Any opinions on the AMR Digital Processor 777 Dac?

I would not characterize it as warm (and certainly not sterile). My former Metrum/Diverter HR combination was immensely dynamic and musical with resolution to die for... the AMR is all of that and more. It (the AMR) imbues a sense of continuity to the overall presentation that the aforementioned combo could not match. Having said that, the AMR is more fleshed out than the Metrum/Diverter HR combo and more resolute (which is a hard trick to pull-off). The AMR simply makes a beautifully musical statement and I could see how some could find an analog rightness to the sound.

The built in attenuator is very very very good (hint: it MUST be used to be broken in, i.e. it is possible to break the dac in and not the attenuator if you leave it in bypass mode and use another method to attenuate the signal). Now as good as it is I think the digital volume control on Pure Music is by far one of the BEST methods for signal attenuation I have heard. PM falls victim to my Music First Audio Copper Classic and certainly to my MFA Reference TVC's. If I had to rank them, I would say MFA then PM and finally the built in Attenuator. The built in unit has just as much resolution as PM, but I think it ever so slightly diminishes image size comparatively speaking. Now granted I probably have 300 hours on the built in attenuators and not he 500+ that I have on the dac itself.

Honestly I usually using some combination of attenuation i.e. I set the MFA Ref to a master level (such that when the AMR is in bypass (no attenuation) and PM is at 0dB)it almost oo loud for comfort. Then I use either PM or the AMR's attenuator to fine tune the volume. WHY NOT just use the MFA for all of my volume needs (the ref is remote controlled); because the crappy switching PS that came with my MFA Ref destroys the sound of my stereo. So until I stop being lazy and build a real regulated (actually it does NOT need to be regulated, but I designed it and have used it in other project already :) and linear PS....

FYI, I control all of this with a Harmony 900 remote control. It works beautifully with the AMR and my PS3 and the Mac Mini. It keeps me from having to manually select inputs and I only need one remote :) For controlling the volume in Pure Music, I use either my iPhone or iPad.

Hope that helps...

I just hooked up my 777 last week. This is after ~550 hours of burn-in. I am using an Audio Valve preamp & Symphonic Line Kraft amps (will be trying the "direct" to amps option this weekend - remove preamp....I want to hear "exactly' what this DAC sounds like). My initial impression is very favorable but too limited to comment extensively. I will say that it is on the "warm' side (tonality). I would say it is a "6" on a scale of 10 (5 neutral..10 too warm). This leads me to believe that it will work best with associated equipment that is not overly warm. I will say that it is extremely dynamic and frequency extension is superb. Imaging is outstanding -- particularly front to back layering. So, first impression is that this is a very good DAC and a superb value at its price. More to come....

Keep in mind if you are going to use the AMR DP-777 as a preamp, the preamp section requires close to 500 hours of breakin to sound its best.

The DAC section will break in independently of the preamp section and vice versus.

Audiofankj: I know you are right and it has steadily gotten better as I run it in more and more (I am speaking of the attenuator/preamp stage).

Ok, I can report that with probably 350 hours on the preamp section that the anomoly (I observed) of making the music seem somehow smaller than that of my MFA preamps or the Pure Music used as the pre has completely evaporated. The difference between PM used as the attenuator is much closer to the sound of the AMR using it's own line stage. I still think PM has the advantage at this point as the sound is a little more tonally dense. The MFA units are just better but the entry level Copper Classic at the time was $3K so I would say the AMR is in good company. I could understand if someone drove their amps direct. I still need about another 100 to 150 hours on the pre section before I am sure. The transparency of the linestage is as good as anything I have heard at ANY price. It is just when it comes to the density of tone at this point that I would say some may prefer a stand-alone pre.., but it is not done breaking in and I am just reporting as I go... sorta like a ships log LOL!!!

Have a good wknd, back to listening the music David Garrett for now.