DENAFRIPS ARES II DAC User manual

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
V1.
1
16th May 2021
ARES
II
DAC
OWNER’S MANUAL

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Contents
1. INSTALLATION & SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS ........................................................................... 2
2. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3
3. DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS ........................................................................................................... 4
3.1 ADAPTIVE FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING ......................................................................... 4
3.2 PROPRIETARY, STATE-OF-THE-ART USB INTERFACE ................................................... 4
3.3 PROPRIETARY SPDIF DIGITAL AUDIO RECEIVER .......................................................... 4
3.4 NOS/OS ........................................................................................................................ 4
3.5 PROPRIETARY R-2R AND DSD DECODING ARCHITECTURE .......................................... 5
3.6 DAC ARCHITECTURE .................................................................................................... 6
4. OPERATING INSTRUCTION .................................................................................................. 7
4.1 Quick Start Guide ........................................................................................................ 7
4.2 USB DRIVER INSTALLATION – WINDOWS OS ............................................................ 11
5. SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................................................ 15
6. WARRANTY ....................................................................................................................... 16

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1. INSTALLATION & SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
This DAC is designed and built to provide trouble-free performance, but as with all
electronic devices it is necessary to observe a few precautions:
 Unpack the DAC carefully.
 Position the DAC on a stable, horizontal surface, i.e. sturdy rack.
 The DAC supports voltage 100-250VAC worldwide voltage by a voltage selector. The
voltage selector can be found at the bottom of the DAC. Switch it to the correct
voltage prior to powering it up, i.e. 115V for the US / 230V for the EU.
 Please connect the AC power cord with earth(ground) pin unless it is absolutely
required to reduce hum from the ground loops of the connected devices.
 Always ensure that when disconnecting and reconnecting your audio equipment the
mains supply is turned off.
 Position the power cord and signal interconnects where they are not likely cause trip
and fall hazard.
 Do not use the DAC near water, or place water-filled containers on the DAC. Entry of
liquid into the DAC is hazardous and may cause electric shock and/or fire hazard.
 Do not place the unit under direct sunlight or heat source.
 Do not remove any covers or try to gain access to the inside. There are no user
adjustments or fuses to change without qualification.
 Clean regularly with a damp soft cloth. Do not use any cleaning agents as it might
damage the surface finishing.
 The electronics in modern hi-fi equipment is complex and may, therefore, be
adversely affected or damaged by lightning. For protection of the audio system
during electrical storms, disconnect the mains plugs.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2. INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing the DENAFRIPS ARES DAC.
The ARES DAC is built with a sole objective in mind - to reproduce digital music to analogue-
like sound for today’s audiophile. The use of advanced hardware design, powerful digital
processing technology, combined with the know-how of recording and reproduction
experiences, ARES DAC achieved the digital music playback goals - musical expression.
The architecture uses the most primitive R-2R DAC technology, it is probably the most
suitable architecture to reproduce music. Despite the test results of various measurements
and parameters of the conventional R-2R DAC may usually not as good as the mainstream
