Unfortunately, I have not heard the Onyx but I have owned the Octave II, Hex, Pavane, Adagio, and finally settled in with the Pavane L3. After owning the Adagio as well as the original edition and (more recently) the highest level Pavane L3, it is my opinion you cannot go wrong with either. The Adagio run amp-direct provides a very simple and great sounding alternative. The Pavane L3 is just as good but only improves on the Adagio in the area of tonal density and only when used with a very high quality preamp. The Adagio has slightly better resolution but that is splitting hairs.
I use the Antipodes DX Gen3 with a Roon endpoint, which is currently either the Metrum Ambre or the SOtM triad
(three boxes) consisting of SOtM's sPS-200ultra (Roon endpoint), tx-USBultra (USB reclocker), and sPS-500 (power supply for both). At about 1/3 the price of the SOtM gear, the Ambre sounds arguably just as good although slightly different. I have not yet decided which endpoint I will keep - they both sound great. Running I2S directly into my Pavane is a plus and probably the best connection between that and the Ambre, but is not an overwhelming improvement over using AES/EBU from the Ambre to the Pavane L3. I think it is awesome that Metrum offers a user-installable board to facilitate the I2S connection.
As you move up in the line, IME each successive Metrum upgrade provides more of their signature, natural sound while improving dynamics, tonal qualities, detail, and refinement. They are a very complete company that manufacturers practical, great-sounding, and high quality products, and they are very easy people to work with.
BTW, speaking of unnaturally expanded soundstaging, that is what I heard when I tried the early Lampizator L4 G4. |
Just picked up a Jade DAC/preamp and it sounds amazing for the money.
After putting it in my main system today, I am reevaluating whether I should be using the Adagio rather than my Pavane L3. Consistent with my earlier comments, they are cut from the same cloth and the sound is close but there is maybe just a touch less body and tonal warmth with the Adagio (compared to the Pavane L3 through my preamp) but the resolution, natural sound, definition, and frequency extension are very good.....and that from the Jade, not the Adagio, which is even better. The Onix is to the Jade what the Pavane L3 is to the Adagio, fyi. |
@justjames72 , to your question, "so not worth it to upgrade from Onyx to Pavane unless you are super critical listener?" I would say, probably not, unless the rest of your system is dialed in at a fairly high level. However, this stuff is subjective and more than a few say the source is your most important component (closely followed, or led, by speakers). I definitely would not trade the Onyx or Jade for the Level 1 Pavane, that doesn't use the
Transient DAC Two modules. I have been on a small mission to simplify my system and I am strongly considering purchasing an Adagio so I can remove the preamp from my system. One thing I didn't notice the first time I auditioned (i.e., owned) the Adagio, is that in addition to improved resolution and HF extension, the Jade (or Adagio) direct seems to provide a bit of a boost in dynamics over the Pavane L3/preamp....possibly because the DAC direct route is providing a higher voltage output than my preamp or, maybe just because there are less electronics in the path. The differences are relatively small. The other thing to consider is that my amplifiers are relatively optimal for both passives and DAC-direct because of their high'ish 100K ohm input impedance. This DAC-direct option may not work as well with amps having lower input impedance. However, the output impedance of the Jade and Onyx is a low 100 ohms and output impedance of the Adagio is 100 ohms for the RCA output and 320
ohms
for the XLR. |
@donquichotte,
I see that I should probably clarify the intent of my comments. I have owned quite a few Metrum products and they have all been great for their intended purpose at their price points. I have owned the Octave II, Hex, Pavane L1, and Adagio, and I currently own the Pavane L3, Jade, Amber, and Baby Amber.
I am not saying I believe the Jade or Onyx are better sounding than the Pavane L1, but rather that I wouldn’t trade-in the Jade/Onyx on a Pavane L1. If the Onyx and Pavane L1 were side-by-side, I may very well choose the sound of the Pavane L1, if cost were not a factor. The Pavane (at any level) offers obvious improvements resulting from a much larger and superior power supply and larger number of DAC chips.
