there's silver wiring involved. Mine is still evolving, but at a much slower pace now. Excellent component! My search for a good dac is over. A Hegel H-190, a pair of Magnepan MG-12s, a Wiim Ultra streamer, and my Pontus 15th all wired up in a full loom of Duelund copper in cotton cables, are really making my music a joy to listen to. That hasn't happened in a long time. Can't stop listening. Thanks for the review Jay.

A recording engineer. An audio technician. A former high end hi-fi retail sales rep. A student of neuro science. A KZbin hi-fi reviewer. Yet can’t differentiate between 15th “generation” and 15th anniversary edition. 😒😖🤣🙃😊

Another great review. Yeah, Denafrips should do better in the look department so that their gears can be more furniture look. They should also provide remote control.

It's the 15th ANNIVERSARY Jay. Not the 15th generation

Why did you wait for 16 mins before you got to the real point, which was pushing the Laiv day. You people are incredible.

Didn't you say once that you have sold all your Chinese dacs? What made you buy again?

It’s not a Venus II 12th in disguise. The Resistors in the R2R ladder has less accuracy, the DAC is 24bit not 26 etc. The new Pontus also weighs considerably more than the Venus II.

Now I'm curious about my Venus II and it's upgrade. I could not justify the price of the Terminator of that time without hearing it. It was a fair amount larger too. I played with reclockers and my Gaia is in storage for lack of rack space. I was curious about clocking with the Terminator but couldn't hear one.

What a tease lol

The Pontus 15 is $3450 In Australia phfffft The used Pontus 2 is selling for $1850-$2300 If you can find one !! Where does leave me ? Well it leaves me and a lot of other people buying other dacs at reasonable prices .

I bought my Enyo 15th + Iris 12th from AliExpress, $1525 CAD all in. I could care less who the seller is, as long as price + shipping is satisfactory and the seller is reputable.

Love it when you make multiple comparisons, it gives us a point of reference.

Denafrips still stands by the products the pontus 15 is slightly warm where you get your hearing from ? I put side by side with the LAIV dac and even if the pontus was $3k it’s built great and sounds good and my system is not warm sounding before installing the dac it’s very well balanced all around.

Denafrips still stands by the products the pontus 15 is slightly warm where you get your hearing from ? I put side by side with the LAIV dac and even if the pontus was $3k it’s built great and sounds good and my system is not warm sounding before installing the dac it’s very well balanced all around.

Actual customers didn't have a problem shelling out the money for the product. The notion that they should lower prices because they got rid of their distribution is dumb. The market is the market. That they gave a huge boost to the 15th gen is a gigantic BONUS, and a BIG 'thank you' to their base.

Outstanding as always Jay. I'm a budgetphile and recently bought an Enyo 15th (My first R2R DAC) and I was blown away by how much better it was vs. my SMSL, Topping & Schiit DACs. The layout of my room has the speakers 15 ft apart and I'm 12 ft away from their them. The Enyo filled in all 15 ft and added depth for the first time ever. Consider me a Denafrips fan going forward. Thank you and keep up the great work. You rock!

you speak of the Holo May but you show a picture of the Holo Spring. Can you clarify?

It is good to know that they keep improving their products , for the same price. It looks like they are giving a better bang for the buck.

And speak for many, many of us: Fuck Denafrips

What a great review, by any chance will you be reviewing the Hifi Rose RD160 DAC??? Keep up the excellent work.

How do these compare to the SVS Ultra Evolution Titan and Pinnacles?

Any reason why there was no mention to the SVS Ultra Evolution Titan or Pinnacles?

3:59 That sticker strip adds no value and actually feels like it cheapens the aesthetics of an otherwise beautiful unit.

Pontus 15 or ANK 2.1 signature? I am having a hard time making up my mind.

Hi Jay, how would you compare the Ventus 15 vs Ank 2.1? These 2 are around the same price and I am deciding.

Thanks for sharing. I own tube and solid state mono block amps. From my experience upgrading from standard power cable to Audioquest RNG-Y3, Z3, Monsoon for all components including 2 line conditioners. Its not about a musical value. Improve current delivery, reduce RF, noise dispersion interference. My system has a cleaner power delivery in soundstage width and depth with improved imaging accuracy. Nuances will vary per hifi system. Hope this helps. Cheers

❤❤❤ hello Jay longtime friend of yours here. Would you recommend this DAC with the Griffin Diablo 120 integrated amplifier? A lot of reviewers say it’s a little bit on the dark side. Will just bring it up more to a neutral more sparkle in the treble clearer mid range. Your suggestion is very valuable to me.❤❤❤❤❤ thank you

your end table! is it making noise!? lmao

Greetings J, I never get board nor less appreciative of your honesty & unbiased listening test,thank you...🇯🇲🇯🇲🇬🇧👊🏾.

Yeah..I have the original Pontus II with original firmware in a warmer system. I also have a recently-added Denafrips Iris DDC (with an LHY Linear Power Supply) attached to my Pontus via I²S and I think it sounds GREAT. Not sure how much better this Pontus 15th could sound over what I currently have ...but thanks for this upgraded Pontus Tutorial....It's been VERY informative and keeps me apprised of transitions in my current gear...It is always fun to learn and see positive change....(Maybe the upcoming Venus 15th would be a upgrade for me to look forward to! )

If you had to choose one.. would you use i2s for a cd transport or for your dedicated streamer?