1st Pontus II took 4 weeks to be delivered. 2nd was ordered from a different vendor and took 6 days, however, it was faulty on arrival, the replacement took 9 days to arrive ( from point of reporting faulty unit).
There were differences in fit and finish as well as supplied items between the first unit and the second and third.
The first unit was received without a manual, cables and the unit was fitted straight into the packing material without any type of bag, the second and third units came with manual, power cable and were in material bags. The finish on the Aluminium was really good on the first unit but the second and third units were impeccable (the difference between good enough and as good as it gets). It was also evident that the second and third units had additional work done to corners and edges, they were far better radiused.
This is my first serious experience purchasing China-FI, I am impressed with the quality of products and services provided. The reason why I changed vendors is that the second vendor offers price matching (which they did) and a rewards system (I have already used the reward points) which when considering further purchases makes it very worthwhile.
But, there's always a but. The Denafrips doesn't make me warm and gooey when I look at it, it is made in China, not America, not Italy, not Germany, I do not know if I am ready to go through that learning curve yet.
I have been through a few DAC's this year, so why the Pontus II and why the mention of RME? Simply put, the overall balance in performance.
RME ADI-2 FS, a case of don't believe everything you read and everything you see. Three points I have to make regarding the RME, changing the power supply was crucial to obtaining the best possible performance, the unit is sensitive to EMI/RFI and the unit has an excellent USB input section (the difference any USB cable made was far smaller than any other DAC I have tried so far).
As to the reason for this post, I have not responded to a few PMs regarding the Pontus ETC, I hope some of my purchasing experience here helps someone, and I do not feel the RME has been propally assessed or reported on, the PSU made a major change, I went through various smps and batteries but settled on a custom linear supply.
There were differences in fit and finish as well as supplied items between the first unit and the second and third.
The first unit was received without a manual, cables and the unit was fitted straight into the packing material without any type of bag, the second and third units came with manual, power cable and were in material bags. The finish on the Aluminium was really good on the first unit but the second and third units were impeccable (the difference between good enough and as good as it gets). It was also evident that the second and third units had additional work done to corners and edges, they were far better radiused.
This is my first serious experience purchasing China-FI, I am impressed with the quality of products and services provided. The reason why I changed vendors is that the second vendor offers price matching (which they did) and a rewards system (I have already used the reward points) which when considering further purchases makes it very worthwhile.
But, there's always a but. The Denafrips doesn't make me warm and gooey when I look at it, it is made in China, not America, not Italy, not Germany, I do not know if I am ready to go through that learning curve yet.
I have been through a few DAC's this year, so why the Pontus II and why the mention of RME? Simply put, the overall balance in performance.
RME ADI-2 FS, a case of don't believe everything you read and everything you see. Three points I have to make regarding the RME, changing the power supply was crucial to obtaining the best possible performance, the unit is sensitive to EMI/RFI and the unit has an excellent USB input section (the difference any USB cable made was far smaller than any other DAC I have tried so far).
As to the reason for this post, I have not responded to a few PMs regarding the Pontus ETC, I hope some of my purchasing experience here helps someone, and I do not feel the RME has been propally assessed or reported on, the PSU made a major change, I went through various smps and batteries but settled on a custom linear supply.
