Sonnet Audio Morpheus

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that the Morpheus makes notable sacrifices in drive for a smidge of delicacy, particularly with its single-ended outputs lacking the output transformers of the Pavane, which in guises from the L1 to L3 sounds considerably better to me than the Morpheus. I also do not notice a marked decline in resolving power between the Morpheus and Pavane L3, but would argue it is modestly higher in resolution than the L1. I have only used the balanced outs on the above DACs, and - as ever - ymmv. I welcome the cost benefits of the Sonnet line , and I’ll be excited for Sonnet to release a flagship DAC that reconciles the best of both worlds but am sticking with the L3 for now.

@mitch2 i share those sentiments entirely. Cees has accomplished so much with both Metrum and Sonnet. I simply wanted to weigh into provide a user’s direct experience, which tends to contradict the gushing reviews regarding the Sonnet’s purported sonic benefits. While it is a stupendous DAC offering a feature set and value proposition that outdoes what Metrum provided, I don’t yet feel that the sound is a universal improvement. I do feel it is better sound per pound and would recommend it for those seeking support from a solvent company. I urge everyone to hear what the Morpheus can do (which is quite extraordinary) but as a Pavane user who has explored the Sonnet Morpheus, and is willing to spend more and wait, I am anxious to see Cees scale the new heights I am certain Sonnet will achieve as it develops to a higher price point. Even now the Morpheus competes with Lampizator, PS Audio, and others, but I find the Pavane to be, bar none, the best digital audio converter I have ever heard in my system. Cees is a genius.