Denafrips Iris

I don’t know what other equipment you have, kerosene, but I have an Iris, an Ares II and a Pontus II. By cleaning up the USB grunge, the Iris is the secret ingredient that makes either the Ares II or Pontus II the most authoritative combo I’ve heard, surpassing in my space and with my hearing my DSD DAC in every aspect.

I have a PC feeding the Iris and a Willsenton R8 getting the DAC signal from either the Ares II or the Pontus II. My speakers are Klipsch Forte IVs. Cabling is all excellent grade without breaking the bank Audioquest.

The most notable change in my listening experience is that what I put together for my office, which is now occupying my main listening room, no longer needs equalization to make my music collection play to my taste. It is the most authoritative musical reproduction I’ve heard in my 40 years as an audiophile.

The Pontus II has more of what I call “Thereness” than the Ares II, but either surpasses my DSD DAC, at a fraction of the cost. I don’t regret any of my PSA purchases. I love PSA voicing and it all starts with a P15 regenerator. I just had to look for more affordable alternates that met or exceeded what my PSA gear provided.

The one thing to keep in mind is that the Iris is what makes the magic happen. Failure to clean up the USB feed does not bring out the full potential of the Denafrips gear. At a little over $500, the Iris is the bargain of the century.

I can’t wait to take delivery of my Decware Super Zen Triode amp, and compare it to both the Willsenton R8 and the BHK250. If it comes anywhere close to Andrew Robinson’s gushing review, I’ll call my gear acquisition a job well done.

If the Iris gave me digital processing magic, my born-again second system was made possible by the acquisition of the Klipsch Forte IVs and their 99db sensitivity rating. Paul is absolutely right that the speakers come first. If I had the space I’d have the top of the line Klipsch.

As it is, in this lifetime, I have to settle for sensitive speakers that fit my space. With the sound quality I’m getting, it’s not much of a sacrifice. Whatever criticism you’ve heard of previous Klipsch models does not apply to the new models complimented by synergistic gear.

It’s not as if I have musicians playing in my living room. That seems more and more like a worn-out cliché. It’s more as if Sean Connery stepped in and said: “My name is Bond, James Bond.” Authoritative, believable, sensual and as Andrew likes saying, magical. For me, it really is all there.

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You will like your Decware ZEN SE84UFO25. I picked up a SE84UFO while waiting for my SE84UFO, ordered in April and was told it would ship in November, my error for not asking what year, I am running my Decware Zen SET into a pair of Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Classics with the PiFe drivers. I listen to quite a bit of jazz for which this system is voiced. Hopefully your wait for the Zen is not too long. Adding a PSA P15 opened things up a bit and firmed up the bottom end as well. Ridiculous spending that much coin on a regenerator for a $1k SET! The results say otherwise…

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Late reply, but I am looking at the Iris - Ares II kombo. Ares doesn’t take I2S. Also the Ares does DSD direct only on USB, that the Iris doesn’t send. How did you run DSD when using this combo?
Also did anyone get the Iris I2S to SGCD work?

Good Morning

I do not have the iris Dac. I have the Audio GD R1 dac which does accept
I2S from the Iris.

My system now consists of
Denifrips Iris
Audio GDS R1 Dac
Denifrips Athena Preamp.
PSW Audio Stellar 700 mono amps
LSWA 10 Statement Speakers
Martin Logan 1100 sub.
My 11 by14 room has moderate treatment

Be Well Happy Listening

Does anyone actually know what changes are needed for the HDMI cable to work between the standard I2S (LVDS) and PS Audio?

For those that watched the video on the Iris, is he implying that the Iris might not be of much benefit if used with the Venus II, compared to the Pontus II?
Anyone use an Iris/Venus II combination?

Greetings!

I think the Douk U2 PRO is worth looking at (Amazon currently $64) for those looking to test the theory. It will output up to 384khz 24bit PCM(claims 32, haven’t tested), or up to DSD256. It will run off the USB power, battery pack, or switch-mode power supply. I do not suggest using a switch mode PSU with this unit. Use a battery or the power from the USB input connection.

This works with my PSAudio Gaincell DAC, and also my Topping DX7 Pro with full set of SparkOS SS3602 op-amps

Product page: https://a.co/d/9y8GNFP

I’m not going to throw up a wall of text gushing about the improvement, but the “music” sounds complete at this point. How to expand on what I’m hearing is another story and probably many more $$$$$ than I’m willing to spend at this point.

Regards

Currently enjoying music through:
Roon (i5 Win10 tiny desktop) =(ethernet)=>
HQPlayer [DSD, 1x=Sinc-Mx, Nx=poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp), AMSDM7EC+512fs,DSD256] (i7, gtx1080ti, Win11) =(ethernet)=>
(The following plugged into a PSAudio Stellar P3)
Rpi4 8GB [iFi Power Elite 24v] (RopieeeXL for HQPlayer NAA) Rpi USB =(Audioquest Forest USB)=>
iFi Purifier 3 ==>
Douk U2 Pro I2S =(Audioquest Cinnamon .75m HDMI)=>
Topping DX7 Pro (SparkOS SS3602 op-amp swap) [DAC Mode] =(Audioquest McKenzie XLR)=>
PSAudio Stellar Gaincell =(Audioquest McKenzie XLR)=>
PSAudio Stellar M700 =(Audioquest 14ga wire from BestBuy)=>
Tekton Moab (spiked on anti-vibration pucks, don’t remember from where)

I know it’s a few years later but the Iris I2S output to the DirectStream Mk1 works.