Metrum Acoustics Onyx (balanced Dac) and Jade (balanced Dac + Pre)

Lol, Metrum is a tiny business trying to make a buck, and NOS DACs don't need to protect any secret filter code with burritos or 1 million taps So I guess they don't have much to lose.

Worth mentioning also, the dealer where I bought my Pavane told me they are all made to order.

 

Sure they don't have much to lose except licensing fees but i'm more concerned that they're enabling the MQA kool-aid.

 

What's the downside of MQA functionality built-in? If one doesn't like it, s/he doesn't have to listen to it. I'm all up for as many choices as possible. I doubt that MQA rendering/decoding cripples regular playback in any way.

 

I'm on the fence on this. But one can say MQA could be the new DRM, and the more manufacturers that are on board the greater the possibility MQA can be more a measure of control then an implementation of digital sound quality improvements...

Sorry, don't want to debate it, just want to point out how a percentage of audiophiles see it...

 

Yeah we have a dedicated thread somewhere let's not pollute this thread with MQA discussion.

 

Fair enough. Sorry for this offtop.

 

New review up at The Ear: http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/metrum-acoustics-onyx-and-jade-digital-analogue-converter

 

To the point review, I have to say.

 

Yeah it's a little short for my taste and not much in the way of comparisons except with the Pavane, but I guess that's to be expected.

 

Got word from Zach at ZMF that my Onyx is finished and is shipping from the Netherlands to the US. Hopefully I'll have it by late next week.

 

Special offer from UK dealer: Jade £2157.17, Onyx £1808.57 until 31st Dec. Type '12 Offers' into the Coupon box.

https://www.istereos.co.uk/product-category/source/m-a/

 

Fired up the Onyx today for the fist listen. It's more laid back than the Musette or Amethyst, while having better dynamics at the same time. It's a bit hard to describe, but it's like it presents more of an enveloping sound than a wall of sound. (I thought I was listening to it at a lower volume until my wife tried to speak to me.)

I got the same effect with the soundstage. The Amethyst had a taller soundstage than the Musette, whereas I couldn't really say how tall the Onyx's was at all. More enveloping; less projected onto a cartesian space.

I also get a bit more detail (perhaps what Marv would call plankton?) I can hear vocal tone in backup singers, for instance, and the pedal on a piano (not the sustain but rather the mechanical motion of the pedal itself).

These effects are all pretty subtle. The odd thing that wasn't subtle at all was that the soundstage illusion survives opening my eyes; something I've never experienced even with vinyl (albeit with different speakers then).

System reference: Roon on dedicated ArchLinux box > USB > Onyx > Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II > Magnepan 0.7s & PSA 15" sub.

 

What you describe about Onyx is what I find to be the specific characteristics of my new Adagio. I didn't have the chance to listen to Onyx or Jade and hopefully my Adagio is supposed to be better.

Different machines but the character is the same. So much detail. It's amazing. Laid back sound. I like that. I hear some instruments (especially drums) coming from way back behind the speakers.

Soundstage is very big and instruments are so clearly placed in space. Very holographic sound.

 

Finally got my Onyx in-hand today. Only a few hours in, but man is it excellent in the way we've come to expect from Cees and company. Loads of detail and texture to instruments. As others have pointed out, imaging and positional cues are really impressive with live albums being really delightful to "feel" the space of the venue and placement of performers.

The Onyx is very much in the same family as the original Pavane when it comes to overall sound and performance. I haven't had the Pavane for a couple months now, but from memory they're quite close in performance. Maybe there's slightly better definition at the frequency extremes and slightly better textural detail with the Pavane, but honestly that might just be me reaching for a way to differentiate the two. I can only imagine how good the Adagio and higher levels of the Pavane sound considering the Onyx is "only" the mid-range Transient Two model.

 

I'd also like to follow up to @JeffYoung 's comments about the sound being more "enveloping." Definitely experiencing that as well. Between the Pavane and Onyx I briefly owned a Benchmark DAC3 HGC and it felt like I was being blasted by a firehose of sound out of my speakers. This is much more engaging and the music seems to surround the listener in a blanket.

 

@JeffYoung Are you having occasional-but-regular "pops" during playback? This is happening consistently to me but never happened with my Pavane with the same PC.

 

@MyPetSasquatch, possibly. I heard one or two, but I was busy and I'm not sure if they were in the program material or not.

 

Cool, it was really obvious when I first started listening but seems to have become less frequent in occurrence after some burn-in time. Not sure if you're using Windows or Mac, but I'm using Windows. I shot Cees an email and he's been corresponding with me most of the day on potential remedies. Great customer service as always, especially considering he's multiple time zones away.

 

I'm running mine off a dedicated ArchLinux box (via USB).

Let me know how it turns out....

 

Are you using USB? If so, are you getting underruns? They're the number one source of unexplained pops with USB audio.