integrated DAC chip, but the sound of R-2R DAC, is often filled with emotion, relax, high
resolution, and additive musicality that most of the common mainstream integrated DAC
chip cannot match.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3. DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
3.1 ADAPTIVE FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING
The DENAFRIPS approach to address the jitters issue by FIFO BUFFER RECLOCKING. The
adaptive FIFO buffer store the source digital audio data in the memory. These data are read
from the memory using the low phase noise, precision FEMTO Clock, located right in the
DAC.
This technology is close to the perfection, especially so with the local FEMTO Clock. The
jitter is so small that it can be neglected.
3.2 PROPRIETARY, STATE-OF-THE-ART USB INTERFACE
The ARES is equipped with the proprietary USB Audio Solution, powered by STM32F446
Advanced AMR Based MCU. DENAFRIPS redesigned and optimized circuitry, allow the DAC
to be used as high-end DAC with computers / streamers. It supports 24bit/1536kHz* PCM
data stream, and native decoding of DSD up to DSD1024*. It comes with licensed THESYCON
USB Driver for Windows Platform.
NOTE: The USB Module is designed to trigger on only when USB Input is selected. This is
intended design to reduce digital input interfaces cross-interference for best sound
reproduction. *High res support may vary depending on system compatibility.
3.3 PROPRIETARY SPDIF DIGITAL AUDIO RECEIVER
The SPDIF Coaxial, Optical, input support up to 24bit/192kHz digital audio format. The ARES
abandon the use of Digital Audio Receiver chip. The digital data is decoded by the on-board
FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), signal path is shortened and eliminated the
undesirable coloration.
3.4 NOS/OS
The ARES allow the user to change the sampling mode on the fly.
NOS, as the name suggested, does not over-sampling to digital input data.
In OS mode, the PCM 44.1kHz or 48kHz based audio data are up-sampled to the maximum
rate of PCM1411.2 or PCM1536. There is no up-sampling of DSD audio signal.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3.5 PROPRIETARY R-2R AND DSD DECODING ARCHITECTURE
The ARES is equipped with 24Bit R-2R DAC to decode PCM data stream and 32 steps FIR
analogue filters hardware decoder to decode DSD data stream. These designs guaranteed
the PCM format can be perfectly decoded, at the same time, the DSD format can be
perfectly decoded as well. It is rare in the currently market that a R-2R DAC can hardware
decode both the PCM and DSD formats.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
3.6 DAC ARCHITECTURE
DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING – All digital input data are stored in the on-board FPGA high-
speed RAM.
FEMTO CLOCK – These data are read from the memory using the low phase noise, accurate
FEMTO Clock, located right in the DAC. The processed data are sent to the final stage
Discrete R-2R for DA conversion.
R-2R LADDER NETWORK – The data bits are converted to analogue signal by the true
balanced R-2R ladder network arrays. The linearity of the conversion is guaranteed by the
high-precision thin film resistors, with low thermal effect temperature coefficient of the low
10/15ppm.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
4. OPERATING INSTRUCTION
4.1 Quick Start Guide
The Ares II is easy to use. Nonetheless, please read this section to fully understand the
functions and features available.
Figure 1. Ares II Front Panel
Description:
(1) Standby Button
Press the button once to switch on the DAC, vice versa, press once to switch the DAC into
standby mode.
(2) Standby LED
The Standby LED shall be on when the DAC is in Standby Mode. The LED shall be dimmed
when the DAC is in Operating Mode.
(3) Input Selection: USB
Press the button to select USB as current input source. The respective LED shall be on.
(4) Input Selection: COAXIAL 1
Press the button to select COAXIAL 1 as current input source. The respective LED shall be on.
(5) Input Selection: COAXIAL 2
Press the button to select COAXIAL 2 as current input source. The respective LED shall be on.
(6) Input Selection: OPTICAL 1
1
2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1
10

