DENAFRIPS DAC ---- Owner Impressions, Feedback, General Discussion, Questions and more....

@georgehifi

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the Denafrips Terminator and other models use the Danish "Soren Kristensen" Soekris Engineering R2R Dac board??

http://www.soekris.dk/

Cheers George”

I think you are right. I see Soekris claim a 27 bit R-2R converter on their website (with hundreds of resistors) - they do NOT claim 27 bit resolution which is obviously unobtainable with this kind of design - I estimate Soekris and Denafrips Terminator might get 20 bits resolution with this kind of design.

@ghasley

Interesting but the set up is colored to begin with (no 7 inch woofer can do mid range properly) so I think the conclusion was simply what worked with the gear used. If anything the Denafrips might be more accurate since they heard exactly the deficiencies of that speaker....

@alvin1118

Thanks for clarification. Since 0.005% tolerance on the resistor is only enough to achieve 14 to 15 bits resolution are you randomizing the selection of the resistor network used every clock cycle in order to achieve higher bit resolution?

World Class DACs have close to 21 bit resolution above noise floor currently - so just wondering how you get close to achieve that? Having 500 resistors per channel suggest you might achieve 19 to 20 bit resolution with noise reduction from random selection among 512 resistors...

FWIW I have full confidence you have a world class product just curious if you have overcome the bane of Resistor ladder and R-2R DACs which has been bit resolution (due to finite accuracy of resistor manufacturing tolerances). The huge multitude of resistors in your design is a big clue to me that they serve a clever purpose rather than just a curiously high specification...

I have my credit card out of my wallet and ready....but I am a painstakingly technical buyer so I would like more info if you can share (hopefully this aspect isn’t a trade secret).

7 inch mid range will beam above 1Khz. A 0.75 inch tweeter is not much use below about 4 KHz. So you get a hole in the mid range where the mid range beams and before the tweeter kicks in. 

@ghasley

Sorry to burst your bubble but a 7inch mid range crossed over to a 0.75 inch tweeter means a big hole in the mid range. The Devore Gibbon Nines will sound pleasant even when pushed because of the recessed mid range. This anything but high fidelity but it is exceptional cabinetry using OEM scanspeak drivers. Also plastic drivers (polypropylene) have a nasal woody character (Mission developed the polypropylene driver about 40 years ago and it is not highly regarded any longer). Using such a colored speaker for evaluation is not useful even if many folks love that old 80’s sound - “highly musical” is a good way to describe it. A good speaker to suit certain tastes just not ideal for reviewing electronics.

Thanks for the clarification.

Crickets chirping. Silence is deafening. I guess I will put my credit card away.