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hi guys and welcome back to is it worth it
reviews today we are going to talk about
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one marvelous product it's a DAC coming
from Denafrips Venus 15th it's build like
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technicalities and attention to details that
went into it and finally Sonics but we'll talk
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about that a bit later in the video so this is
a big chunky device of almost 20 kilos we are
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talking about significantly bigger and heavier
Venus 15th than the Venus 12th was and that is
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because this is actually let's call it by the
real name Terminator 12 I think it's Terminator
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12.1 but I'm not fully sure and it's not even a
secret really now Denafrips developed their new
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flagship Terminator 15th but they saved some R&D
costs by using previous Flagship Terminator 12th
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as current Venus 15th and the previous Venus 12th
is current pontis 15th which is actually a great
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opportunity for us consumers that couldn't
afford those highly priced DACs so yeah this
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is completely internally Hardware based actually
externally even the last gen Flagship Terminator
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12th and I'm quite excited to review it now as
the Venus 15th at a lower price of $4000 and if
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you know anything about Denafrips you already
probably know that these are r2r based DACs
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they do digital to analog conversion you do not
have fancy display UI many things to play with
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and even analog outputs that can be both single
landed rcas or balanced xlrs those outputs are l
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level fixed signal so no volume attenuation
here you'll have to control your volume like
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any real audio file should really by using a true
preamplifier but back to the DAC itself on the
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digital side of things it's very very rich when it
comes to connectivity so we are talking about usb
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Optical toslink coaxial speedi then as EB and
then three I squared s connections one is over
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HDMI port while other two are etnet ports and then
we also have clock outputs one is 45 the other one
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49 MHz so you can use Venus 15th as a clock source
and synchronize anything else in your system like
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a digital Source or DDC with this DAC which by
by the way has the highest possible quality of
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an controlled Crystal oscillator it's basically
a flagship grade clock like you would expect from
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Terminator I'm sorry Venus but xterminator and
everything else if you take a look at its r2r
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Network it's fully balanced made with highly
precise resistors of I think 0.01% tolerance
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and then we have powerful signal processing fpga
unit that handles like insanely High PCM and DSD
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resolutions I'll put that on the screen and then
the next interesting thing if you're not familiar
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with it already is that this toll box is divided
into two section the upper one is where this da
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conversion signal processing and the output stage
are and where signal basically moves moves the
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lower one which is divided from the upper one by
steel plate is actually a power supply and not
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just one but two linear power supplies with two
separate Transformers one is powering the analog
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section of the DAC the other one the digital
section of the DAC so these two don't interfere
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with each other and attention to details with
all of that is just phenomenal for once the steel
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plate that is dividing them that I mentioned
is there as a protection from electromagnetic
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interference and then some other stuff that I
find really interesting for example power Inlet
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in the back of the unit is customade rhodium
plated copper and the Transformers that I've
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just mentioned are made of copper wire that has
low percentage of silver and also gold in the mix
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of the material now that's also very interesting
for me personally because I used that kind of wire
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several times in my own do-it-yourself builds
and the only manufacturer in the world that
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I knew until now producing that kind of wire is
Germany based mundorf and that wire called Angelic
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or something like that is a really really great
wire and I used it in several of my do-it-yourself
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builds also for power cables because it has really
good Sonic characteristics now I'm not sure if
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Denafrips is sourcing this wire from mundorf or
they're making their own customade wire but I
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like what I'm hearing material wise and then all
other components are of course chose to be of a
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high quality but cherry on top for me personally
because if if you didn't notice I love good high
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quality wires and connectors and materials I use
them in my own builds where I I spare no expenses
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because it's for myself not for mass production
so the cherry on top are wires that are connecting
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that power supply in the lower section to this
upper da conversion part are pure solid silver
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now that's something you don't see often in a mass
produced product but moving on from that you can
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see that in the front it's a very Spartan device
because it's a DAC only it doesn't have volume
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attenuation it doesn't have much things that you
can Tinker with it doesn't have a display it just
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has a raow of buttons and then a row of LEDs
that will show you some things that you need to
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know input selection phase selection NOS or Os
mode selection you can actually choose between
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noos non oversampling and two oversampling modes
one slow one fast or sharp and we'll talk about
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these modes and how they influence the sound
a bit later so let's actually talk about the