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Press the button to select OPTICAL 1 as current input source. The respective LED shall be on.
(7) Input Selection: OPTICAL 2
Press the button to select OPTICAL 2 as current input source. The respective LED shall be on.
(8) Phase Button
Press the button to toggle Phase Output. Phase LED On: Negative Phase, Phase LED Off:
Positive Phase
(9) Mute Button
Press the button to enable/disable Mute. When mute, the Mute LED will be blinking 1s in
interval.
(10) Digital Audio Signal Input Sampling Rate
The following table illustrate the Input Sampling Rate LED status.
Base Sampling Rate Multiplier Input Format
44.1 kHz
1X 44.1 kHz
2X 88.2 kHz
4X 176.4 kHz
8X 352.8 kHz
16X = 2X + 8X 705.6 kHz
32X = 4X + 8X 1,411.2 kHz
48 kHz
1X 48 kHz
2X 96 kHz
4X 192 kHz
8X 384 kHz
16X = 2X + 8X 768 kHz
32X = 4X + 8X 1536 kHz
DSD
1X DSD 64
2X DSD 128
4X DSD 256
8X DSD 512
16X = 2X + 8X DSD 1024
Table 1. Sampling Rate

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
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Parameter Settings:
NOS/OS Selection:
1. Press the Mute button once to enter configuration mode
2. Press the OPT1 momentarily
 OPT1 LED On = NOS
 OPT1 LED Off = OS
3. Wait for 5s
4. Ares II back in operational mode
Filter Selection (Effective in OS Only):
1. Press the Mute button once to enter configuration mode
2. Press the OPT2 momentarily
 OPT2 LED On = Slow Filter
 OPT2 Off = Sharp Filter
3. Wait for 5s
4. Ares II back in operational mode
Video Guide:
https://www.denafrips.com/config-ARES

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Figure 2. Ares II Rear Panel
Description:
(1) AC Power Supply
CAUTION! Select the correct AC Power Supply voltage prior supplying the power to the Ares
II. The voltage selector switch is located underneath the Ares II chassis.
(2) Digital Audio Signal Input
There are 5 inputs, namely, USB, COAX 1, COAX 2, OPT1 and OPT2.
(3) Analog Audio Signal Output
Balanced output via XLR (pin2 hot), singled ended output via RCA. The Ares II is a true
balanced DAC, we recommend using balanced output whenever possible. The RCA and XLR
output are shared, please use either of the output at a time. It is not recommended to use
both RCA and XLR output simultaneously.
NOTE:
The Ares II chassis is connected to the power supply earth.

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
4.2 USB DRIVER INSTALLATION – WINDOWS OS
USB driver is required for Windows Operating System (Windows 7/8/8.1/10, X86/X64). The
USB driver is licensed by THESYCON to provide the highest quality audio playback for
Computer Audio System.
NOTE: Mac and Linux OS do not require the USB driver.
Installation Guide:
 Download the driver from the support page: https://www.denafrips.com/support
 Do not connect the USB cable from the computer to the DAC. Remove it before the
USB driver installation
 Double click the “DENAFRIPS_UsbAudio_v4.82.0” (or the latest version) to install the
USB driver.
 Follow the on-screen instruction to complete the installation
Figure 1. Welcome screen

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Figure 2. Default Installation Directory
Figure 3. Preinstallation Successful

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Figure 4. Completed
 Restart the computer to complete the installation
 Connect the USB cable to the DAC
 Power on the DAC. Select USB input
 The USB DAC shall be detected. The driver status can be monitored as follows
Figure 5. Taskbar & Control Panel

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 Select DENAFRIPS USB DAC as default Windows OS Soundcard
Press Set Default button
Properties of the DENAFRIPS USB DAC
Direct
-
Sound default format
ASIO Buffer Size
Playback software recommendation:
 roon
 JRiver
 Foobar2000
 Sonicstudio Amarra

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
5. SPECIFICATIONS
Description Parameters
AC Power 115/230V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption < 30W
Frequency Response 0-70K Hz(-3dB)
THD+N ≤0.004%(1KHz A-weighted)
Output (RCA) 2.2(+/-10%) V RMS(1KHz)
Output (XLR) 4.4(+/-10%) V RMS(1KHz)
Supported Format (DSD) DSD64 All Input
DSD64 – DSD1024 USB Only
Supported Format (PCM) 24bit/44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHz All Input
44.1 – 1536 kHz USB Only
S/N Ratio 115dB(RCA), 114dB(XLR)
Dynamic Range >119dB(RCA), >120dB(XLR)
Stereo Crosstalk ≤-124dB(RCA), ≤130dB(XLR)
Dimension 215 *230 *45 mm
Weight 3.5kg

© DENAFRIPS CO. LTD. & VINSHINE AUDIO PTE. LTD. (SINGAPORE)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
6. WARRANTY
DENAFRIPS ARES purchased from the Authorized Distributor comes with 36 months of
warranty from the date of purchase / delivery (whichever later).
Defective
Within
Warranty Policy
First 30 Days
DENAFRIPS
to bear both way shipping fee.
Within 1st Year
Customer to bear one
-
way shipping fee.
DENAFRIPS
shall
cover the return shipping fee.
Within Warranty
Period
Customer to bear both way shipping fee.
DENAFRIPS
to repair
at free of charge.
Out of Warranty Customer to bear both way shipping cost. DENAFRIPS to
provide repair / maintenance services at cost.