However the newer Transient DAC Two modules with the FPGA within the module do offer sonic advantages over the original Transient chips. Metrum have done such a nice job with the Jade/Onyx that IMO the sonic difference may not be worth paying more to purchase a Pavane L1 vs. saving up to afford a Pavane L3 or Adagio, or whatever else they may come up with in the future.
As you can see from my ownership and from Metrum’s product history, this digital stuff is continually evolving so I personally wouldn’t move in a backward direction for the Pavane L1 unless my plan were to upgrade it to the L3 version. Even then, I would make sure the rest of my system were dialed in first. It is all relative.
@justjames72,
My virtual system is posted here under “Sounds Good”
It is mostly up-to-date.
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@donquichotte "compare directly the Onyx / Jade to the Pavane / Adagio. Would you say that the later do improve upon the former in terms of treble extension and soundstage width?" I would say the latter improves on the former in terms of tonal density, power/drive, bass, and maybe soundstage depth.....in my system the Pavane L3 and Adagio display just a little more of everything but it is much closer than you would expect for the price difference. The one thing I don’t really notice being too different is treble extension although you might convince me the Pavane L3/Adagio portray just a slight touch more natural ambiance through the treble range. I suspect these differences are related to the more expensive units having more DAC modules and a larger power supply with three transformers instead of one. Below I have linked a review of the Onyx and Jade by Rene’ van Es, with The Ear. The author has significant experience with Metrum gear and he owns both the Pavane and Adagio. He discusses comparisons between those more expensive DACs and the Jade so this is a good review for your questions. A couple of excerpts following the link provide an insight into how much Mr. van Es enjoyed the Jade. http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/metrum-acoustics-onyx-and-jade-digital-analogue-converter
A quick comparison to the Pavane in this system shows the Jade has a little less authority, is a little less detailed but is otherwise very similar. The family signature is clear, the Jade will not surprise you in that way but it’s remarkable that both DACs are so close considering the price gap.
Acoustic instruments are beautifully arranged around the singer and backing vocalists. Every individual is easy to pick out, all the instruments are in harmony but still separated from each other. The impact of the voice is bigger than you probably expect at this price, a lot of brands sell DACs for less, even Metrum, but compare the sound quality and you’ll soon realize that these two are in a different league. My costly system shows no flaws, no faults, no negative issues with the Jade, no matter how loud or soft I play my music.
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Lost two boxes today when I removed my preamp and its outboard power supply from my system.
After recently purchasing a Jade and Baby Ambre for a second system, I put the Jade into my main system (in place of a Pavane L3 into an SMc Audio preamp). After I heard how good the Jade sounded, I decided to revisit my Adagio vs. Pavane L3 + Preamp comparison.
I still hear the DAC-direct approach as a touch more extended with slightly better resolution compared to the
Pavane L3 into my SMc preamp, which sounds slightly more rounded with a touch more bloom and a bit less resolution. However, the two set-ups sounded close enough that my desire to simplify my system caused me to order a new Adagio. Using the Jade DAC-direct into my amps (until the Adagio gets here in a week or so) simplifies things significantly - less boxes, less PCs, less ICs and less shelf space needed. I look forward to hearing how much the Adagio will improve on the (already quite good-sounding) Jade.
