Ive just read the comments section and am currently shaking my head very slowly from side to side at the number of truly, mind-numbingly, intolerant and badly thought out contributions. Just because you have purchased something doesn't make it the best in the world. Just because someone has purchased something different doesn't mean what they have is junk. China is not intrinsically evil, some Chinese products are excellent, the high end can occasionally be good value and Audio Note do not make the only decent DACs on the planet no matter how much some of you may want to believe that. Of course perhaps this comments section has been infested by hormonal 13 year olds pretending to be middle aged men with a hi- fi fetish in which case all the crap below makes sense.
Of course, the great thing about America is that people are allowed to have their own feelings and opinions without being brow-beaten. My state has been locked down for 8 months because of China. I prefer not to give any business tied to them my money if I can help it. That includes the NBA, Disney, and hi-fi companies. I am perfectly within my rights to do so without being slighted by youtube commenters. You, as well, have the right to expound on your opinion as you did. Isn't America great? We wouldn't be having this conversation in China.
@@Consoul909 This isn't America, you're commenting on the internet... Also, it's funny how you gloss over how bad your government (or rather Trump) handled the situation. He underestimated the virus and now you and all those countless people who have passed have to pay. The virus came from China because that's where the pathogen originated.
@@Consoul909 Don't be so naive please. We all drink the same water and breath the same air, live under the same sun and sky...The world is a global village and everything is already (inter)connected, interdependend, networked, etc, in more ways than you might know or expect: The brand/manufacturer may be 'Chinese', many of the hundreds of high-end electronic circuit components in the Denafrips DACs are Japanese. The distributor is Singaporese. It's more or less an Asian high-end product. The driver you need to download for this DAC is from a German company.. Your pc, phone, tablet, tv, household appliances or other tools probably have Chinese parts in them somewhere, even if they're American brands. Since when is Made in the USA still a guarantee for high quality and/or well paid 'American' workers?
@@Consoul909 No, but you could educate yourself a bit more and not parrot nationalistic rethoric. Thank your President-Reject (or should we say President-Insurrect?) for not handling this worldwide pandemic seriously and efficiently enough in your country.
@@Elpi2001 I have a Yggdrasil. Same teaching. Different denominational name. I know what I am hearing, and have owned chip DACs before. Enjoy what you do.
I'm glad to hear someone address this about some of the supposed high res music. Coming from the recording side of the music business, I try to tell many of these high res/mqa snobs that a good majority of the music labeled as such was never recorded above 16 bit - 24bit / 44.1khz or 48khz. So without some kind of upsampling voodoo sorcery, much of what's being marketed as high res recordings is nothing short of dishonest or snake oil.
For the life of me I’ve never been able to tell the difference between 44/192 in an A/B test but like you said most is all originally mastered in 44 anyway so have I even heard “true” 192, I don’t know.
Thanks for another great review Steve. I purchased the Ares II partly based on your review. I contacted Vinshine and they actually put me in touch with a local dealer, which surprised me. Bear in mind I'm in New Zealand. Enjoying my Ares. Keep the great content coming.
Nice to see you getting back to what you do best. I don't give a flyin' -eff about dacs and I listened with full attention to this entire segment. THAT'S how you know someone is a good reviewer.
Hi Steve, I enjoyed the review. I owned the original Terminator (with the latest board), and now own the Terminator Plus. I think your review is pretty much on target with what I hear, except that I wanted to point out a couple things about the Terminator Plus. I also know you prefer the original board with the Terminator as you really enjoy tonal density over ultimate detail. It is always a trick, getting a high level of clarity/transparency/detail/enhanced sound staging on the one hand, with full body/tonal density on the other hand. Well, I found you can get both with the Terminator Plus. First, if you lean toward tonal density/full sound, run the Terminator Plus in NOS Mode and use the right cables. Find yourself a Tubulus Argentus HDMI and run it in NOS Mode, and even OS Mode (but NOS is definitely more dense and full sounding). You will get the best of both worlds.
For those that want to spend a much more modest amount of money, check out the Denafrips Ares II DAC. Less than $1K including shipping. Great DAC as well.
Good, thorough, balanced review. Thanks Steve. I’d love a remote control to select the absolute phase of each recording. I find it much easier to hear which is correct from my listening position, so I have to get up and down for each recording. Argh!
