Long term review: Denafrips Venus II (vs Pontus II)

Fortune to have the Venus II and Pontus II for many months, I compare both DACs. It has been an interesting journey with some surprises!

Link to global distributors webpage:

Link to my Patreon:

Link to my Denafrips Pontus II review:

Link to my Denafrips Ares II review:

Link to my Holo Audio Spring 3 review (Vs Pontus II):

Link to Denafrips Hades/Thallo review:

Link to Denafrips Hestia review and Hades/Thallo update:

Time stamps:
0:00 Intro
2:11 Design and features
4:01 Technical insights
7:50 Sound quality
11:36 Setup and partnering equipment
15:09 Conclusion

[doctorbritain]

As someone who has worked in the electronics industry for nearly 40 years I really appreciate your clear concise explanation of circuits which no other reviewers do (probably) because they might get lost (Hans Beekhuyzen excepted). Love the channel, keep up the good work.

[zulu]

Tarun. Another great review. As someone considering a Denafrips DAC this review has been helpful. BTW I’ve been following your channel since its inception and thank you for what you are doing for the audiophile community worldwide. Greetings from Australia.

[kl]

Great review as always! Went from the Ares II and after a year and a half bought the Pontus II. Many have asked me if paying twice the price was worth it. And I put it this way; if the Ares II gets a rating of 100 for price relative to performance, I would give the Pontus II rating of 125-133 relative to the Ares II at 2x the cost. Was it worth paying double....absolutely!

[gerd]

Excellent review and superb channel. It would be interesting to have you review the Gustard R26 r2r dac and get your opinion as to how it compares with the these Denafrips dacs.

[michabuszynski]

Thanks for your work, my personal experience with upgrades is I have Ares II and one day decided based on Sandu review to get smsl vmv d2, dac of the year, warm sound amazing resolution.... and it didn't come close to Ares being doubled the price of Ares. I was thinking I will get best of both words ( R2r and Delta sigma ), maybe one day technology will rich this point but not in this case. I sold the Smsl stayed with Ares and now safely going for Pontus.
That's my expiriance with upgrading :))

[robertwang]

Yes spot on Tarun, the Pontus 2 is excellent and musical. May I suggest getting the Iris DDC with I2S ( Jays Audio ) to pair with the Pontus 2 instead of getting the Venus 2. I’m using Kef LS50 metas with Rel T5X powered by Willsenton R800i with rolled tubes. Sounds pretty good in my smallish room.

[carbon_wavelight]

This is exactly the kind of video I've been looking for. Thanks Tarun

[priedits]

I would really like to see a review of Gustard R26. Some says that it's holy grail of R2R DACS. With price of 1700 EUR it's the best dac under 3500 EUR and in some ways even better than Denafrips Terminator Plus. (according to soundnews review on youtube)

[aussie]

I’m not sold on this China direct gear. The cost to send these things back to China to get fixed is crazy high. And all those capacitors are not going to fair well over time. Having said that I wouldn’t mind listening to a Holo Spring 3, they look nicely built.

[hugobloemers]

It is nice to see when an upgrade model is really an upgrade and not just something different.
One of my biggest upgrade failures was to put a moving coil cartridge on a vintage Pioneer turntable. I could not get it to work. It had a hum that I could not get rid of. This happened many years ago but I am still weary of moving coil cartridges and I prefer high output cartridges in general because of the signal to noise ratio that is better.

[MisterChibs]

This was an awesome review! Wish I had both Dac's at the same time when I did my review, but it didn't work out that way. Glad to hear that the difference is noticeable once burn in was complete. 🍻

[dougmurray]

Another spectacular review. After watching this and another where you said the Venus II was NOT going to be sent back, I wondered why I purchased the Pontus II and not the Venus II. I guess it would have been the 1, 200-1, 300 price difference. Not too terrible but I'm happy with my Pontus II.

[bobb.]