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@justjames72 have you had time to listen to the Adagio? Just a little - it is nowhere near broken in but sounds pretty good. It does improve on the Jade by displaying a richer tonal quality probably due to more dac chips and a bigger power supply. I will not be able to try it again until Sunday. I plan to also try the Adagio through my preamp -both through the volume control and after taking the volume control out of the circuit. I have received instruction on how to take the (very high quality) volume control out of my preamp’s circuit so I would then be running my preamp as a unity-gain buffer. It is going to be a lengthy audition if I want to try all configurations and to make sure the Adagio is sufficiently burned to sound its best. |
@justjames72 I can't imagine its a big enough difference to justify that price jump from Onyx to Pavane 3 or Adagio I currently own Jade (Onyx with volume control), Pavane L3, and Adagio, and can say that while the Jade sounds good, the other two clearly take things to another level. The choice of whether that is worth it depends on system goals, partnering equipment, and finances, but the differences are tangible. With audio its like stepping half the distance to a wall, the closer you get, the smaller the steps.....and you pay more for each smaller step. |
In general, I like the coaxial input the least of all. I have had good luck with USB, AES/EBU, and I2S. The AES/EBU seems to have a little more drive and both I2S and AES/EBU seem just a tiny bit more natural-sounding to me. Coaxial was a bit thin-sounding in comparison, although they were all pretty good-sounding. |
@mrotino
I forgot to add, if you like your sound now, I would probably not spend the money on the Ambre. However, the Ambre is a very capable endpoint and in my system has compared favorably with the much more expensive SOtM triad three piece ultra endpoint with which I am limited to using USB. You will not go wrong purchasing the Ambre but with things like that I would not anticipate the move to be a "game changer." |
I do not have wide enough experience to answer your question but I will tell you what I can. I went from an $8K CD player to a Mojo Audio Mac mini server then to the Antipodes DX. I have had Antipodes upgrade the DX twice and then added an outboard end point so I run Ethernet directly to the DX and then Ethernet from the DX to the endpoint (currently the Metrum Ambre or SOtM triad since I own both) and then either USB (when using the SOtM endpoint) or AES/EBU or I2S (when using the Ambre) into my Metrum DAC. Switching from the internal Roon endpoint in the DX to the external endpoint (either Ambre or SOtM) was a bigger change IMO than going from Ambre to SOtM. This current set-up easily tops the $8K CD player and is the best front-end I have had (I do not use vinyl).
Removing my preamp and adding the Adagio DAC-direct actually made some difference in resolution, even though my other DAC is the very good Pavane L3. I want to try adding the preamp back in so I received instructions as to how to remove the volume control from the preamp circuit by installing two resistors - resulting in a unity gain buffer. Volume will be controlled by the Adagio while the SMc preamp will maybe add a little special sauce. I purchased two (expensive!) Audio Note 2W Silver Tantalum resistors to perform the bypass so I am excited to hear the result. |
@msommers
I’m eyeing up Pavane L3/Adagio and thinking "will the bass improve enough that it’s worth it?"
I can only speak to my system where I have consistently enjoyed Metrum DACs over others such as Lampi, Aqua HiFi, and Ayre.
To my ears, there is more depth, tonal density, drive, and refinement as you move up the ladder with Metrum. Of these attributes, probably most noticeable to me are the improvements in tonal density and bass impact/depth. Although I found the Jade to sound quite good when I had it in my main system for several weeks earlier this year, there was a definite improvement in the attributes listed above when I installed the Adagio. I should let you know my main speakers only go down to about 40Hz and then pass off to a pair of large subs below that so the deep bass differences may be less noticeable to me than to those whose main speakers handle all the bass duties.
I still own both the Pavane and the Adagio and would say the differences there are close to a wash and may depend more on the preamp you are using with the Pavane. When I first owned the Adagio a year or so ago, I heard a richer, fuller sound from the Pavane through my unity-gain/buffer preamp than I did with the Adagio amp-direct. I have since purchased another Adagio but found to get the sound I want I also had to play it through my buffer preamp. I was able to remove the volume control from the signal path of my preamp and replace it with two Audio Note Silver Tantalum resistors so volume is now controlled solely from the Adagio. For me it is the best of both worlds so I will probably be selling the Pavane soon. |
The Metrum DACs do not have a conventional preamp section. The potentiometer adjusts the reference voltage which in turn affects the voltage output thereby adjusting the amplifier output and the system volume. Steve Nugent's Empirical Audio DACs do it the same way.
My preamp was custom made by Steve McCormack of SMc Audio from the TLC-1 platform but highly modified and improved so the result is very similar to his VRE-1 preamp. Mine is set for unity gain while some of the VRE-1s utilize 6dB gain through their Lundahl transformers. The volume control was an expensive Shallco switch with Audio Note Tantalum resistors. Steve graciously instructed me how to unwire the Shallco switch so it is out of the circuit but two resistors were needed to replace the switch and I chose to use two very large and expensive Audio Note Silver Tantalum resistors. I am very happy with the result and the Adagio through the buffer IMO beats the Pavane through the preamp with volume control. |