The 13th Floor Elevators were a Texas band, born of the great garage rock tradition here. Roky Erickson was a troubled genius who sadly passed away in 2019. BTW that otherworldy sound came from an an amplified jug. The only band I can think of who used one, other than the Loving Spoonful. Roky's solo output with songs such as "It's a Cold Night for Alligators" is also well worth checking out.
OS mode on the Terminator Plus is really good. Replaced my Venus II and was honestly the largest leap in audio quality I've made to the setup yet. As if listening wasn't addicting already..
Great review Steve and you hit the nail on the head...as the real sadness is that although digital has always had huge sonic potential and it should be amazing across the board, it still seems record companies have little real interest and motivation to produce higher res music. Which ironically impacts on all digital equipment - irrespective of their cost. It ironically reminds me of the those good old vinyl days of hunting for good labels, pressings and recordings. But it is sad that in 2020 this is still happening, but just shows that convenience and profit are still the main drivers and priority than technical or sonic excellence ...except of course those trying to fill the gap and give us wonderful peeks and moments of what is possible. Ho-hum
Great review. Think you nailed it and also put it into perspective. Just because it is "better" does not mean more enjoyable. Seems like Denafrips is a great choice for very high end audio at "reasonable" prices.
Hi Steve. Wondering if you could comment on how much of an improvement the Terminator plus or Terminator are over the Ares II, and what kind of system you would need to really hear those differences? thanks!
Steve, I'm curious about your comment regarding not wanting the utmost detail. If the information is in the recording, why do you prefer not having it in the presentation? Or perhaps it's that the extra detail came at the cost of musicality, drive or tone?
Within the discussion of DACs and based on my own equipment, a comparison to the DAC in my Rega Planet 2000 CD player with the Bryston BDA-1 is worthy of note. The Rega "analog" philosophy was embrace in their CD player line. They waited until they could find an "analog" sounding chip. The first Planet was super analog at the expense of some detail. The Planet 2000 hits the sweet spot of hybrid analog and digital if that is your goal. The Bryston is more detailed, but not as warm, and allows even more detail in the form of upscaling. I listen at the "redbook" or standard rate because I am sort of a purist and that upscale business is kind of like tone controls. But I digress. I think what Steve may really be getting at is detail that leads to listening fatigue vs. listening pleasure. These LS50 speakers are a bit like that, detailed but can be a bit fatiguing depending on the music.
I think what he really meant to say was the DAC called out all the imperfections in a recording and it was not a pleasant experience. I note better sounding DACs would still reproduce the information but in a more natural and realistic fashion.
@John Doe Yeah the devil is in the nuances. My preferences are a bit of a balancing act. I like my music to have the proper dynamics, so preferably not overly laid back. I’m willing to sacrifice some tonality for better dynamics. Detail is good but it’s really the micro details that for me gives the music that sense of greater reality. But once a certain level of detail has been reached I look for better tonality. Otherwise I find the sound to be overly analytical or clinical. So I can see why Steve prefers the original Terminator.
I would look for odd harmonics in downstream analog realms of tube preamp, tube amp and even cabling. Once lost, details or micro details will not be recoverable and I surely do not want that in a dac. Cheers.
Both the standard & plus models are firmly in Chord Hugo TT territory price wise. While I haven’t heard one bad word on the Denafrips brand, I would love a head to head comparo vs the Hugo. Love the show Steve!
@Art DIY Unfortunately way too late .. I saw how Americans and Europeans drive up jobs and manufacturing there in the last 30 yrs to firstly keep up standard of living with same or cheaper products as well as wanting that 1.4b mkt. Think any PC, router and mobile, including both Apple and Samsung all made in China .. I would not be worrying about a dac in a personal hifi system. Cheers.
@Art DIY Doubt any chip is made in USA or Europe nowadays and as far as OS is concern, many are sub out and released by 2nd biggest populated India but sure, all can try to test out albeit futile efforts imho but corporate greed yet continue to feed the dragon 😒
@Art DIY How exactly is a DAC without an Ethernet connection connected to the internet, except via your Computer (if that's your musical source)? In that case , it's your computer that's connected to the internet and it's probably made in China ......
