Seen several threads on the Metrum - many comparing the unit to others - but I don't have much experience with *dedicated* high-end D/A's so "first impressions" seems like the right place for my comments.
I've now had the Metrum in my system for about three weeks... mostly broken in - run for several hours every evening.
BEST D/A converted I've ever personally heard - by a wide margin. Recent D/A's have included mid to high-level AV processors, such as those from Emotiva, Parasound, and Anthem... and more significantly, a few lower-end, but over-achieving dedicated units from abroad.
Most Significant, and worth mentioning, because these lower-end units are also both NOS (non-oversampling) designs - just like the Metrum, and it is my experience with these units that completely changed my thinking about digital audio:
The first unit of this type I acquired is an early generation Valab NOS (acquired in early 2008) deploying 4 early-generation philips chips (about $200), the latter, named "Vintage DAC" is an NOS based on a single early generation philips 1543 chip (about $100).
It was actually the Chinese-made Valab that first opened up my ears to the difference between an NOS design and ANY other DA converter... a difference that I'll characterize (just as others have) as "organic" versus "synthetic". I have to admit that I immensely enjoyed those units - the Valab a bit more than the Vintage DAC. Of course, each had issues, the Valab seemed to have high distortion levels - lacked clarity and had somewhat limited dynamics and bass - but it always sound musical and enjoyable. And the Vintage DAC, for all that's been said about it, didn't quite live up to its expecations - dyanamics and bass were even more limited than the Valab, but it too, always sounded musical.
And it was this experience toggling back and forth between several oversampling DA's... and my two NOS's DA's (my "reference" units) that left me convinced in the correctness of the NOS design concept...and which ultimately led to my search for a high-end NOS unit such as the Metrum. As a side note, I'm also left with the impression that the NOS concept originated with the chinese made DA's (although I could be wrong about this)
The short of it is, I couldn't be happier. The metrum is clear, detailed, neutral, natural sounding, "organic" etc. Voices, in particular sound errily real with perfectly natural textures and character. And this experience - hearing digital audio sounding an order of magnitude superior to what I've come to expect over the years - compels me to seriously re-think the conventional wisdom (and marketing talking points) that accompanied the introduction of digital audio in the middle 1980's (I'm dating myself here)... "perfect sound forever" and generally consistent and uniform sound reproduction from device to device. IMHO, hearing digital audio through the Metrum also compels serious re-thinking of the concept of over-sampling altogether.
What else can I say?
I'm a big fan of the Metrum.
I've now had the Metrum in my system for about three weeks... mostly broken in - run for several hours every evening.
BEST D/A converted I've ever personally heard - by a wide margin. Recent D/A's have included mid to high-level AV processors, such as those from Emotiva, Parasound, and Anthem... and more significantly, a few lower-end, but over-achieving dedicated units from abroad.
Most Significant, and worth mentioning, because these lower-end units are also both NOS (non-oversampling) designs - just like the Metrum, and it is my experience with these units that completely changed my thinking about digital audio:
The first unit of this type I acquired is an early generation Valab NOS (acquired in early 2008) deploying 4 early-generation philips chips (about $200), the latter, named "Vintage DAC" is an NOS based on a single early generation philips 1543 chip (about $100).
It was actually the Chinese-made Valab that first opened up my ears to the difference between an NOS design and ANY other DA converter... a difference that I'll characterize (just as others have) as "organic" versus "synthetic". I have to admit that I immensely enjoyed those units - the Valab a bit more than the Vintage DAC. Of course, each had issues, the Valab seemed to have high distortion levels - lacked clarity and had somewhat limited dynamics and bass - but it always sound musical and enjoyable. And the Vintage DAC, for all that's been said about it, didn't quite live up to its expecations - dyanamics and bass were even more limited than the Valab, but it too, always sounded musical.
And it was this experience toggling back and forth between several oversampling DA's... and my two NOS's DA's (my "reference" units) that left me convinced in the correctness of the NOS design concept...and which ultimately led to my search for a high-end NOS unit such as the Metrum. As a side note, I'm also left with the impression that the NOS concept originated with the chinese made DA's (although I could be wrong about this)
The short of it is, I couldn't be happier. The metrum is clear, detailed, neutral, natural sounding, "organic" etc. Voices, in particular sound errily real with perfectly natural textures and character. And this experience - hearing digital audio sounding an order of magnitude superior to what I've come to expect over the years - compels me to seriously re-think the conventional wisdom (and marketing talking points) that accompanied the introduction of digital audio in the middle 1980's (I'm dating myself here)... "perfect sound forever" and generally consistent and uniform sound reproduction from device to device. IMHO, hearing digital audio through the Metrum also compels serious re-thinking of the concept of over-sampling altogether.
What else can I say?
I'm a big fan of the Metrum.