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sound now the first thing that I've noticed when
I started listening to Venus 15th is how big and
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when I say big I really mean humongous how huge
this DAC sounds that means that the Sound Stage
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is really wide but it's also really really
deep and it just envelops my whole speakers
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and the space behind them and around them and
it creates probably the biggest Sound Stage that
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I've ever heard I don't think that anything except
Lampizator Baltic 3 had this big this enveloping
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sound stage and what's even more impressive
is that that Sound Stage is not achieved by
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blowing everything out of proportions and having
big diffused fuzzy sounds that are huge but not
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precise now inside of that huge Sound Stage tones
themselves are really precise they're placed with
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great stability they're rooted to the ground and
to their place in the mix with just great amount
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of empty space around them and separation from
other tones and that goes both left and right and
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front and back you have a clear three-dimensional
sensation of where everything is it's like you had
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some sort of 3D scan of the sound made by some
sort of sonar and then you reenact everything
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in its place precisely but the thing is that that
Precision also doesn't come with leanness in any
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sort of way because tones sound bold physical
very believable palpable and present in space
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yet they somehow have great precision and great
outlining of those tones and that Sound Stage is
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fantastically stable it never feels stressed it
never collapses even with the most cramped and
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crowded recordings it's just fully developed
enveloping your speakers being deep dark and
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stable no matter what are you listening to now
moving away from the sound staging that is really
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impressive let's talk about tonality and let's
start with the base region now the Baseline has
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fantastic extension it digs really deep into the
subbase and everything sounds so weighty and so
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physical that it slams like no other DAC that
I've ever heard or ever tested in my own setup
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ever sounded like so we are talking about really
really weighty deep and physical Baseline that if
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you have speakers that can do that you'll feel
it and just if you're wondering I'm not only
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testing with great monacoustic platimon speakers
that can go down to 40Hz I also have a 12 inch
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subwoofer that is extended that all the way to
18Hz flat so it's not a problem to hear those deep
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subbase notes and Venus 15th is doing that base so
effortlessly big huge and powerful and deep that
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I think that base lovers will be amazed with it
the thing that I like about it is for one when you
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have such a healthy core down below it influences
the rest of the sound in the most positive way
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now everything in the mid-range also sounds very
present chesty and bold and physically rooted in
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space in a way that lightweight DACs simply cannot
achieve but there is a danger with this kind of
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Bas sometime because Baseline is by its nature
slower fre frequency and it makes everything
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sound a bit slower and that is true with Venus
15th but this is not generally speaking slow DAC
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by any means the moment you start going above that
subbase region that's really weighty and rumbly we
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have great control and great Precision of upper
base mid base and just midrange so we are not
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talking about generally warm sound which might
be surprising lots of base is often connected
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with generally speaking warm sound but that's
not the case here no matter that weighty full
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bodied tonality this is actually very clean
and precise and pinpointing kind of DAC and
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once you get to Upper frequencies everything is
pristinely clean you get both great palpability
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and three dimensionality with also great precision
and outlining and separation of tones and Venus
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15th sounds like that so mid-range itself is not
too prominent it's Rich sounding full sounding
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but if anything it has slightly laidback character
the most forward thing is in the plane with your
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speakers those are vocals and leading instruments
they sound very present and physical like embodied
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physically in air in between your speakers because
of that full bodess and then things that extend
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further away further back are just going back
and back and back to depths that rarely any
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DAC can actually achieve and then moving to highs
there is one interesting thing this is not a dark
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or rolled off or tame sounding DAC if anything
it has prominent bright Highs but the thing is
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that Highs are so smooth and so natural sounding
that you never think that they are jarring or too
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forward or too edgy and some people like to call
that character time coherent but personally I like
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to describe that as a liquid tone liquid tonality
it's like tone is just Gliding Over eyes perfectly
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smooth perfectly elegant and liquidlike you never
hear any harshness you never hear anything that
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sounds matte or rough unnatural and interrupted in
anyway we have highs with great energy and great
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flow if you can imagine a ringy kind of sound
any metallic or glassy kind of sound like Bells
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triangle that will sound so realistic and present
with this DAC and even more than that when we
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do not have these high frequency instruments The
Sound Stage width and size and just airiness and
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The Sensation of empty space between instruments