@Art DIY Sending data to China is a myth, as of now no one has found a back door from Hauwai or Tick Tok. .US government is saying it is not safe to use Chinese technologies but even FBI couldn't find anything. May be ask yourself, why do you care about CCP collecting your data? What are they going to do with it? Do you know your data is being collected by your country anyway but you don't care? If you travel to China they can collect more data about you, and even your finger prints, but US never told people stop going to China, weir. Last question: Why does CCP care about you?
@Art DIY Hi Art, indeed but once accessible in manufacturing or coding, a big hole is opened up. Just see how Siemens built the first few hi speed train in Shanghai and the Chinese duplicate their entire fleets and even export/sell hi speed trains worldwide .. even driver console looks exactly the same except no longer with Siemens labelling. Mentioned wish for lower cost for same standard of living by Americans and European had fed the awakening 1.4b dragon. Cheers.
Steve, your comparison to the terminator/terminator plus you focused on deal/resolution. What I am looking for in a dac is the goal of any system, feeling the performers are right there in your room. Which model get your closer to that goal?
Hi Steve, great videos - any plans on reviewing the Halo Audio 2-2R DACs - Particularly the Spring ll or lll ? I would be very interested to hear your views and I think others might be too... thanks Alan
Excellent Steve - excellent review. I came away really understanding the differences between the + and the earlier model. I too would probably prefer the straight "Terminator".
divertiti - except that the Topping DAC and the ChiCom Tube Integrated are disposal items if you live outside of China and need parts or service or warranty attention. Really No Bueno if you live in the Americas or Europe.
@@divertiti Ramen is truly the currency of impoverished audiophiles. As it is in prisons much like cigarettes and packets of condiments like hot sauce.
From the review, it sounds like your more into DACs that have a rich organic tone...a dac with a tube perhaps ?. You should investigate the Audio Mirror Tubadour SE DAC...built in Minnesota.
It sounds very analog I'm testing it now. I'm not a fan since I have good phono already and I got bored fast. I like the r26 I like my digital with tons of detail and dynamics since analog lacks that
Hello, Steve. Have you ever heard anything about GD Audio R7 r2r dac? It would be very interesting to hear your opinion on this other Chinese product competing with Denafrips Venus and, as someone thinks, beats it.
Steve, you have to bite the bullet and experiment with DSD music. Granted not all DSD recordings offer anything special in the sound quality category. But well recorded music in DSD reaches a new level. As an example I had a CD (44.1/16) of Doreen Smith "In The Still Of The Night: A Tribute To Julie London". Then I purchased from HDTracks "Audiophile Analog Collection Vol 2" in DSD64 (2.6MHz). The Audiophile Collection has titles remastered for a higher resolution. The collection has one of the tracks from Doreen Smith's CD (Route 66). I did an AB test between the CD and DSD versions. It took me all of 15 seconds to appreciate the increased sound stage, depth and details of the DSD version. With the right music DSD is definitely worth while.
I bought and sold the regular Terminator twice. First time, with the old digital board, the unit was a bit to warm even dark, a bit thick and a tiny bit slow to match good with my preamp. I repurchased used when a new digital board was released. This was indeed better for my system but ultimately not enough yet. So I moved into a Bricasti M3 and it has better synergy with my DHT preamp... Maybe now the Termi Plus has the resolution and neutrality to go with a top quality tubed preamp.
divertiti The Bricasti is just a better fit in my system with my preamp. Faster, more neutral, better detail and tighter tuneful bass. But it makes more sense to wonder how the Termi Plus will compare to the M3, since they are more the same price, if you get remote (or headphone amp) and the ethernet network renderer capability, which is a huge plus to take a pass on USB and go straight from router into the DAC (simplicity is key in this area IMO). I did enough research and knew what I was after, so I tried the M3 first after the Termi and got lucky I guess. But before this I’ve been a Lampizator owner/fan...and still am, as I kept my Lampi Atlantic for DAC direct to amp for certain music listening.
Hey Steve, thanks for all the reviews and passion you have. It would be good to try the updated dsp board with your old terminator again. I wonder what difference that makes to the old one and if your thoughts may have changed.
So Vinshine/Denafrips will cover shipping both ways within 30 days of delivery if there’s a reason to send it back (can’t return it because you don’t like it), you pay one way for rest of first year, then you pay both ways after that up to three years, for which they’ll fix it for free. $4495 made me uncomfortable for something I couldn’t return if I didn’t like it, but $6495? I’ve never had issues with Vinshine or Denafrips, but then again I’ve never had a problem with them. Other Chinese companies are really hard to deal with to get something right if it’s wrong.
