Good point lol I just think the pontus isn’t as easy a rec as the ares ii. I see it being a little more divisive. A lot more tbh.
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In what way? Poor people are curious. 
Let us poor plebs know 
So learn from our mistakes, DAC -> Amp -> Headphone/speaker synergy matters. ESPECIALLY with headphones.
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There are still really good sigma delta DACs out there…but many would argue that in the under $1,000 price range, most fail to differentiate themselves from each other and there is little upgrade value in that range.
I would also argue that the consensus upgrade path is almost always Headphones 1st, then Amp, then DAC when it comes to upgrades.
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Biggest thing for me is the staging is extremely defined imo to a fault making the dac at least in my system sound unnatural.
Some people will like this and some systems may benefit from this but it’ll completely botch others.
Ares ii is an easier rec because it’s more middle of the road and nothing stands out to me as overly offensive.
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Hobbies are for fun. Don’t forget to have fun lol!
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absolutely!
I listen for enjoyment…but that does include what comes with higher quality equipment.
like I said in another thread, every headphone I’m wearing is endgame at that moment. I’m not thinking about it’s weaknesses, I’m having a blast with the music I’ve got going. I may think about how something else may sound or how a type of DAC / Amp may influence the sound, but I’m not critiquing it. I love to get my seat swagger on baby! 
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This is def the most chill forum. And my preferred hangout.
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I’m glad I found this place, too. It just seems… homey??? Haha. And the layout is really nice, I gotta say. So easy to navigate around and read threads. Everyone has been so helpful to me so far and I love that there are music threads.
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A HiFi forum that doesn’t have music has kinda missed the point? lol…glad you like the music threads and stuff 
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Also, movies and shows. We are few but vigilant !
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I have been apart of many forums for many hobbies. A lot of bickering or sponsored take overs then sponsors bickering with each other etc etc.
Besides a forum that was a bunch of close gaming friends based around RTCW, this has been one of the more welcoming and warm forums. I think we are a smaller group but there is good diversity and a suspicious amount of canadians. Most seem to want to spread their knowledge and not push it as law. I read a lot of posts that i couldnt care less about the topic but im almost always learning something. And hopefully contributing.
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