[jkteddy77]

You haven’t burnt in the Mentor yet. The sibilance will be gone after about 50 hours or so.

odd I hear it with a "warmer" dac when I didn't with others. Could be this DAC is transparent enough for that edge to shine through while it's burning in.

 

[Slackaveli]

Pontus II & Iris came today. Both on older firmware, not 12TH-1 yet

Soundstage: sounds like this pair matches the Mentor in grand size, whereas the Bifrost 2 cramped it. Separation is greater than Ares and Bifrost also
Tone: Got my warmth back, and the vocals are pushed forward. the bass is bigger but hits a bit softer than on the Ares 12th-1, likely firmware-driven

Makes the cold Mentor far more natural, but the speediest and sharpest clarity in the treble is subdued, and slightly sibilant at the very top of S's, but for every other range it's more effortless and less fatiguing to listen to. Think 'Tube-like'
Noteworthy, the Timbre is superior to the Bifrost 2, beating schiit at their own game there.

V222 + Ares 12th-1 is still thicker and lusher than Mentor + Pontus II, going to show that you truly can't "warm-up" an amp to change it's character.
If it's not for you, I say don't waste money trying to turn an Apple into an Orange in that sense.

Think i'll upgrade the Iris and Pontus II to the 12-TH-1 firmware, but maybe not til I have an M-field in front of me. The warmth is nice for now.

Note: Mentor at about 20 hours, not at the 100 hour maturity yet.

Mentor comes to life hours 75 & ^^
Mines at around 300+ hours and it's heavy and authoritative AF with nothing but beautiful sound from sub bass to treble with a lovely linearity but also a fullness of sound throughout on Yggy OG. Mentor LOVES Yggy A2's dynamic abilities.

 

[nighthink]

Pontus II & Iris came today. Both on older firmware, not 12TH-1 yet

Soundstage: sounds like this pair matches the Mentor in grand size, whereas the Bifrost 2 cramped it. Separation is greater than Ares and Bifrost also
Tone: Got my warmth back, and the vocals are pushed forward. the bass is bigger but hits a bit softer than on the Ares 12th-1, likely firmware-driven

Makes the cold Mentor far more natural, but the speediest and sharpest clarity in the treble is subdued, and slightly sibilant at the very top of S's, but for every other range it's more effortless and less fatiguing to listen to. Think 'Tube-like'
Noteworthy, the Timbre is superior to the Bifrost 2, beating schiit at their own game there.

V222 + Ares 12th-1 is still thicker and lusher than Mentor + Pontus II, going to show that you truly can't "warm-up" an amp to change it's character.
If it's not for you, I say don't waste money trying to turn an Apple into an Orange in that sense.

Think i'll upgrade the Iris and Pontus II to the 12-TH-1 firmware, but maybe not til I have an M-field in front of me. The warmth is nice for now.

Note: Mentor at about 20 hours, not at the 100 hour maturity yet.

Wondering how this changes if Iris is not in chain - what differences the Iris does for Mentor and Pontus combo?

I have Pontus II on latest fw1.4, and even if I like it I’ll probably test one day to revert back to 1.0. But no Iris so far, although I’m still considering.. iris, hermes or even matrix spdif3, just didn’t decide yet.
thanks.

 

[jkteddy77]

Wondering how this changes if Iris is not in chain - what differences the Iris does for Mentor and Pontus combo?

I have Pontus II on latest fw1.4, and even if I like it I’ll probably test one day to revert back to 1.0. But no Iris so far, although I’m still considering.. iris, hermes or even matrix spdif3, just didn’t decide yet.
thanks.

Will play more with switching it! Seller threw it in so it was a no brainer for me

 

[jkteddy77]

Wondering how this changes if Iris is not in chain - what differences the Iris does for Mentor and Pontus combo?

I have Pontus II on latest fw1.4, and even if I like it I’ll probably test one day to revert back to 1.0. But no Iris so far, although I’m still considering.. iris, hermes or even matrix spdif3, just didn’t decide yet.
thanks.

