Metrum Acoustics Onyx (balanced Dac) and Jade (balanced Dac + Pre)

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by sacredgates, Oct 3, 2017.

  1. FredM

    FredM New

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    Good to hear, after a month with the Onyx I'm also mightily impressed, big improvement. You can expect some nice refinements ahead while burn in. The live "being there" experience is great :D enjoy!

    The following months I'll the sort out the front end with a proper NAA (the Onyx is now running from a standard PC..) so great times ahead!
     
  2. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    Wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Any way to tell how I'm getting those? Pardon my ignorance.

    As a quick update, I built a Roon ROCK server using an Intel NUC yesterday. It runs their custom Linux-based OS and nothing else. Zero pops with it, so it seems to be a driver- or PC-related issue with my Windows 10 desktop.
     
  3. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    You might find some of this helpful:

    https://support.native-instruments....1729-Windows-Tuning-Tips-for-Audio-Processing

    Ignore the stuff about ASIO. The stuff about Latencymon might be helpful.

    (Essentially, USB 1 and 2 use the CPU and interrupts to clock data onto the USB bus, so if something else is "hogging" and the system is late clocking the audio data out, you can get pops in the sound due to the sudden discontinuity. It's often caused by CPU load, but can also happen in low load situations due to subsystems exhibiting problematic latency.)

    You may prefer your Roon box, anyway, ultimately ;)
     
  4. FredM

    FredM New

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    I'm using the Onyx on a 5 year old Windows10 PC via USB, works like a charm.
     
  5. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    Thanks! What kind of changes have you noticed after running it in longer?
     
  6. FredM

    FredM New

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    Subtitle but noticeable*, I have very little review skills, but you can think of: A bit more of everything, more precise placement, more depth, thigher bass, more small detail. All being small improvements, creating a bit more joy.

    * the ‘big improvement’ as mentioned in my previous post is in comparison with my previous DAC.
     
  7. error

    error Friend

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    Thanks for impressions guys. Jade vs new Yggdrasil (maybe even Gungnir Multibit) would be very nice comparison since they cost +- same. Anyone heard them side by side?
     
  8. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

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    +1
    And also how the "preamp" performs would be very useful to know, it looks impressive on paper but some honest user feedback would be nice. I've been toying with the idea of buying Jade and use it as a DAC+Preamp with a headphone amp without volume control or a bypass switch, it could be pretty awesome if their claims are true, as headphone amps usually come with "decent but nothing special" ALPS pots.
     
  9. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I haven't heard the Yggdrasil, but I've owned the Gungnir Multibit twice and am very familiar with its sound signature (although it's been a year since I last had one in-house).

    These impressions are from memory, so take them with a teaspoon of salt:

    The Gungnir Multibit sounds slightly V-shaped compared to the Onyx (and the Pavane for that matter) and has a much more "steely" top end. The Onyx sounds more linear with less prominent treble and bass in comparison to the rest of the frequency spectrum. I wouldn't call it mid-focused, but it doesn't have the slightly "distant" mids that the Gungnir Multibit has. In terms of imaging, the Gungnir Multibit was a few rows back with the Onyx being more forward and "enveloping." As a result of these differences, I think the Gungnir Multibit was more immediately apparent with detail although I think both are ultimately very similar with their resolving capabilities. The Onyx is smoother with its detail delivery whereas the Gungnir Multibit sounded just ever-so-slightly grainy in comparison.

    In my mind the Onyx is superior to the Gungnir Multibit, although it's slightly softer in its delivery. Let me put it this way: when I had the Gungnir Multibit I found myself listening to more vinyl than digital. When I had the Pavane (and now the Onyx) I'm almost exclusively listening to digital, although being spoiled by the ease of use of Roon might be a contributing factor. As always, YMMV.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  10. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I've actually thought quite a few times about ditching vinyl and preamp entirely and going with either an Adagio, a Jade or a PS Audio DirectStream DAC running as a pre. I'd be interested to hear how good the preamp functionality actually sounds, because I've consistently found that preamps make a difference in sound that's only secondary in magnitude to speakers. I've found 2 preamps I love and I can't quite tear myself away from vinyl, so I haven't yet gone that direction.