is often painted by the high frequency extension
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and these highs lend great Brilliance to all tones
and great airiness and openness around tones but
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there is a thing about highs worth mentioning they
do depend quite heavily on the digital filter that
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you have chosen so for example in the noos non
over sampling mode they actually will be slightly
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Tamer and rolled off and then the mid-range
Centric tonality slightly surfaces and you
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do get very rich very natural sounding tones but
tones do become a bit more mid-range Centric a bit
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more matte and also the Sound Stage loses a bit
of that airiness and brilliance and it collapses
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a bit it's still very deep very spacious but not
as wide and as open and Airy as OS over sampling
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modes when it comes to OS modes we have sharp one
or fast one and that is the one that will sound
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like a really great Delta Sigma da sounds it will
increase overall precision and Dynamics compared
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to noos mode it will add high frequency extension
and Brilliance in tones and just more empty space
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between instruments and around them in a bigger
Sound Stage but the thing is that OS sharp mode
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loses a bit of tonal richness and tones do tin
out a bit they are insanely precise and very well
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pinpointed but they do sound a bit more analytical
and less harmonically Rich which leads me to the
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last mode oversampling slow my personal favorite
that sounds equally tonally rich with great inner
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tone texture with great harmonic richness and
mid-range it's not as precise as fast filter but
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it feels more natural it feels Fuller but it also
brings that high frequency extension with Radiance
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and it opens up the Sound Stage so everything
sounds a bit bigger more spacious and more
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impressive but that's just my personal opinion
and matching with the rest of my system if you
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have different opinions and experiences I would
be glad to read them down below in the comments
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now the last thing that I wanted to mention before
we move to comparisons is Dynamics now you often
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hear me talking about that that sound Lively and
have great Snappy microdynamics but I also often
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say that when it comes to Big Dynamic swings
they're not the best out there and sometimes
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people ask but where are the best when it comes
to Big Dynamic swings and I often say follow
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the power supply and output stage not the da
conversion technology dacks that have Mighty
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power supplies and mighty analog stages sound
Mighty too and Venus 15th is one of the mightiest
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sounding DAC if not the mightiest that I've ever
encountered and because of that even the most
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demanding classical music with with huge Dynamic
swings and big orchestras and just very loud
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passages that go after very silent and laidback
passages that sounds great through Venus 15th it
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never feels stressed it never feels compressed
it's just doing all of those huge Dynamic Swings
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with ease and Grace that you have to hear a DAC of
this level to actually know what I'm talking about
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but enough about the sound in isolation let's do
some comparisons and to be perfectly honest here
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comparing Venus 15th to most DACs that I reviewed
on this channel would be a very one-sided fight
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so I'll just choose my two best DACs so far that
can actually put some decent fight against Venus
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15th and the first one is Laiv Harmony DAC that
goes for 2700 us this one is also R to Our DAC it
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can also work in an NOS or Os mode and it's it's a
fantastic sounding DAC on its own now Laiv Harmony
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is a warmer sounding DAC it has warmer mid base
and mid-range and generally speaking it's a more
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mid-range Centric sounding device it inflates the
mid-range towards the listener making vocals and
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instruments sound closer to you and more intimate
and those mid-range tones also sound a bit
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harmonically richer I guess they called it
Harmony for a reason but it's also in that
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warmth it's also a bit fuzzier and hazier and not
as well defined as on Venus 15th so the the the
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those big vocals and big big leading instruments
and tones are a bit more Blended and separated
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between them and clean outlines are fuzzier
they're just a bit blurrier also outside of
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the mid-range if we are talking about Baseline
Baseline is just not as deep and as grunty and
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weighty with Harmony live as it is with Venus
15th live is a bit more lightweight sounding
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when it comes to that deep subbase and you do not
know is that on its own it it has a perfectly good
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deep big sounding base when you listen to it
in isolation but compared to this really Hammer
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hitting thunderous subbase digging Venus 15th it
sounds a bit lightf footed but the thing is that
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the mid base and lower mid-range are warmer with
Harmony and it creates the sensation of shallower
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but warmer Baseline and it's a funny thing when
you hear the weightier and deeper base of Venus
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15th that is also more precise and are placed
in The Sound Stage with greater precision and
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greater stability it's like focused and energized
and hits really deep hard Harmony is a bit less
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focused it's a bit more dispersed and just warmer
Bloomer in the mid-range as I said very forward
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very rich sounding Harmony a bit more laidback but
cleaner and once again more precise with cleaner
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edges Venus 15th and in the highest region highest
frequencies even if you enable oversampling mode
