Metrum NOS MiniDAC Octave arrived . . .

[morris_minor]

My Metrum Octave arrived today, and here are some pictures to whet your appetites - one with a CD case for scale.

Will post impressions when I've run it for a while . . .

http://www.revalia.co.uk/metrum/front.jpg

http://www.revalia.co.uk/metrum/back.jpg

http://www.revalia.co.uk/metrum/scale.jpg

[Reid Malenfant]

They look very nice Bob :) I just don't get why people design a top quality DAC & leave off an AES/EBU input & balanced analogue outputs though :scratch:

If I can source a source with balanced outputs then that's what I'll go for, I think MartinT is probably of the same persuasion :)


Never the less I'll be interested in how it sounds, hope it's a cracker :D

[sq225917]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

[morris_minor]

Yep. I hope it improves on my current DAC - a Sonifex Redbox DAC1 (http://www.sonifex.co.uk/redbox/rbdac1_ld.shtml) - which I got around 5 years ago for dealing with CD playback from a Pioneer universal player.

http://www.sonifex.co.uk/images/redbox/rb-dac1_600px.jpg

This is now in my office (now main stereo) system hanging off a Squeezebox - which is where I'll be using the Metrum.

I'll also compare it with the DAC in the Squeezebox Transporter - though I've never felt that was lacking in anyway (unlike the little SB receiver in the office).

Anyhow, some interesting times ahead. Not least because Richard from Vantage Audio is bringing up my SL7 on Wednesday and taking away my SL-QL1 for major surgery. :D

[morris_minor]

Well, 1 day in and I'm very happy :eyebrows:

Having the Octave in the chain is the audio equivalent of someone having cleaned the windows, or polished the brass. A tweak upwards on the saturation control in Photoshop. If you know what I mean?

My active Harbeths have never sounded better, and any doubts I had about their bass response (or lack of) evaporated immediately. The change in sound over my Redbox DAC1 was not subtle. Much to the amusement of my 11 year old son I just sat there saying "wow" with a big grin :D (amusement followed with "Dad, turn that down, I'm trying to listen to YouTube").

To sum up my initial impressions, I'd say digital files (from my Squeezebox) have never sounded so much like good vinyl. No high frequency glare, just everything sounding "right".

I've asked Cees if there's any burn in period, but I'm leaving random tracks playing overnight to get some mileage on the clock.

There's always a honeymoon period, I find, with new kit. I'll have to see how I get on with it in the weeks and months to come. :)

[morris_minor]

Reply from Cees . . .

3-4 weeks powered up is needed for best performance - no need to feed it data all the time . . .

[Reid Malenfant]

Reply from Cees . . .

3-4 weeks powered up is needed for best performance - no need to feed it data all the time . . .
Hmm, if no data is fed to it then the analogue output stages won't do anything...

I'd expect better results with it being fed data to crunch on & everything doing something even if it's not connected to anything :) Burn in means the whole lot surely, DAC & output stages :)

[morris_minor]

I'd have thought that too, Mark. I'm going to be using it a lot anyway :D.

[Welder]

I was quite interested in this Dac but now you've said it sounds like a record player I'm not sure it's worth hearing. ;)

[morris_minor]

:lolsign:

[morris_minor]

Ok. It's been around 10 days of heavy use with the Octave now, and I've formed some opinions.

I'm using it currently on the end of a Squeezebox receiver in place of the Sonifex DAC I mentioned above.

The analogue outs from the SB receiver are greatly improved as you'd expect.

Comparisons with the Sonifex are interesting as this, too was a great improvement over the SB analogue out. What the Octave gives is a wider, deeper soundstage; a bit like going from 4:3 TV to 16:9. Not only that, the sound isn't as lean as it was with the Sonifex. I was going to say it was "fatter", but that implies bloat and excess - which is not my impression at all.

Bass reproduction is cleaner, faster and deeper, and just more tuneful. Midrange, eg for vocals, sax solos etc is wonderfully transparent. I mentioned above, the effect of having cleaned the audio window. Everything is just that bit closer to what I perceive to be the original sound (whatever that may be :lol:).

One thing I have noticed is that small details have become apparent in recordings that I never heard before. Those things that are buried in the mix, and just pass you by. Rather than hearing them subliminally (if at all), the Octave allows you to differentiate them from their surroundings.

