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Metrum Octave Dac experiences

I had another thread on this dac before I ordered (and heard) it, but I can't find it anywhere. So here's a new thread since I promised to share my experience here ;-) I have been listening to this dac for a few weeks now, I have no idea how many hours. I am playing from a dedicated music server with JPlay.

To my ears (I don't have much experience with other dacs, only a Audio-GD dac) it sounds really good. The main thing I noticed was the lack of listening fatigue, everything sounds real natural. I still need to try it with oversampled music, I haven't had the time to make a good comparison yet.

By the way, I'm (only) using a V-Link at the moment but looking to upgrade to an Audiophilleo of Off-Ramp in a few months.

I was sondering if anyone has any similar experience or maybe some tweaks to make it sound even better ;-)

Thanks!
newbie79
jult52
155 posts
 
What do you think of the Metrum's "musicality"?

I realize that is a loaded and controversial term but I'm interested in Metrum owners' response to the question.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
That is where it excels; lacks the "Digital" sound even most very good dacs have. Very hard to get a handle on the sound; which is always a very good sign. When I get a component that is considerably better than my old ones it is very hard to describe the sound as there are no points of comparison. Has great bass WHEN there is bass in the recording. It is relaxed but at the same time has plenty of drive. I cannot really see how it would disappoint you; I use SS but my two tube using friends also like it. Getting it has led me into a complete reevaluation of my system as some of my set up was to correct for defects that are no longer present. It is very impressive but MUSICALLY impressive rather than HI FI impressive if that makes any sense.
dbarger
215 posts
 
I was using an inexpensive optical toslink cable from my Squeezebox Touch to my Octave, and got a glass Sonicwave toslink cable today. Still cheap at $50 on Amazon. I am completely stunned at the improvement . I was happy before, but this was a serious upgrade for the Metrum. Highly recommended!
lewinskih01
906 posts
 
Dbarger,

Thanks for sharing that. Have you tried coax from Touch to Octave, with what cable, what are your takeaways compared to $50 on glass?

It's not clear to me neither on the Octave nor on the Touch which implementation is better, toslink or coax. Anybody else with a point of view?
jcote
100 posts
 
I haven't tried glass/toslink but I've been happy with my Black Cat Silverstar 75Ohm BNC cable...i'm using specially made BNC-to-RCA termination adaptors but will look to replace the RCA COAX connection with a BNC soon.
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