Nice. All reviewers talks about the same gear. (What goes around comes around) How do we make other Hi-fi brands start to promote their gear on RU-vid?
Optimize YT isn’t exactly the best place for a hi-fi company to advertise. Besides banner ads on some popular review sites, it’s all about grassroots IMO. Ya gotta get a unit out there somehow; get units to good reviewers, offer a 30day return for purchasers, which will surly get a thread going about it in one of the big forums. But for companies to do this they gotta be confident in their design and that it truly is good. They they have nothing to lose.
In the September Stereophile, Herb compares them on page 31. He's comparing it to the regular Terminator and not the + and he says they sound very similar!
Nice review as usual... happy that you are still fine with the Terminator( great DAC), but was wondering will you make a review of the newborn from Denafrips too? It is a CD transport that apparently could be your new reference one (even if I was dreaming of Jay’s...). PS love sooo much that you talked about 13th floor... (as well as you loved like me Costello live with Steve Nieve), I feel so grateful that I could even send you my autographed singles by Rocky Erickson himself ( period of Don’t slander.../ Gremlins have...) Steve you are my guru. Lol
Steve good video, but I came up with a great hack tonight I want to share. I have two deep display shelves between my Magnepan.7’s. They stand about 5’ tall and hold a McIntosh c50 preamp, next to it a McIntosh mc352 amp both glass faces, a server,cd transport, and several more pieces. All lined up nice and neat facing forward. I realized there was a lot of reflective glass and metal like a flatscreen TV. I turned each piece a little to the right or left, so non of the faces were parallel. I played another album after I turned all the faces and low and behold my soundstage got wider and deeper it really made a difference I’d be interested to find out if any of your other readers have tried this and if they also have gotten the benefits thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for the review Steve. I bought the Terminator about 3 months ago and had excellent service from Alvin Chee of Vinshine audio. I was a bit disappointed to see a Terminator Plus announced so soon after my purchase. Alvin assured me that the Terminator was not being superseded by the Plus and I have been listening and liking the plain old Terminator. I also have the Oppo 205 which is CD/SACD/DAC. I must say that it also holds up well . Your comment of different presentation when you compared the twoTerminators and the Mytek are very good observations.Thanks for the review and you make me feel less concerned that I didn't wait and buy the Terminator Plus. I am a music lover first and not an audiophile.. So the terminator will be used for my computer files.
Thanks. I wonder how the Terminator DAC's would compare to the RME ADI-2 and the Benchmark DAC3 B? Not that I could afford the Terminator DAC's. I am just curious if they are 4 to 6 times better than the RME and the Benchmark. I own the RME ADI-2 and the Benchmark DAC1 and I am really happy with those. Thanks again.
I have the DAC3B and owned the DAC1 long ago. I was considering the DT+ but after this review I am wondering if it very similar to the DAC3B which I like a lot in my all Benchmark System.
I'm gonna buy one. Just so I can have something called Denafrips! Need to hurry too -- after you, Herb, and Next Best Thing raved about them they'll be flying off the shelves!
Steve you mentioned that Tool and NIN don’t record in DSD, Bob Dylan has SACD’s they do record in High Res. Tool’s last album is available in 24/96, NIN has several albums in high res and an SACD. I find there is a lot of music I love I can find in SACD, HDCD, and High Res PCM, and then MQA I have quite the library of it.
An impressive looking DAC. I wonder what the defect rate is. With so many discrete components I would imagine they must go through some rigorous testing and QC. Personally if I spent this amount of money I’d prefer to buy from a dealer who could provide some level of support.
Yep. I haven't heard anything negative about Vinshine, as they are based in Singapore and have a well publicized service and warranty support network. But in terms of buying a mainland ChiCom piece of gear with no US or EU distributor to handle warranty and service - it would have to be considered disposable. Many of these budget first time tube buyers don't understand that tube equipment requires maintenance, and good luck trying to bias tubes or find a replacement transformer or power supply with that four page users manual.
More of a question here. It seems to me that a DAC would either be effective, or dysfunctional. It being a "digital-to-analogue converter, it would either do the job effectively, or it would result in a signal that would be noticeably distorted (especially to the ears of an audiophile). It seems like there would not be a reason to rate one device over the other. Is it not true that many audiophiles just use their personal computers to do the same job? Is there a worthwhile advantage to using these specially-designed units, as amazing as they are?
