What else can I say about the Denafrips Terminator DAC that wasn’t already said in other reviews.
It’s a marvellous machine which fully justify its price tag! Before I purchased theTerminator, I had the Pontus in my system and decided to move on to the flagship DAC because I was so impress with it. The Pontus comes close in sound quality to the Terminator but at about one third the premium.
In my view, its the better bargain but If you can allow yourself to spend more right up to the Terminator then you get more detail and precision, bass is also tighter and has more punch. I think the Terminator greatest strength (as for the Pontus) is to be able to rock out. This DAC likes to be played out! Another strength is to be able to listen to older music again without screaming murder!
For some reason, the Terminator has given new life to a lot of 80’s and 90’ music I thought we’re unlistenable and just plain dead to me. Go figure!
Another strength is simply the bass, it does loud & goes deep with nice definition. My suggestion is to use with wires that favours warmth as tonally the Terminator can sometimes sound a little too precise for my taste. Get this right and you’ll have a DAC that keeps you listening night after nights.
Im not a professional writer or do I pretend to have a golden ear but I love my tunes, I always have…if it doesn’t sound balanced or natural or worse if its doesn’t involve me then I freak out. Fortunately, the terminator gets it right on all 3 counts for me.
Im Very Happy Terminator owner! Thank you Denafrips!
Reviewed by a happy user: Jacques M. @ Canada