Summary: A premium DAC within an affordable price range, well built.
I must say, I am extremely glad and satisfied with the purchase of ARIES II DAC. Since its arrival, it has been integrated into my Audio system with the following set-up; kept the DAC on for several days to burn-in.
Source: BLUESOUND NODE N130 (DAC Bypassed)
DAC: DENAFRIPS ARIES II
Amplifier: NAD C388 Integrated
Speakers: B&W Nautilus 803 D
Streaming: Tidal/Spotify/Deezer/Apple Music
Although the NODE N130 has an inbuilt DAC that supports MQA decoding, which is quite impressive, I have chosen to bypass its DAC and use the ARIES II as my primary DAC. The reason for this is because, to my ears the ARIES II sounds more vibrant, warm, deep and rich in dynamics (not harsh), and has more texture in the music. It's been a pleasure hearing music via the ARIES II, it certainly is more enchanting. The only disadvantage is, that once the N130’s DAC is bypassed, the MQA decoding is lost and the ARIES II does not support MQA.
I would also like to add, that the THESYCON USB driver installation for WINDOWS OS is cumbersome, it requires user to disable the WINDOWS OS security (signed driver enforcement) in order to install the driver, which shouldn’t be the case since it is developed by a reputable and licensed developer. Unless you are computer savvy, this operation is not easy and therefore prevents normal users from installing the USB driver for high quality audio playback using computers, especially PCM samples higher than 192khz and DSD above 64. (Alvin: There is no need to disable the Windows driver installation)
Pros:
Excellent Build quality
In build Linear Power Supply
Natural, full and engaging sound
R2R Technology well engineered (compared to conventional DSD)
Selectable Sampling modes (NOS/OS)
Affordable Price
Cons:
Tiny led lights
No digital display
No volume control
No headphone output
No MQA support
Credit: Vinod A. @ Bahrian
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