Metrum Dac owners

Very interesting thread for a DAC newbie. I did own a Hegel 360 amp for a couple of yrs but never really took advantage of its Dac section, I might have plugged in my laptop a couple of times but no real motivation to divert from Vinyl/CD. I've had a valve amp for a year now and just opening my eyes to the possibilities for digital. I listen to DAB radio a fair bit and wondered whether putting the signal through a decent dac would enhance it. The other side is to explore music selections more via digital/spotify/tidal/laptap etc and so I have been looking around online to read what people are saying about dacs and what might be important when selecting.

To focus a bit in regard to the OP, has anyone compared Metrum Onyx with an Antelope Zodiac Gold Dac w/ Voltikus PSU?

I realise there's a major difference in cost when buying either of these new but i'm looking in the used market predominantly and there are so many options of various dacs in the 1k - 3k ($ or GBP) range which appear to be bargains when considering their new cost.

Is the Onyx a giant killer in that context? Are there others I should consider? Lastly where might a Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC, latest version, maybe with mods, come into the frame here and how would it compare (at much lower cost used) with the Onyx and/or Antelope Zodiac.

Any insights, experience, observations would be most welcome.

I was looking for a new DAC recently and auditioned Onyx and Aqua La Voce in the same system.  Very, very close. I could live with either. In the end La Voce won by a small margin sound wise and due to a clearly better USB input and its modular upgradable design. Both are R2R, both have highly acclaimed designers. La Voce is the best DAC I have ever owned. The old Reimyo 777 comes distant second. DACs have progressed in recent years, I was surprised to be honest.

I agree about the long break in period with Metrum's Onyx DAC.  I did not believe that it would take 4 weeks, until I experienced it for myself.  

My Onyx DAC has around 280 hours playing time at this point.  I have had the DAC for 4 weeks, playing at about 10 hours a day.  I leave it on 24 hours a day.  For the first time with my system, the excessive and unnatural sibilance I was hearing with some songs is gone.  Go back to 150 hours with the Onyx, and the excessive sibilance was noticeable.  Not now.

Music that had sounded excessively/unnaturally sibilant to the point of harshness, but now don't have that problem with my Onyx DAC fully broken in: Gillian Welch's Boots No. 2 Vol. 1 & 2 albums, Carmen Villain's Planetarium (Alternate Mix), Cassandra Jenkin's Telephone Ghost, many of Masha Vadat's songs, Simon & Garfunkel's Wednesday at 3 a.m. album., and the worst offender of all, Neil Young's Round & Round song.

Wow.  This is really impressive.  Simon & Garfunkel's Wednesday at 3 a.m. album and Neil Young's Round & Round song have generated complaints online because of their excessive sibilance, but Metrum's Onyx DAC has completely eliminated it with my system.  Happy days!

 

I highly recommend this DAC.