Amanero equipped ARES DAC vs Vivere DAC

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chrisc

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I have had a XMOS-USB ARES Dac since May 2017.  Due to an electrical surge, the XMOS USB input ceased to work.  Alvin from Vinshine Audio replaced it free of charge with the latest iteration of the ARES model which instead uses an Amanero USB interface, similar to Denafrips other, far more expensive DACs, the Pontus and the Terminator, the latter sells for R 70 000 and gets excellent reviews on the Computer Audio Forum

The Viviere has been in use for about a month.  It is beautifully made, uses a Apple remote for volume and has balanced and unbalanced outputs.  I use the balanced outputs for both DACs

Received the Amanero-equipped ARES DAC today and of course powered it up

1 - It improved after a few hours in that the output volume increased slightly
2 - Compared with the Viviere, there is less bass and lower mid, a slightly less "fuller"sound
3 - The ARES treble might be a bit cleaner, but this can be due to less bass/lower mid
4 - At the moment I slightly prefer the ARES, but will listen some more over the week-end
5 - It is of course much smaller and neater than the Viviere, but this should not really be a consideration
6 - When first I detected less bass, I played Cameron Carpenter's "Sisters of Mercy" plus Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "Cosmic Hippo".  There was nothing missing at all, the windows and glass doors shook with the organ of Cameron Carpenter.  Allan Taylor "Colour to the Moon" sounded exactly the same on both DACs.

By now they had both been on for 5 hours.  It is possible to swop leads and alter the playback device on JRiver in under a minute.  Both DACs do not need drivers on a Mac

Using Audirvana, the difference are even less apparent.  Apparently, Audirvana supplies a less contaminated USB audio signal

Next step is to try the co-ax input from a CD player

I will check the frequency response with REW and compare the two
 

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