Sound wise, the Pontus II is spectacular. Denafrips kind of expanded my expectation of what a DAC could do.

"To conclude, the Pontus II is a fine HiFi DAC offering at its price point, which will undoubtedly make a lot of audiophiles extremely happy with its bold, engaging, lively, warm sound with a fantastic build quality."

This is a true bargain in the realm of high end DAC’s. If it were $5k I would give it a positive review and say it was priced right. As it is, the cost is $1700 and that my friends is remarkable. This could be an end game dac for many out there, no matter the cost of your system. That in itself is remarkable.

With a combined price of roughly $2200, I know of no other digital to analog converter solution that comes anywhere near the IRIS II / PONTUS II combo in terms of conveying music with all of its attendant power and beauty in tact.

The Denafrips Pontus II DAC is the new and updated model for 2021, with improvements to the power supply, DSP board and circuit tweaks. I take a look and see how much extra performance you get over the Ares II

Denafrips Pontus is an excellent DAC that moves digital sound forward and does not have the usual bevy of digital warts. It breaks some of the long-standing digital barriers that have kept me from fully engaging with digital music. It is at a reasonable price point (by audio standards) and, based on construction and parts alone, represents a tremendous value. Now throw in the sound quality that I experienced, and I can’t think of a better value in a DAC today.

After reviewing the Ares II that offers amazing sound quality for the money, I was very curious what the Pontus would bring, costing slightly over 2 times as much. So let’s dive right in.

In my DAC rating scheme, the Pontus is number one with a bullet. It's price of $2298 in Singapore dollars, puts it at about $1700 USD and I'm confident that nothing under $2000 will come close, they won't even make it into the same neighborhood. I told Alvin that its the high-end analog turntable of DACS, no, it's the tubuliscious tube amp of DACS, no... it's both. No kidding.

This DAC is transparent in ways that you won’t believe a piece of electronics could be transparent. The soundstage is holographic, the bass is punchy and deep, the midrange is unbelievably creamy and rich yet incredibly detailed at the same time. When playing music, the electronics simply disappear letting all the music out into the room. I rate this DAC an 11 out of 10 and I can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, I’m going to buy the review sample!

The most impressive aspect for me is the huge image it renders, putting the musicians in a deep and natural space, and making my small listening room open up into something much, much larger. This DAC is an easy recommendation for almost any listener looking to move up the food chain, but at $1700 it is a no-brainer, and could easily hold its own in 5-figure systems. My strongest recommendation.

A Chinese-built DAC sold directly through a Singapore source, the Pontus sounds like a risky purchase. We got one, tested it, and discovered that it featured a “lot of cutting-edge DAC tech” and that “the price is certainly right.” “It sounded so good we’re curious about how much better the higher level Denafrips DACs are,” we concluded.

The effect is quite striking. Envision a picture that had some low-level details obscured. Suddenly a light from within reveals those missing details. It doesn't make tone colors paler. There's no bleaching, no undue sharpness or glare. It's indeed the same picture, just with more information. With Pontus you hear bigger space, room echoes that lack with Ares II, musicians breathing. You gain a more organic impression because real life has many of those little parasitic sounds that only are noticed when stripped out but which contribute to the live feel.