Initial comparison, with an w/o
+ Iris adds MUCH better imaging and space between the instruments. Huge presentation upgrade
+ Soundstage starts much further from the head.
+ Background is blacker and tighter attacks on notes, it's not as 'splashy' as the Pontus II f1.0 alone
ne - it flattens out the signature, pro or con if you like that.
- downside is that sibilance seems pronounced if there is any.
- Bass impact has less punch, but more clarity.
Will keep researching if there's a better way to configure the ddc, never used one before. I left it at 192khz with a 24-bit 192khz tidal stream

 

[nighthink]

Initial comparison, with an w/o
+ Iris adds MUCH better imaging and space between the instruments. Huge presentation upgrade
+ Soundstage starts much further from the head.
+ Background is blacker and tighter attacks on notes
ne - it flattens out the signature, pro or con if you like that.
- downside is that sibilance seems pronounced if there is any.
- Bass impact has less punch, but more clarity.
Will keep researching if there's a better way to configure the ddc, never used one before

Cool stuff. I think I got similar effect as in points 1 and 2 when adding puritan psm156. Curious if iris can move it even further.

background is for me already black as black hole I think I’m unable to imagine Mentor can be even blacker. But if it can that’s great.

Tha last point is the most intriguing. I’m confident I don‘t want to loose on bass impact. That is why I’m hesitating with Iris, I often read the bass gets more sterile even if with higher clarity.

Damn I was hoping that bass effect will not be weakened with Iris, then it would be a no brainer.

I don’t think you can configure Iris in any way. It’s as much plug and play as can be.

 

[jkteddy77]

Cool stuff. I think I got similar effect as in points 1 and 2 when adding puritan psm156. Curious if iris can move it even further.

background is for me already black as black hole I think I’m unable to imagine Mentor can be even blacker. But if it can that’s great.

Tha last point is the most intriguing. I’m confident I don‘t want to loose on bass impact. That is why I’m hesitating with Iris, I often read the bass gets more sterile even if with higher clarity.

Damn I was hoping that bass effect will not be weakened with Iris, then it would be a no brainer.

I don’t think you can configure Iris in any way. It’s as much plug and play as can be.

so i'm not senseless haha, okay cool to hear others have similar notes.
I think the Ares 12th-1 was even blacker than the Pontus II f1.0 iris or not, maybe 1.4 is the goto. I'm having a lot of tubey fun with the old firmware tho.

 

[centuriones]

Pontus II & Iris came today. Both on older firmware, not 12TH-1 yet

Soundstage: sounds like this pair matches the Mentor in grand size, whereas the Bifrost 2 cramped it. Separation is greater than Ares and Bifrost also
Tone: Got my warmth back, and the vocals are pushed forward. the bass is bigger but hits a bit softer than on the Ares 12th-1, likely firmware-driven

Makes the cold Mentor far more natural, but the speediest and sharpest clarity in the treble is subdued, and slightly sibilant at the very top of S's, but for every other range it's more effortless and less fatiguing to listen to. Think 'Tube-like'
Noteworthy, the Timbre is superior to the Bifrost 2, beating schiit at their own game there.

V222 + Ares 12th-1 is still thicker and lusher than Mentor + Pontus II, going to show that you truly can't "warm-up" an amp to change it's character.
If it's not for you, I say don't waste money trying to turn an Apple into an Orange in that sense.

Think i'll upgrade the Iris and Pontus II to the 12-TH-1 firmware, but maybe not til I have an M-field in front of me. The warmth is nice for now.

Note: Mentor at about 20 hours, not at the 100 hour maturity yet.

In my opinion, if you want an analog sound I recommend leaving the Pontus II firmware at ver. 1.0

 

[jkteddy77]

In my opinion, if you want an analog sound I recommend leaving the Pontus II firmware at ver. 1.0

Strongly considering a Flux M-Field, that may be the pairing the 12th-1 firmware shines. I'd like some color without the softening that analog tuning sacrifices clarity for

 

[nighthink]

In my opinion, if you want an analog sound I recommend leaving the Pontus II firmware at ver. 1.0

Might be for some and not for others.. This is a bit offtopic here but for me the 1.4 definitely brought more details to the music, improved soundstage for sure, and tighter and more defined bass. It can be just because otherwise the holography increased.
The former FWs were too much into neutral sound shift, but I came quite late to this FW party and switching from 1.0 to 1.4 wasn't that big difference in warmth perception, but it was in those other areas (in the end that's why they did 4 versions, they listened to the feedbacks). To me that switch felt like I suddenly got a higher level gear in Pontus II. However, there are people that prefer 1.0 and I can understand why - this FW changes the signature in such visible (hearable) way it is not anymore that DAC they originaly bought and with those specific reasons in mind.