Sean Greene you are correct. Spending $6500 on a DAC is insane audiofoolery. You could buy a complete quality stereo system for this money. Most RU-vid “experts” do not understand digital audio and perpetuate this BS.
I kind of know some of the people from ROCKY ERICKSON (13th Floor Elevator) going back to 1970 when I use to know the Producer and part Owner of 'International Records' where Rocky recorded. 1st Time I met Rocky I didn't know who he was, but was visiting my friend and Rocky's 'Producer' from way back in Laredo where Rocky and I were visiting. .... 20 years later I am in Austin with a friend and searching for Records when we meet Rocky and he 'remembered me by name and said, "Hey Marvin, are you still playing that WEIRD MUSIC?" 20 more years pass and I meet his Drummer who was a commercial Pilot retired, but working as a personal Pilot for 'Jimmy Buffet' at a 18 day festival in Kerrville, Texas. Anyway that guy told me that one of my songs (Ain't it a Shame) was the best song he had heard since his days with Rocky and the 13th Floor Elevator! --- :) that was nice. I guess I'm still playing that weird music too.
I admire denafrips for coming up with an original design - no copycats and selling direct for value. Of course don’t expect the service and a chance to listen to it at a dealer. In terms of China - even American flags are made in China - what is it made in China
Oops ....only hdmi is configurable .. 2 other rj45 i2s lvds and lvcmos do not need to with compatible devices. Guess Steve is also too busy and only having the jay audio cdt2 and hence completely missed one key feature and step up in sound quality of single and synced clock with avatar, gaia or compatible devices with possibility to even daisy chain to Tplus' ocxo clock that would have changed his review and thoughts on continued use of standard Terminator or Mytek. Cheers
Steve, check out the Audio GD R7 (2020 version). I own it and the Terminator and depending on my mood the R7 equals the Terminator in analog sounding goodness and in some respects like bass slam, the R7 beats the Terminator. The R7 seems to have more girth in the tone. More meat on the bones. Doubters/haters may say the girth is distortion. So what I say, it sounds good to me. I'm DAC obsessed and have tried a lot of 'em. Right now, I have the Rockna which is the pinnacle of R2R, but the R7 and Terminator get more play with the kind of music I like to listen to.
@@MWeston2A six year old Wavedream . Believe it or not the Audio GD R7 sounds the most like the Rockna, more than the Denafrips which sounds brighter and thinner IMO. The AN 3.1X is better than the Rockna for 44.1/16bit recordings, but lags with higher resolution IMO. I also own some delta sigma DACS but the R2R ladder DACs get the most use.
@@cosmonaut9942 Very interesting! Thanks for the details. An R2R DAC is next on my list of things to buy. I've had an Audio Gd DAC/amp and it sounded great, regardless of what the numbers say. I'm not sure what an AN 3.1X is.
Nice review. I’ve been listening to the three lp version of Live at Leeds a few times a week. The whole concert in chronological order and I agree, this is the definitive Tommy, gotta get the triple album.
What? Did I understand that correctly @4:04 that average Joe need to replace hardware PCB inside the unit.. That can be dangerous especially when Joe is not equipped, trained or know what they do. Or let us say it like this instead.. ..we can not assume that Joe know what he is doing and the company push/say to him to replace the card inside.. That is mind blowing way to go about it.. Good that you mentioned it so we know that there needs some skills. 😉
Yes, good idea. I hope that those who knows their limitations do that. Still up to the consumer to determine their skillset. (And as we know some will always over rate their skills..) ;)
I’m going to disagree. If a 10 year old can build a gaming PC, odds are high that nearly anyone can swap out a board in one of these DACs. The chassis is so large and open that it’s not likely to be complicated.
@@ChrisMag100 Good that you disagree. Maybe then you can tell the parents to those 10 year old individuals, that it were OK that they died of a electric shock. Because they didn't know that there is ~230v on the inside also even if they had pressed "power of".. Citation: "Fatal Electrical Injuries Contact with / Exposure to electric current accounted for 3% of all fatalities in 2018. In 2017, they accounted for 2.6%, in 2016 2.9%, 2015 2.7% and 3.1% in 2014. All electrically related fatalities were caused by electric shock, no fatalities were caused by burns." A computer uses PSU and that is not something you open up. You just mount or dismount the whole PSU unit. And on the other side it is only coming out 12v/5v.. so it is almost "fool proof"..so in other words I can build a computer while the PSU is connected to the wall during the whole process without being in any danger for the builder..
