Metrum Octave versus Eastern Electric DAC

Mr Tennis, I'm not so sure I agree with your premise that you would pick the tube DAC everytime, especially in a blind test, maybe, maybe not. In any case that would have to be proven to me. I don't find the EE DAC to have a typically characteristic "tube sound" at all although by changing out tubes you can alter its sound, on that I agree.

Having purchased several budget DAC's in the 1K range over the past year and a half, 2 tube and 2 SS, I personally settled for one that is not tube and EVERYONE to a person that has listened to all of them in my system agrees with my preference, overwhelmingly. As my moniker implies I generally prefer tube devices, over SS but I would be going out on a limb to say that this is ALWAYS the case. I haven't heard the Metrum but there seems to be a concensus concerning it and the aspects of NOS over upsampling/oversampling digital devices.

Mr. Tennis I don't fully understand your question. When you say pick do you mean prefer? I have no clue as to which you might prefer, I can only say what other listeners prefer in my system. So far as "classic tube sound" ala your preferred Conrad Johnson MV 125 amp, the Minimax Plus is in no way reminicent of that type of sound, actually it doesn't have a tube sound at all to my ears. This is neither good or bad. It is a fine DAC, just not the most preferable is all. The tonal balance in stock form does not meld ideally with my system even using different tubes and I've tried them all. I agree with what Charles stated, my preference for tubes generally lies in amps and pre-amps. I don't mean to get too off topic from the question of the thread, Metrum vs EE since I haven't compared the two but my experience leads me to believe that the design of the output stage and power supply are the most important factors in designing a DAC. Tube vs SS, less a factor, YMMV.