Metrum Acoustics Amethyst DAC/Amp Impressions

It was worth the trip Luckbad! I can't stop listening to it. The Gungnir Multibit is still around until Saturday but I'm keep coming back to the Amethyst. This is my first NOS DAC so I might be just overly excited about the new thing but I swear I hear more details (not a lot, but it's audible) and music gets even more engaging now. Definitely a keeper as far as I'm concerned.

 

I'm curious about that built-in headphone amp. I'll get to hear the Amethyst on the loaner tour, but any specific comments about its built-in headphone output vs. external amplification, @Luckbad ?

 

Better than expected. Not great with super sensitive IEMs, pretty good with the HD650. The HD650 was an enjoyable listen from it, but I prefer the Garage1217 because of the tube. I don't have any other headphones good enough to judge. I did plug in the HD598 and they sounded like HD598s.

If you like tube amps, the output isn't going to satisfy completely. If you're a solid state kind of person, it's better than a lot that I've heard.

 

Well you guys have piqued my interest! I've never owned a Metrum product before, but they generally seem to be well respected and well liked among those who have appropriate expectations.

Question for the panel: if I was using this guy as a DAC, would plugging in a set of headphones mute the DAC out and switch to the headphone out without interrupting the music?

 

I've had the Metrum Amethyst DAC / AMP at my house for a couple of days now as part of the loaner tour and have become pretty familiar with this piece of gear and where it seems to excel / fall behind.

System used: RME PCI Card with SPDIF out -> Amethyst -> Freya -> Black Widow (headphones) or Pass Labs F5 Turbo (speakers). I did not test USB input on this dac. My usual dac is a Gungnir Multibit. No blind double reverse testing in a vacuum with the pope and nuns switching inputs at random to reduce bias, just sighted testing back and forth.

Physically this dac is great, longer than it is wide (reverse choad) its perfectly sized for a desktop (or any size restricted setups), approx 1/3 as wide as Gungnir Multibit. Overall high quality build, nothing to complain about. Pretty straight forward, just a input selector button, flush mount volume knob and 1/4" jack on the front, 4 digital inputs on the rear (2 coax, 1 optical, 1 usb). So easy, a planar user could figure it out.

This is the first NOS dac that I've had the chance to do an extended listen to, and was pretty excited to dig into the different presentation. I started listening to speakers and the first thing I noticed was the size of the stage, full sounding, no immediate flaws. Stage was laid back, but tall and wide. After additional tracks, realized that there wasn't a lot of depth, and it hit me that while the stage was big and blown out, imaging wasn't very sharp as I am used to. But what kept on coming back was that it didn't seem to have major flaws and was still quite engaging. Similar when swapping over to headphones, big sound, just limited depth. Gungnir Multibit might not be quite as wide or tall, but stage feels more 3d. See below for SBAF head space graph.


Note: Small aside - I'm a person who values "headspace" more than most. Im a staging whore. I want to look over my shoulder to see where micro detail is coming from. Its a cheap trick, but it works on my all the time. I understand why its not true sound reproduction, and in comparison to speakers, why bother, but wanted to help the reader understand my priorities.

Non stage / imaging - the amethyst is has a few flaws, but they are all learn toward the side of what I can live with (like when I slightly over cook chicken on the grill instead of under cook it and give everyone the shits). Amethyst is a bit rolled up top, didnt hear sparkle that I am used to on Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Def heard a bit of congestion during faster or busier passages, wasn't as easy or natural as Gungnir Multibit. Last minor gripe, similar to all these gripes, is less of a fault of Amethyst as it is what its competition in this case shines at. Gungnir Multibit is fantastic at reproducing low level detail (rattling of coffee cups in Live at Village Vanguard for instance), where Amethyst is just a step behind.

As for the head amp - its capable. Its fairly warm in my opinion when I plugged in hd600 I heard more forward mids and some added bloom. Plugging in hd800 wasn't too impressive, sounded flat and wasn't engaging, so I went back to listening to the unit as a DAC only. I don't think the head amp section is a strength, but it still only adds to the value proposition of the total package. As Hands mentioned, plugging in headphones will mute the analog outputs. Volume knob was ok, I prefer something that sticks out of the case a bit, but wouldn't really bother me.

Is the Amethyst going to replace my Gungnir Multibit? Nah, I've gotten used to the precision and separation of images as well as fine detail that are strengths of Gungnir Multibit. At one point I was thinking Bifrost Multibit with an integrated head amp, but the dac section is better than Bifrost Multibit (at least from my memory). But I think Amethyst still deserves consideration at this roughly $1200 price point for those who have tried Gungnir Multibit and are looking for something different in a NOS DAC. The fact that it has a build in head amp is useful at times for those people who might want an all in one office / secondary system solution or to quickly plug in cans to watch a youtube vid, shit talk over voice chat, or any time I don't want to have to fire up 6 different tubed devices to listen to. Amethyst is simple, straight forward cohesive, and complete package.

 

Sorry for the blank response - my first post.

I just purchased an Amethyst and would like to use a BNC coax input. I have a low jitter Analog Research USB / SPDIF converter that I want to continue to use.

I have never changed out a Pcb mounted quad unit such as in the Amethyst, but am a pretty experienced soldered point-to-point. Is this a difficult job -enough clearance?