    FWIW I tried this once with the Benchmark DAC3 HGC and found its preamp section wasn't as good as having a separate pre.
     
  11. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    First time I've ever seen the Gungnir Multibit described as "V-shaped", though I agree the vocals are slightly recessed in the mix, and overall more depth of stage than some other DACs. A lot of what you describe sounds like typical NOS DAC differences, which you clearly seem to prefer over the Schiit MB sound signature?
     
  12. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    Yeah you kind of nailed it. I've amended my original post to say "slightly v-shaped" so as not to exaggerate the extent of this.

    The Metrum sounds like a NOS DAC which I definitely prefer (although most NOS DACs I've found a bit too "gooey" and slow/thick in presentation compared to the Onyx/Pavane). The Gungnir Multibit sounded somewhat warmer than my experience with Schiit products in the past, but definitely sounds like typical Schiit.

    Definitely want to emphasize the YMMV. A lot of people would potentially prefer the Gungnir Multibit to Metrum's offerings, although I still think the Pavane is the best DAC I've heard, with the Onyx and some dCS models a close second.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  13. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

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    Yes, preamps make quite a big difference!
    The interesting thing, according to Metrum, is that the preamp is neither analog or digital, I'll quote:

    "Experiments were made and as result the best sound was coming directly from our Transient™ modules. Even the digital approach did not convince us but still one idea was not tried yet. Especially in case of R2R ladder dac’s it is quite easy to change the output voltage of the dac by changing its reference voltage but to realize this, dedicated dac boards were designed to get the best regulation possible."

    This sounds quite interesting, at least for me, but I'm a noob and not technically capable of knowing if is the real deal or just hype. I hope it's at least better than the typical 20 bucks ALPS pot that comes with most headphone amplifiers, I'm not expecting Ayre KX-R Twenty levels of performance but some SBAF feedback would be extremely useful to get a better idea of what to expect.
     
  14. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    Hear, hear! Hoping someone grabs a Jade and can give us a comparison.
     
  15. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Right good point - the newer/better NOS DACs (e.g. from Metrum and Holo) seem to have solved the overly gooyness of the past, although I've only heard the Holo Spring which I quite liked, but still prefer Gungnir Multibit's presentation.

    I am still curious and would love to try one of the Metrum DACs at some point though, so I'll be keeping an eye out for Onyx/Jade to show up on the used market (but it may be a while).
     
  16. bengo

    bengo Friend

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    @MyPetSasquatch looks like the Onyx could be upgraded to Jade by a simple front panel replacement, have you considered that?
     
  17. simomat

    simomat New

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    I recently acquired a Metrum Adagio to get rid of the preamp. I always thought that preamps were necessary to have great sound. I owned a very expensive tube preamps Estro Armonico Nordlys and was happy. Then I started to think I could have more resolution and in fact I was missing some details.

    When I got the Metrum Adagio that was kind of a bet if a Dac/pre could be really great and be enough. Well I do believe Metrum nailed it and I have maximum detail and resolution and also dinamic and boost all over the frequency spectrum.

    So I don't miss a preamp. I actually think the Adagio is quite unique in that regard and an accomplished product.

    I tried adding a preamp after it Questyle CMA800P, Violectric V281 but no way. It simply subtracted resolution and openness to the sound.

    I use my Adagio with active speakers and at the same time with SRM-007 Stax headphone amplifier (with volume control off) and I get excellent results.

    I believe these findings can also applied to Jade although I didn't hear it.
     
  18. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    I considered grabbing the Jade instead of the Onyx, but I really do need an analog input with a volume control for my turntable/phono stage. Having a line-level output from the DAC is also convenient as it feeds my headphone amp as well, which doesn't have a volume control bypass. If I ever decided to go full digital on my front-end, I think I'd probably just sell the Onyx and my preamp and go with the Adagio.
     
  19. MyPetSasquatch

    MyPetSasquatch Friend

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    This is awesome to hear. Which active speakers are you using?
     
  20. simomat

    simomat New

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    Last edited: Jan 19, 2018

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