Metrum Acoustics Amethyst DAC/Amp Impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Hands, Jun 19, 2017.

  1. scotto

    scotto New

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    Since I have an Octave, it's really helpful to hear your impressions vs the quad! Have you ever tried your quad in your main system?
    This is the second or third comment on putting this up against an Yggdrasil in a main system, and not faring well... I wonder if different speaker placement would help? I auditioned a nice cd player years ago, brought it home, and it didn't sound 'right' until i massaged it into my system, it improved dramatically, speaker positions, and tweaks of isolating the player from vibration. I do this with my Octave too... it took some tweaks to make it shine - just wondering
     
  2. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    apologize for bringing this thread back from the dead... but figured this was the appropriate place to ask.

    I was considering moving on from the Amethyst, but the DAC3 modules will cost less than a replacement DAC and was wondering what they bring to the table. Has anyone heard DAC3 and can explain what they bring to the table?

    Thanks
     
  3. skem

    skem Friend

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    This is not an easy trade off.

    DAC3 is a very different sound than DAC2. It takes a big step towards a more mainstream sound signature.

    With DAC2, the old chips, a Metrum DAC had no trace of digitus and very good timbre. In the <$9,000 category, WaveDream was the only one that came close on timbre to Pavane L3/Adagio. But many other DACs easily bettered Metrum on dynamics, including WaveDream and everything OS. With Metrum, you paid dearly for the timbre with soft, unengaging transients and rolled treble. DAC2 also gave you incredible density/weight to the tone, perhaps unreal levels of density—female arias on Metrum were divine. I’m told WaveDream also has tone density compared to, say, Holo, but just not as much as Metrum DAC2. Depending on your musical preferences, The Metrum sound was either magical or dead.

    The new DAC3 chips wakes up the Metrum line a lot. They have lots of dynamics, more tightly controlled bass, and more extended bass and treble. Indeed, I sometimes think DAC3 has a bit too much dynamic emphasis in the treble for my taste—but it does give the impression of live-amplified sound and I’m getting used to it. You can hear the effects of close mic’ing, EQ, etc, but it’s as if the audio were being sent straight to monitors and not being digitized first. The effect is pretty dramatic, but not especially relaxing. Going from memory, I’d say the sound and timbre is more realistic than WaveDream. Metrum is definitely back in the running.

    However, while the first impression is that DAC3 is a major upgrade, these new chips have a lean quality around 2-4kHz. They measure flat, of course, but the tone density in the voices is gone. Instead, voices now sound dry and hollow (by comparison to DAC2, they still objectively sound OK.) I also sometimes feel there’s some kind of phase fuckery going in this region, as if there were a very high-order filter zero right on the vocals region, causing a tiny notch and phase inversion. To be clear, I haven’t measured this—I lack the gear to do so—but that’s the impression the sound sometimes gives me.

    With transients, bass, and extension improved, I think most people would find DAC3 to be a big upgrade, but I for one have yet to recover fully from the the thin vocals. I hear the lean midrange in all kinds of music now. It’s annoying me, mostly on older recordings. But my spouse, who doesn’t know about the “dip”, just loves the new chips. Ignorance is bliss (Sorry you asked!).

    I say it comes down to genre. If you do rock, pop, metal, electronica, or percussive music, DAC3 chips ARE an upgrade. A big one. If you’re doing classical, opera, or folk, then maybe, maybe not.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 15, 2022
  4. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    @skem - outstanding comparison. The reason the Amethyst has lasted for me this long is the vary thing you describe as missing from the DAC3 - timbre and tonal density in the vocals. I was hoping DAC3 would simply be a DAC2 with better dynamics... but I guess that's not to be.

    Thanks!
     
  5. skem

    skem Friend

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    DAC3 is still better than any alternative I’ve heard, and brain burn in is helping. This may be the key thing: there will always be winners and losers but I’m finding that, overall, there are more tracks that benefit from new chips than tracks that suffer.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2022
  6. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    @skem I can't recall if you've listened to the Morpheus. I'm curious how the DAC3 modules make the Metrum DACs sound relative to that.
     
  7. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Exit stage left....
  8. MisterRogers

    MisterRogers Ethernet Nervosa

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    ^^ Don't think so - I think the Pasithea has upped the chip density even more
     

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