Just done a back to back with Brothers In Arms on vinyl (OM40/SL7/Era V Gold) - both into HD650s via a Graham Slee Solo SRGII. The vinyl was no slouch, but the Octave walked all over it in terms of depth (both soundstage and bass), though treble was remarkably similar.

Any downsides? Well, yes. With mp3 files it really shows up the lack of quality. An example was Vintage Trouble "Bomb Shelter Sessions". This was an impulse buy after seeing them on Jool's Later . . . Via the Octave, the sound was pretty nasty - distorted and generally rough; not a nice experience.

So the Octave doesn't gloss over anything, but given a good recording, or even a poor one mastered well - the sound is engaging and enveloping and just encourages you to keep listening. Which I suppose is all you could ask?

Obviously, YMMV, as they say - but the Octave does the trick for me. :cool:

---------------------------------------------------

Next step is to compare the analogue out from my Transporter with the digital out via the Octave. This will allow assessment of 96KHz files (the Receiver's feed gets downsampled to 48KHz by SqueezeServer).

[technobear]

I was quite interested in this Dac but now you've said it sounds like a record player I'm not sure it's worth hearing. ;)

That has got to be 'quote of the year' - so far at least.

http://www.technobear.btinternet.co.uk/emoticons/haha.gif

T'has fair restored my normal composure after reading some of Mr. B 's blatherings about how good adaptive USB is :eyebrows:

[morris_minor]

To sum up my initial impressions, I'd say digital files (from my Squeezebox) have never sounded so much like good vinyl. No high frequency glare, just everything sounding "right".


Well, the Metrum DAC is bedding in nicely, and my initial impressions have been echoed in a TNT review (http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/metrum_octave_e.html):


I suspect the Octave will appeal very much to people with preferences that go in the direction of vinyl rather than digital, as this is one of the most 'analogue' sounding DACs I know. Not that it sounds like vinyl, of course, but it certainly lacks everything that vinyl lovers dislike in digital, while still possessing virtually everything that digital has to offer.
Virtually? Does that suggest that it doesn't offer everything that digital is capable of? If that is supposed to mean that there's no better digital source available, then no, because I know there are CD players and DACs that are even better. But for the asking price, the Octave is quite amazing and if you like its personality then I don't think you will be able to better it at double or perhaps even triple the money. Very highly recommended.

[MartinT]

It looks nicely designed with a good PCB layout, something that always impresses me. No cottage industry hand-built feel to it.

[Yomanze]

They look very nice Bob :) I just don't get why people design a top quality DAC & leave off an AES/EBU input & balanced analogue outputs though :scratch:

If I can source a source with balanced outputs then that's what I'll go for, I think MartinT is probably of the same persuasion :)


Never the less I'll be interested in how it sounds, hope it's a cracker :D

Dunno a BNC connection would be more desirable than an AES/EBU connection unless you are routing signals across a concert stage. :P

As for the Metrum DAC I look forward to hearing more about it.

[morris_minor]

As I just posted in another thread: "the Octave is doing fantastically well. It produces a deep, spacious, smooth sound free of any nasty digital edge and I'm dead pleased I bought it."

The new Metrum Hex (http://www.nosminidac.nl/Hex_English.html) should be worth hearing too, if your pockets stretch that far . . .

[Yomanze]

As I just posted in another thread: "the Octave is doing fantastically well. It produces a deep, spacious, smooth sound free of any nasty digital edge and I'm dead pleased I bought it."

The new Metrum Hex (http://www.nosminidac.nl/Hex_English.html) should be worth hearing too, if your pockets stretch that far . . .

Try some piano or guitar with "attack", it'll blow you away, no oversampling / upsampling DAC can compare.

[morris_minor]

Try some piano or guitar with "attack", it'll blow you away, no oversampling / upsampling DAC can compare.
A fairly recent download was a hi-res album from Aix (itracks) of Laurence Juber's "Guitar Noir". That is spookily tactile and "real" :eek:

[Richard Kimber]

Well, the Metrum DAC is bedding in nicely, and my initial impressions have been echoed in a TNT review (http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/metrum_octave_e.html):

Snip ..


... I know there are CD players and DACs that are even better. But for the asking price, the Octave is quite amazing and if you like its personality then I don't think you will be able to better it at double or perhaps even triple the money. Very highly recommended.

So, which DAC do you have to buy to get a better performance than the Octave?

- Richard.

[morris_minor]

So, which DAC do you have to buy to get a better performance than the Octave?

- Richard.

Not something I can really answer, though I'd think Metrum's new Hex would be one ...


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