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 . . .

[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

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

[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

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

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 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 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"

[sq225917]

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.

[morris_minor]

Yep. I hope it improves on my current DAC - a Sonifex Redbox DAC1 - which I got around 5 years ago for dealing with CD playback from a Pioneer universal player.



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.

[morris_minor]

Well, 1 day in and I'm very happy

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 (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 . . .