My Bryston BDA-1 for $500 looks better than ever this morning. $6500? Got two 7BSST2, a BP26, an MPS-2 AND the BR-2 remote. Would be interesting to compare the BDA-1 to the Terminator Plus to see what I am missing for $6000 more...
Sadly there aren’t many reviews of Bryston’s current DAC BDA-3 out there. It was in the top tier of Stereophile’s recommended components but recently dropped out because none of their reviewers have listened to it in recent years. It lists at around $4k like the Terminstor 1. So many choices for DACs nowadays, going to be hard to decide what to get.
@@TorToroPorco for me the used BDA-1 more than fit "the bill" based on the sound quality likely close to the BDA-3. Of course depending on other details in terms of streaming or such maybe the BDA-3 would be worthy of $4k.
Strange to me is my Doo Wop downloads from Apple Music benefit the most from my DAC. the one found in an OPPO-205. I perceive that I can discern the tape splice edits. Maybe it’s just me imagination.
I downloaded your audio files. They're awesome! Track 12 was my favorite. Ok...here's my "audiophile" system for you to laugh at. Asus ROG Maximus VII Impact motherboard. It has surprisingly clean audio. Far better than most computers. Behringer X18 mixer fed by the 8 channels from the Asus. 2- Crown XLS 2002 amps powers four JBL L820's 1- Crown XLS 1002 amp powers a JBL LC2 center channel speaker 1- JBL 1224 12" sub in a custom enclosure driven with a Bogen M300 in mono.
Laugh at? Not at all, that sounds like a great system. Despite being quite affordable, those JBLs are voiced nearly perfectly. Nobody performs the amount of R&D work that JBL does in subjective appeal of what truly is a reference freq response to attain. Seriously, nice choices. System setup and optimization can oftentimes be significantly more important than which models and manufacturers you choose. As you likely know, at some point keep an eye on doubling up to two subwoofers. Not necessarily for output capability, it's more about the gains to be had in smoothness via better acoustic interaction with the room.
Lovely review. So I was going to order the Terminator, now that is soft. In a years time the Terminator Plus will be outclassed by the Super Terminator Ultra Plus. So no Denafrips for now!
It's a small niche company so maybe $600~800 to assemble. But the $60k King Ranch edition F-150 took less than $10k to assemble and the $15 pizza took $1.00 to assemble, and the $1200-$2500 leather couches at furniture stores in Dallas cost between $150-$300 to assemble in a factory in NC. So what's your point?
@@asaeed2484 I dont think you are correct, I think 200 is high. I think DAC tech has been fully mature for quite some time and you are being taken - taken hard. Much like the $1000 cables increasing "musicality" and other fake words.
@@asaeed2484 sounds like what he’s getting at is it puts things into perspective.. consumers are being taken for a ride. The markup is greater than for Apple products, which is saying a lot.
@@StefanUrkelI’m aware of Apples markup and I’ll still take it any day over even the best gaming PCs. This is how much I hate Windows as an OS. As for DACs, it’s like expensive headphones, some people are comfortable spending that extra money for that last 5-10% of difference in performance, some aren’t. To each their own. Personally I’d rather buy 7 $1,000 DACs that all sound slightly different than one Uber one.
if we talk r2r dacs steve you should listen to ecdesign mosaic dac wich is the best r2r dac i ever heard and was better in comparision to the denafrips terminator at 1800 dollars.....
With two channel you don't need more than 41.1 kHz there is no point what are you feeling up ? you've already got space, now for multiple recordings that's a different matter you need the extra bandwidth because of multiple tracks you can still fit 4 tracks on 41.1 anyway but ideally 48kHz for multiple tracks because you don't want to lose the head room start clipping the top and rely on compression.
I agree. Personally I think the sweet spot for "High Res" is 44.1kHz / 24 bit. No ultrasound, which is moot as far as I'm concerned, and wasted data, but with those extra 8 bits of dynamic range to make all the difference.
I wouldn't trust that service claim that they'll send you a board & you can replace it yourself. There's lots of better options from local reputable companies.