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with Harmony Venus 15 is definitely a brighter and
more technical sounding DAC but there is also one
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thing that's important to say Harmony does sound
a bit grainier and grittier in higher frequencies
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like upper mid-range and highs whereas Venus has
that liquidy smooth almost tube like tonality to
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its highs so even though it does sound tonally
brighter it's not by any means harsher or more
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jarring or more tiring because it does have even
higher liquidity and smoothness than the harmony
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here so generally speaking if we put all of this
together Harmony is a bit more mid-range Centric
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harmonically richer in the mid-range sounding
DAC but not as precise not as clean as defined
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spatially more forward its Baseline is also a
bit shallower but a bit warmer and less defined
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Venus 15th has grantier deeper but more precise
Baseline and in the highs the harmony DAC sounds
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a bit grittier and Venus is just more pristinely
clean another thing is sound staging Harmony is
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a huge sounding de on own but it pushes a lot of
the sound staging a bit forward more forward than
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Venus 15 but not as deep behind the speakers also
not fully as wide as minus 15th and also when it
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comes to huge Dynamic swings it feels like Venus
15th is doing those Swings with more ease it has
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greater dynamic range it goes from really silent
to really loud with more ease and it does stay
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more stable in space during those passages so in
terms of sound staging just precision and Clarity
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and also Dynamics I have to give that to Venus
15th also it sounds super coherent and liquidy
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smooth almost like it's a tube DAC and I also
have to give that one to Venus 15th where you
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might like Harmony DAC more is when it comes to
that harmonic richness and warmth so mid-range
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warmth and harmonic richness if you're all about
that you might like Harmony more but generally
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speaking I do think that Venus 15th is a better
performer in this dual now the latest comparison
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that is not really a comparison but just something
I wanted to mention is if you follow my channel
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regularly you have maybe seen the video the where
I presented do it yourself build that I did it's
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a tube DAC called Lampucera and I learned the
correct pronunciation for that DAC Lampucera
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from my polish viewers thank you for that by the
way and that build was initially designed by the
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man who is now owning lampizator brand it's a
highly guarded basically high-end brand that
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does tube DACs so I put my heart and soul into
that DAC and really really high quality parts
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and some high quality copper wiring in the power
supply pure solid silver wiring in the signal pot
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great capacitors connectors and everything and
because of that I achieved that just smoothness
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and coherence and liquidity that no mass produced
DAC that I've ever tested could fully match now
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from the moment I reviewed Laiv Harmony DAC
Harmony did manage to outperform my Lampucera
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technically it had more a tiny detail retrieval
it had slightly bigger Sound Stage and I mostly
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listened to it in my own system but from time to
time I would go back to Lampucera just to hear
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that fantastically smooth and natural liquid
sound with those liquid highs that I thought
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personally that you have to use tubes to achieve
it but now I'm really surprised that Denafrips
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is achieving that same amount of coherence and
natural flow and liquidity using good old r2r
00:28:28
design in that favorite mode of mine oversampling
slow this DAC sounds as natural as smooth as my
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own Lampucera build but it also develops even
bigger Sound Stage and Lampucera has great Sound
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Stage nothing before Laiv Harmony could actually
exceed it Denafrips Venus 15 has wider and deeper
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Sound Stage it also has a slightly higher
precision and detail retrieval than my own
00:29:04
DAC so you combine bigger Sound Stage with
greater precision and and and pinp pointing
00:29:13
and in the end but also equally important greater
Dynamics now this immensely deep digging Punchy
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base that Venus 15 has my tube DAC is close but
it's not there and also when it comes to these
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big Dynamic swings my tube DAC is once again Clos
but not fully there so Venus 15th has some same
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qualities of my own tube DAC that I really really
love but it pushes performance in several ways to
00:29:52
an even higher tier and the only reason that I can
think of that somebody wouldn't like this DAC is
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its tonality so because it has great base Mass if
you have problems and you cannot tame the Baseline
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in your Listening Room like big speakers a lot of
room mods that are emphasizing That Base having
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such deep and Powerful base will only emphasize
the problems in your own system and in your own
00:30:25
room another thing high frequency that are bright
and and revealing and radiant if you have a system
00:30:33
that's already bright that might be a bit too much
but that's more a thing of matching matching with
00:30:44
the rest of your system and your Listening Room
then it is the shortcoming of a DAC the DAC itself
00:30:51
as I said in my opinion does so many things so
great that is at least for my own taste and in
00:30:59
my own experience so easy to fall in love with
and with that it has my highest recommendation
00:31:08
if you're in a place that you can even think
about something like this and you have a really
00:31:14
great system because yeah the the the rest of
the system is going to play a huge role in if
00:31:21
you are going to be able to extract and to hear
all that this DAC has to offer but objectively
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I do believe that this is the highest performing
DAC that I've ever tested on this channel clear s
00:31:37
tier performer and with that I hope you like this
video I also hope it wasn't too long I I do get
00:31:45
like that when I personally really engage with
some product but anyways see you next time bye