By the way, thanks for the very insightful reviews!

Thanks,

Lou D'A

 

I completely missed this thread but I've had the Amethyst for a couple of months now as well. I don't really have much to add except that it's a really nice little DAC that's designed and made in the Netherlands.

Just like @Marvey said I think it's pretty close to the Gungnir Multibit in terms of performance. I don't have a Gungnir Multibit to compare with but from memory I think the Gungnir Multibit was a little bit more dynamic (especially in the lower region) while the Amethyst is a little "sweeter" and more alive in the midrange. Soundstage feels a little bigger on the Amethyst than I remember it being on the Gungnir Multibit. Don't want to say too much without a direct comparison but essentially I think the Amethyst and Gungnir Multibit are fairly close.

Neither the Amethyst or Gungnir Multibit are still anywhere near my Theta Gen Va in terms of dynamics, bass and presence. But both are still very good dacs.

Then the Amethyst has headphone out, the Gungnir Multibit doesn't. The Amesthyst is small, the Gungnir Multibit is a bit bigger. The Gungnir Multibit clicks sometimes on some inputs while starting and stopping the music, the amethyst is dead silent... then the Gungnir Multibit has balanced outputs. All this might be deciding factors for someone.

I think maybe perhaps (and I'm streching here) that the Gungnir Multibit was the sonically slightly better of the two for my preferences while the Amethyst is the slightly more practical. If you're shopping I don't think you'll go much wrong with either.

Edit: Actually - if you're interested I'll consider selling my Amethyst. Euro 1100 including shipping inside of Europe. That's Euro 195 below list price. It's a nice DAC but I'm not sure it's 100% right for my system or my tastes. I'll create and ad soon.

 

As usual I'm stalling on my commentary comparing the Musette and Amethyst. I'm just going to say what little I have to say, and maybe add to it later.

First off, I can't stress enough how quickly you will hear the resolution upgrade going to the Amethyst. Even if its weeks removed from the Musette. Its the same flavor of semi-relaxed tonality (maybe that's my way of describing the NOS nature of things), but the Amethyst just reveals more background detail. Also, the Amethyst is far better in its treble resolution. It makes what comes from the Musette seem compressed and a maybe a little bit scratchy...

Cymbals and snares feel more realistic on the Amethyst, and the Musette struggles in comparison. It kind of reminds me of single driver speakers, where the very top end and bottom end suffers for sake of mids. Vocals feel a touch more distant on the Musette, with the Amethyst bringing it more to the foreground where it belongs. I really noticed it listening to David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust...."

Staging in the two feel very similar; plenty of width, some height, and not much front to back. Neither are awesome with more "congested" headphones (The Elear comes to mind)

Bass felt a bit more punchy on the Amethyst, but it may not feel "superior" to some. The bass variations remind me of the bass variations in the ZMF Eikon (Amethyst) and Atticus (Musette) The Musette's bass is a bit more mid bass bloated, most likely because it struggles in sub bass like it does in treble.

Things like piano sustain and acoustic guitar feel far more realistic on the Amethyst, actually it crushes the Musette in that regard, and might big its greatest superiority. I started with Elton John and the Amethyst really impressed out of the gate. Joe Sample on the Amethyst was just a great big "Wow"!!!


Now the on board amp, it underwhelmed me with the HD650, but did better with my Z7 and TH600 (Lawton modded). Its a great convenience for the lazy (me) but its far from alpha...

 

It's funny because I noticed the same in a quick A/B comparison between my Modi Multibit (right before selling it on) and Yggdrasil. They are actually really close in many respects, far closer than I previously realized. However, Yggdrasil resolves more low level detail, giving longer reverb tails, which in turn leads to a more realistic and palpable sense of the recorded space (even if that reverb is totally artificial). This was in fact the only real difference I could pick up on during the short time I compared them; I wish I had done a formal comparison sooner, as it usually takes me a while to tune into the differences between good gear.

Veering back slightly closer to the original topic, my Pavane is at least equally good or in fact probably a bit better in giving this sense of the 2D (or even 3D) shape of the venue, and I wonder if it's for the same reason.

 

Not sure which is more surprising, the great difference from old entry level to new entry level in Metrum. Or the not so grand difference in Schiit's entry level multibit compared to their flagship DAC...

 

Somewhere in Schiit Happened, I recall Jason says "the filter is the DAC" (in reference to the decision to sacrifice discrete I/V for Bifrost in order to keep the burrito filter). He wasn't kidding.

There sure are other differences if you listen hard enough, but not on the scale you would expect between a $300 vs $2300 DAC. I didn't have time for a proper comparison, but Torq will eventually publish his write up.

 

I'm wondering if the onboard headphone amp would have good synergy with the upcoming Klipsch HP3. Unfortunately I won't have an HP3 before the Amethyst loaner makes it to my door.

Anyone have the headphone out specs for the Anethyst? The Metrum site seems to be down. I'm mainly interested in the output impedance since the HP3 doesn't need a lot of juice.

 

Amethyst headphone out was warm, klipsch can looks bass heavy. Most fostex biodyna variants seem to like lots of clean and neutral power to shine. Amethyst headphone out sounded ok / better with hd600

 

Does the Amethyst have a high and low gain setting? I was confused because one of the online reviews says that it does but I don't see a switch for that.