Thank you for the review! It was promising in the beginning - speaking about all the other streamers that you have auditioned, but not ONE single comment about how Arce streamer kept up to the rest of the contenders?! Your friend that was so exited about this Arce - what did he compared it to in his rig and what was his preferences? Please, you must add competitors in the game for us to know how it holds up... Isolated reviews does not say much to me. Cheers!
Man, I feel ya, and struggle with that a lot, trust me…. In my mind comparisons don't do much better. Because all the other gear influences everything so much. Kelly compared it with all the same stuff. In a space where a single RCA swap changes things slightly, you'll never experience the same results as me… Room, speakers, ear, preference, mood, source, cables, rack, treatments, internal parts like capacitors and resistors, the values of those parts, the quality of those parts and how it all blends and reacts to the other 200 things in the life of the signal from source to ear. It's about as pointless as getting into measurements in my room. But, if you have a specific question on some of the stuff mentioned, I'm here to chat it out and help as much as I can. 🥰👌😉
I've been waiting for more Arce reviews. I like mine too w/ Pontus-2-12th. More leading edge clarity and soundstage. Mid-bass is not as full as the Wiim Pro but I think the bass goes lower and more bass detail with the Arce, wonder what others think about the Arce. Streamers CAN make a difference.
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Great that it includes HQP NAA software - but it's not good enough that it should max out at 192kHz or 384kHz when HQPlayer easily goes to 705.6kHz / 768kHz and so does a Raspberry Pi. And the ARES dac itself goes up to 1536kHz
I have both the Denafrips Ares II 12th and Pontus II 12th-1, both with the Iris 12th. As good as the Ares is, the Pontus is better and worth it. streaming source=Apple Music lossless
Thanks 😊. Yea, hence question marks at the end of the title. Means Will it be the best, and we all know that’s in the ear of the listener. And it was answered for some as Kelly thought it was the best combo he had heard. Semantics of course. Cheers. 😄😄✌️✌️But yea, some click bait dusting is always nice. 😉😉
Fine work ABX, here's another tough one, 3:28 I've come to understand that the Ares DAC is an asynchronous DAC. Meaning it ignores all incoming clocking signal & with it's on-board cache, the Ares re-clocks all inputs. Why would a Streamer or CD Transport have a fancy non-jitter clock, if the DAC downstream is just going to ignore it anyway? Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
@@amb3cog . "It.." being the DAC I'm sure & I've been looking in to this with some facts uncovered. * USB v.1 carried the clock from host to slave. All subsequent versions do not. * SPIDF always before and now carry the clock embedded. Even though early DACs may not have needed internal clocking, EE's recognized jitter. Following is an early non-USB Benchmark DAC description; " With the UltraLock™ clock-recovery system, the digital-to-analog conversion-clock in the DAC1 is totally isolated from the clock of the digital audio input. " So. the plot thickens.............................. Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
@@TriAmpHiFi Your original question is why they have a nice clock built in. The simple answer is that most DAC’s (not the latest and greatest obviously) rely on the clock from the host. Even many older USB DACs aren’t asynchronous. So they have a clock onboard to work with whatever unit they’re hooked up to. Even though in some cases the clock may not be used. It’s there in case it’s needed. So the unit will always work, and work quite well too. ✌️
@@amb3cog Again with the pronouns, "...they..." meaning the sources because last time "It.." was the DAC? Anyway, Are you arguing digital sources, like CDTs, with fancy oven controlled Fento clocks aren't rendered useless if the downstream DAC re-clocks all incoming digital?
Nice review, thank you. I probably won't get Roon, can't justify the costs for my use. Looks like Roon is the only way to get best use out of this streamer? Then not for me. Would be interested to hear more about that, so how much difference is there eg A6 on an Ares? Best regards.
It works with much more than Roon. Read up on it please. And read up on dlna, and upnp. Roon is just one type of dlna app. There’s many more. Like J River media player, and Audivarna for instance.
mmmmm you probably know I'm going to come in here..I think I have the best streamer dac in the world..At least I think I do.. And it costs the price of a good car well at least it does here in the UK..It's around £50000/$75000 and it's on loan to try..There is no dac streamer combo that's going to out do this and I've heard just about all of them.. So do I buy jeeze that's so hard Great video btw 🙂
@@abxaudiophiles You never asked what it was which is weird..That's fine all I'll say is it's British.. I'm fed up with Asian import stuff and I'm sure in the US like the UK we're flooded with good but not fantastic HiFi.. Here's my problem this is driving costs up in the UK/US and down in Asia..Here's the deal and I really wish you would do a video on this..Support your home country no matter what you're spending our own markets are not thriving..You understand???
What is the point of this device ? Why dont just connect a dac directly to an android tablet? Nice screen, plays everything, streams all the services and plex.
It’s just a high quality stand alone streamer. Lots of audiophiles like to have the versatility of separates. The differences in performance and sound will be substantial from just running a tablet to a DAC. Not to mention you are then tied to the tablet and long cord, or stuck next to your system. But for those who don’t want to spend $1000 on a streamer, a tablet will work for certain. Pros and cons, and preferences is what it’s all about. 😊😊
@abxaudiophiles Thanks for the reply 🙂 I do not hear any difference between dacs, I own 4 pieces. Nobody who I know can tell the difference in blind tests. At first, I did believe that there is some gold ear person who can tell a difference between dacs or amps, but now I highly doubt it. I could swear that I could hear a difference, but after blind test with equalising the volume to 0.1dB, I can not tell a difference. Also, I tried to distinguish between mp3 320 and flac in blind test. To my surprise, there is no noticeable difference. I even bought my quite expense dac for that. One mate of mine is a professional sound engineer and musician. He thought he could tell a difference. Results were total random. If You can, please film a blind test of equipment with other audiophiles. There is not much content like that on RU-vid. It must be a hit.
@@Lazarev666 Yea, sorry. Maybe your system just doesn’t resolve enough. I can hear the dog bark in Ballard of bill Hubbard move in the soundstage about 2 feet to the right when I switch from the ARES II DAC from the Wiim mini DAC. It is literally measurable as in a tape measure. Wiim DAC, play song, point to the wall where the dog bark comes from, have friend make a mark. Put ARES II in and repeat. The soundstage is almost 2 feet wider and wraps further around. It’s just a thing. Anyone who says DAC’s don’t sound different is just not at the point where they can hear a difference, whether it be system, ear, room, or source material. Many variables. Bottom line, enjoy your system. The “snake oil” and “DACs don’t sound different” debates are as stale as a loaf of bread in the sun after a week…. If it doesn’t make a difference, all that means is that it doesn’t make a difference for you. I’m not telling others what they can or can’t hear or what they experience. Who am I? I only know what I experience. Cheers. Hope that helps.
@abxaudiophiles Got it Something wrong with me, my music and equipment. That is why you don't make a blind tests. I used to hear a difference as well, before I tried blind tests. Now I just listen to music. There is a difference between headphones and speakers, but decent dacs and amps sound the same to me. Two 3 position switches, some soldering and wires, equalised volume to 0.1 dB, and boom. All the same... My precious toys were just my mind games. Santa is not real anymore.