This was your most meaningful review "to me" so far! I have a Pontus II and LOVE it 😍. So excited about "your" comparison of these two great DACs, as my system "may" be worthy of The Venus. (DynAudio Contour 20s, Schiit Freya+ w/NOS Tubes, McIntosh MC152 Solid State Power Amp). Tarun, your THOROUGH, precision, informative review has me firmly seated & staying where I am with a smile on my face😊! Sounds like a mildly incremental improvement for my system that would not justify the expenditure & changeout.. You have stopped The FOMO for this audiophile!!! THANKS! 👍🏼

[thepickyaudiophile]

The Pontus has several times been reviewed to be the warmer more full bodied of the two. Just to confirm that this was not your impression (after full burn in)? Also great review as ever 😊

[fletchermunson]

Another excellent review. I got the Pontus and apparently it's still breaking in but at least it sounds good now vs cold start. I notice there is room on the back for two RCA inputs. I wish there was an extra RCA input as the Ares has two RCA inputs. Using BNC to RcA adapters I've been able to hear sonic degradation. With an Audiolab 6000 CDT and the Bluesound Node both with a Single RCA outputs, I need two RCA inputs and ordered my Pontus that way. Luckily they are flexible enough to do that for me at no charge. Shipping was quick. Five days from China to the US west coast. Their US repair facility added the extra RCA and the service was quick and expertly done.

[ggdfggdfgdffgfddg]

Oh my friend, my audiophile journey hasn't been all that long. And it's more about headphones. I originally had a Nokia x2-00 and on-ear headphones with a 3cm driver for $1.5. Oh nokia gave such a dense and dynamic sound! But I tore these headphones, I tried to get drunk, but not enough for a long time. I just got high on this sound. But when I changed phone to my first Chinese phone I compared its sound with my Nokia Nokia had much better sound. But then 3 years later I bought myself a Leeco le max 2 and bluetooth on-ear headphones for $20. Oh, they sounded terrible, but after half a year I tried the equalizer built into this phone and lo and behold, I tweaked the settings and it was a shock, I was just not happy with myself. Such a sound, and such a chic quality of voice calls! But one day I fell asleep on the bottom and the mount cracked and problems began with the convenience of wearing. I had B. W px (failed mid) and Tecniks za60 (too cutting selfies). But no high-end headphones can compare with those Chinese. And the main thing is my Leeco le max 2 source. I had a Meizu 16 phone and then I realized what a gorgeous sound Leeco le max 2 has. And most importantly, I realized that the magic was in this phone, firstly there is a sound technology that gives gorgeous sound. And his equalizer, he changed the sound of the headphones without distortion! Unfortunately, in order to make the sound of PX and za60 adequate, you have to edit their tone through the AIMP application on android. Yes, high-end ear muffs give more separation of layers and details. But if you, by ear, are able to set the perfect tonality, for you it is more important than any details and layers! And of course, the source, especially in headphones, is even more important than the extraction device itself!

[budgetaudiophilelife-long]

TARUN, IMHHO I BELIEVE MY KIT IS RESOLVING ENOUGH …but my budget isn’t 😢and never mind the WAF 😅💚💚💚😊

[writemeanovel]

I really enjoy how Tarun differentiates the classes by general price point and articulates the sonic characteristics of the devices. I can't understand how many 'audio reviewers' do not have the words to define what they hear. Sounds great! and 'sonic nirvana' are not precise terms. Well done Tarun! I believe you will continue to grow the channel and have great success.

[NeilBlanchard]

I own an Ares II and I agree that it is a very good DAC. My main caveat with it though, is its slightly "soft" (less dynamic) bass, that lack some of the clarity and control that the Bifrost 2 has, for example. So, I have been looking for another DAC ... and I have found one, from an unexpected source: Geshelli Labs now has their JNOG2 aka J2 with an AK4493 chip. Long story short - with a third party 12V 4A linear power supply - the J2 AKM has replaced the Ares II in my main system. It is better bottom to top, in every way - *including* soundstage, instrument separation, bass and midrange dynamics, and detail retrieval.
I had been looking for an R2R like the Pontus II, or the Musician Pegasus, or the Ladder Schumann - but now I am no longer looking at a more expensive R2R DAC.
The Geshelli J2 AKM is my new reference DAC.

[saab_]

Great review, I wonder which IEM or headphone amplifier can I stack the VENUS 2 with ?