Comparison: DENAFRIPS Hermes & Gaia DDC

[@De132an]

Very informative and helpful with which units are better suited for the combination of upgrading. Once again Alvin is more interested in helping the audiophile with improving one’s enjoyment of music vs emptying out one’s pockets for no benefit. Nice job. 👍

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you Dean. I appreciate your kind words!

[@wolfmanjacksaid]

I was so blown away by the Iris DDC that I decided to make it my desktop PC unit and ordered the Gaia for my main audio setup.

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you for the support sir!

[@sp6450]

Yeah definitely didn't expect this thing to have such a significant impact on sound. How does the Gaia stack up vs the Iris, any major improvement or just a very slight difference?

[@robertreynolds2212]

Really enjoy watching these videos. Denafrips has given my system new life & seeing what goes into the magic is very interesting.

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you Robert!

[@marcgoldstein2957]

Why you should trust a company who informs you on what you should buy for your configuration VS going for the upsell. Gaia ordered today!

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you Marc :)

[@Smokej620]

Thanks Alvin for a straight forward description that fully explains the use of each device!

[@VinshineAudio]

Most welcome sir!

[@jamesgiampapa]

Very nice description and great that you recommended specific applications for each unit

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you James, glad to be of help!

[@TipoF129B]

Great info Alvin - you answered the question I had on combination of Iris (I like the optical isolation concept) with the Term 2 or plus. I’m going to get the iris soon for my topping d90 then hopefully be able to get the terminator plus at some point. Thank you.

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you sir! I appreciate your support!

[@Smokej620]

Thanks Alvin for the detailed explanation of each unit and their potential uses. This has simplified which unit to get for me in the future unless of course I upgrade from the Pontus 2 to a higher end model DAC. Denafrips offers the consumer many choices for further upgrades.

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you for choosing DENAFRIPS products !

[@marklawrence4116]

Very nicely done Alvin - a pleasure watching this and listening to your explanations We had something similar at Audio Alchemy with DTi-Pro and Pro 32. I must buy one of these Very best wishes Mark S

[@TipoF129B]

Would you believe that’s still in my rig! I run a dde 3.0 with analog lifted directly from ad1862 chip bypassing all the output circuitry directly to a pass xa25.

[@marklawrence4116]

@@TipoF129B that really makes me smile inside - many thanks

[@VinshineAudio]

Very cool!

[@minglisu6357]

Dear Alvin, use the computer digital connection, the speaker is GENELEC The One 8361A, no additional DAC, then DDC's choice of Hermes and Gaia is recommended to use, thank you

[@VinshineAudio]

Hi Li Su, we may continue the conversation over email :)

[@siddharthakataki]

Alvin, thank you for this

[@VinshineAudio]

Most welcome! Hope it's helpful!

[@richardloh8260]

That is Alvin ... your honest goody hiend hifi and I saved $ with Hermes and not the Gaia which I had both demoed 😍

[@VinshineAudio]

Good choice!

[@dishan120]

Hi Alvin - Thanks for the review I have a Pontus II which one do you recommend?

[@VinshineAudio]

Hermes DDC for you sir!

where should I place my Denafrips Hermes DDC in the hifi chain, between pc/laptop and the DSP processor (minidsp shd studio) or between the DSP processor and DAC?

[@10ozGold]

Thank-you Alvin. I've always wondered what the differences are. This helps a lot. Is the Terminator II's OCXO higher quality than the Hermes and GAIA?

[@VinshineAudio]

The OCXO of the TII and Herms are of the same quality :)

[@mortimersnerd1348]

@@VinshineAudio Alvin, if the OCXO in Herms is of the same quality of TII, and I paired my Pontus II with the Hermes, can I expect the same performance of, at least, the Venus? Or would the upgrade be indistinguishable? I'm wondering if it would be night & day difference in quality or only marginal?

[@quinto34]

Very informative, thanks a bunch!

[@robertm8518]

Excellent review and comparison!

[@VinshineAudio]

Thank you Robert!

[@Coneman3]

So if using with hi end gear without a clock, you are best with the Gaia?

[@A2AStudios]

Great video! Thank you!

[@VinshineAudio]

Thanks Jerry!

[@worstgamerevah]

So if I plan to get the terminator + 12Th and use AES to link my streamer, I should get the Gaia?

[@audiorick841]

Excellent explanation.

[@VinshineAudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@HailKingCeezer]

can the iris be used with the master clock?

[@VinshineAudio]

Iris + Terra MCLK, sure!

[@dimoskatsigiannis49]

Dear Alvin, are the ocxo oscillators of Term+ better than the ones in GAIA?

[@TheRealAudioDidact]

I'll await Alvin's answer, but the T+ has the clocks spatially closer, which is equivalent to greater time synchrony.

[@VinshineAudio]

Dear Dimos, the OCXO in T+ and Gaia are of the same quality :)

[@TuanLeViet]

I have some trouble when connect MD Recorder with DENAFRIPS GAIA. It show Copy Prohibit, does DENAFRIPS deny copy for all their output?

[@VinshineAudio]

Hi Tuan, I am not sure about it. It's likely the digital output of the source is prohibiting the signal output due to some reason.

[@R7-6936]

您好 請問一下，GAIA DDc在按下設定鍵（燈閃狀態下） 再按 USB按鍵 AES按鍵 或 OPT 然後確定，請問這個動作是在選擇什麼嗎？

[@VinshineAudio]

Hi, please reach out to our technical team at [e-mail]

[@chanchenchon6049]

So if I choose pontus DAC, The Gaia is more useful due to high quality OCXO?

[@VinshineAudio]

I would recommend Hermes to go with Pontus / Venus DAC. Gaia for the Terminator DAC. Moreover, I always recommend to begin with a better DAC :)

[@shanflash6893]

Hi Alvin, I have the Terminator 1. Do I get an improvement with a DDC? If yes which one do you suggest; Gaia?

[@PaoPaoBuz]

Any news??

[@shanflash6893]

@@PaoPaoBuz Yes, unless you can connect to share the clock (i.e for us with Terminator 1) Gaia is the better choice…

[@PaoPaoBuz]

@@shanflash6893 what do you mean share the clock?

[@shanflash6893]

@@PaoPaoBuz in Terminator 2 and Terminator Plus (as they have the necessary inputs) you can connect the Dac and the Ddc in such a way that you can make the Terminators' chips Master. This way you don't need the Gaia's clock which is better than Hermes' clock. However Terminator 1 does not have this connection. Therefore, with Terminator 1 you need the Ddc with a better clock.

[@PaoPaoBuz]

@@shanflash6893 with Terminator 1 i connect It with i2s??

[@johnratcliffe6438]

Is there any advantage to running the output from a CD Transport through a DDC?

[@VinshineAudio]

Hi John, it's depends very much on the individual system. Would you please drop me an email? I'll be able to make a recommendation. [e-mail]

[@TheRealAudioDidact]

Woot

[@VinshineAudio]

Thanks!

[@90123jf]

Can any denafrips product used with other brand master clock? Thanks Alvin

[@VinshineAudio]

Hi Jason, not that I know of sir. Would you consider the DENAFRIPS MCLK - Terra/ Aether?

[@saratoga863]

basically, only crystals are different!! and the price diferents is for idiots!!!! gl

[@VinshineAudio]

Hermes DDC is the best bang of the bucks model!