Once I feel like I know everything that's to be known about Mentor with Pontus II 1.4, I'll try again 1.0 just for fun. But it will have to be a 'slam into face' - like change for me (in a good way), otherwise I will be back at 1.4 as quick as a wind .

 

[Slackaveli]

Will play more with switching it! Seller threw it in so it was a no brainer for me

Oh, Hell yes, that sweetened the deal up big time.

I am holding out hope that Schiit will release a DDC with Unison Out (the Urd CD transport is effectively this rn) and price it competitively.

 

[nighthink]

I am holding out hope that Schiit will release a DDC with Unison Out (the Urd CD transport is effectively this rn) and price it competitively.

I was already looking at Urd. But that CD part is of no use to me. The DDC separately would be welcome. But need to test some of them in my chain. This is not easy where I'm, it's such a niche product and nobody has them in showrooms.

 

[sygnus21]

It's a well thought out design. The interior JFET dissipation panels, the left side of the case being elevated only to raise the cable, the cable suspension on the right.. There's a clear design language throughout the amplifier; someone took care arranging each component. Looking forward to receiving mine.

Completely agree. There's also a bit of artistry there in the layout where everything is in balance. Indeed, well thought out.

Congrats. I know the feeling of anticipation as my new gear is barely 3 months old; my new CD player not even a month yet. Nothing like the shine of new gear.

Good luck.

 

[sygnus21]

Pontus II & Iris came today. Both on older firmware, not 12TH-1 yet

Who/where did you get your gear from???

I bought both the Pontus and Iris DDC in late Feb, direct from Vinshine Audio (Official Denafrips vendor) and got both the Pontus 12th-1, and Iris 12th, and both with the latest firmware update. In fact, Denafrips (Vinshine Audio) states clear on their site, new gear ships with the latest firmware updates.

Soundstage: sounds like this pair matches the Mentor in grand size, whereas the Bifrost 2 cramped it. Separation is greater than Ares and Bifrost also
Tone: Got my warmth back, and the vocals are pushed forward. the bass is bigger but hits a bit softer than on the Ares 12th-1, likely firmware-driven

Tinker with cables and power cords. I'm run a Supra LoRad copper power cord on my Pontus and the bass tightens up. With a Supra LoRAD silver cable, the soundstage gets bigger, more detail, but the bass softens. I have both silver and copper but prefer the copper on both my Pontus and Denafrips Artemis headphone amp, because of the bass. I got my power cords here > Sjofn HiFi (e-Bay store; U.S. based). The LoRAD SPC (dark grey cord) is the silver cable, the LoRAD 3x2.5 (bluish cable) is the copper, and what I suggest for the Pontus if you want tighter bass, they'll also make the DAC darker, but you can tweak that with the cables coming from the DAC to the output device.

I'm using the XLR outs from Pontus to my Denafrips Artemis headphone amp. The cables here are Worlds Best Cables Canare L-4E6S XLR cables. They're hot - lots of treble and detail, but with the copper power cords on the devices as well, the hotness of the Canare is toned down. The overall results from my setup, lots of detail and staging, with better bass from the copper power cords.

Think i'll upgrade the Iris and Pontus II to the 12-TH-1 firmware, but maybe not til I have an M-field in front of me. The warmth is nice for now.

Review this > thread before doing so.

 

[Slackaveli]

I was already looking at Urd. But that CD part is of no use to me. The DDC separately would be welcome. But need to test some of them in my chain. This is not easy where I'm, it's such a niche product and nobody has them in showrooms.

Everyone (especially those with Unison input on say a Yggy) say that the URD sounds fantastic as a DDC but I'm like you and dont use CDs anymore so $1200 is too pricey for a DDC application. I could see Schiit doing one without the CD player and pricing it like $399 or so and I'd snap one up if they did. Hell, if they really want to do us a right (Schiit does this occasionally) it could be maybe even $299.