SBAF DAC Talk II

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Maxx134, Jul 22, 2018.

  1. MisterRogers

    MisterRogers Ethernet Nervosa

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    True for Pavane L3, not true for Pavane L1's (which I have), so my comparisons are valid for Pavane L1 vs. Morpheus (which is similar in ladder count to Adagio).

    Yes, the soul is definitely still there, and tone / timbre are very close to top-tier Metrum. Morpheus seems to be an Adagio+, with lower noise floor, slightly fleshier tonality that is much more affordable. It is in no way overly analytical or edgy.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
  2. Walderstorn

    Walderstorn Friend

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    I gotta ask, why 2 Pavanes in the first place ?
     
  3. MisterRogers

    MisterRogers Ethernet Nervosa

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    Two chains, one for each chain. They're OEM builds - I was working on a custom case for them for awhile. One of them has @Hands name on it.
     
  4. EagleWings

    EagleWings Friend

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    A man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do..
     
  5. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    I know you say it's only been 1 month, but have you noticed any odd glitches, quirks, or behavior on the Morpheus so far?

    For example, something as trivially annoying such as older Yggs clicking every time the song changed all the way up Topping "it's normal to get shocked when you touch this device" type stuff they had for one of their devices.
     
  6. MisterRogers

    MisterRogers Ethernet Nervosa

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    None. Zip. Ziltch. Nada. No noise, no glitches, just great sound.
     
  7. bilboda

    bilboda Florida boomer

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    Thanks for the preview of your review and the conundrum. Went for simplicity with an AKM4497 based all in one and HQ player dsd upsampling but I had an eye on this. I suppose I could use hqplayer for dsd to pcm. I have headphone amps. Guess I will have to read more about Metrum dacs.....
     
  8. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    So I've had the RME Babyface Pro FS in house for over a week now. Most of the time I've been using it to feed spdif to my Prism Lyra, but I did try going directly into my AHB2->HE-6 for a couple days.

    As an spdif bridge, my immediate impression within the first couple minutes was that it felt more "tactile", but lost some of the "musicality" that I liked from the Lyra. After a couple days, this feeling didn't really change much, but if I had to throw more audiophile words at it then "clean" and "sterile" definitely come to mind. After a week I felt like my ears had adjusted more and things normalized a bit. Comparing to the ADI-2 Pro (from memory), I enjoyed the ADI-2 Pro more; it felt more engaging. The Babyface is a teensy bit softer and plain.

    Feeding directly to the AHB2, I still feel like it's missing some of the engagement I get from the Prism, but I get a slight boost in tactility compared to acting as bridge.
     
  9. A Child of the Jago

    A Child of the Jago Facebook Friend

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    Hoping this isn't sacrilege posting this here and without wishing for a moment to steal MisterRogers' thunder when his review arrives but an owner of a Morpheus had this to say about the first 30-hours of them owning one on another forum - from the flavour of their descriptions it sounds very tasty indeed (they are comparing to a Pavane level 1):

    'I haven’t noticed any high frequency roll off. Does it not occur in the ultrasonic range? The soundstage fills the room. The Pavane did to a lesser degree in depth but not width. I’ve got layers of instruments and vocalists side to side and from in front of the speakers to the back wall with each player/vocalist occupying an identifiable space. The resolution is remarkable. I’m hearing musical passages and vocals that I haven’t heard on recordings I’ve been listening to for fifty years on everything from a Rheem mono playing a Monkees record from the back of a cereal box to twelve pieces of Bel Canto REF with decades of Linn and the Naim upgrade path to dissatisfaction in between. The bass response is now tighter and deep enough to make my subwoofer redundant. The treble and mids are crisp and clean with no harshness at all. Lots of air, lots of space. This is after about thirty hours of continuous play. I’ll have a chance to play with it again tomorrow with about seventy-five hours on it. I had only used the supplied usb cable with the Pavane so I tried the supplied cable on the Morpheus, too. It did not sound nearly as good as the Chord I started with on the Morpheus. I had forgotten about the Chord or I would have used it on the Metrum. I’ve read the expression “removing a wool blanket” many times. The Coffee peels away the last layer of shadow and what’s left is really good music. Definitely worth the $200.
    I’ll be installing the MQA and I2s modules when they’re available. Tidal has MQA Gang of Four, Dr. John, New Order, and Sisters of Mercy already. Maybe there’s more on the way.
    The designer’s claim about the Morpheus fleshing out the music is accurate but it does it in a big, big way. I couldn’t be any more pleased with the Morpheus.'


    Separately, the first part of a review has gone up on Moon And Stereo with the all-important part on sound not yet published: https://www.monoandstereo.com/2019/10/sonnet-digital-audio-morpheus-dac.html
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2020
  10. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    my Morpheus arrived Feb 4, installed the I2S module myself (easily), it's being fed by Metrum Ambre, and thus Roon.
    IIRC Cees does believe in some level of burn in, so I'm just enjoying a less-critical ride so far and enjoying music through this chain.

    somehow the string of cellos and guitars, as well as cymbals sound more realistic than ever.
    believe @Hands calls that timbre and tone. ;)
     
  11. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I'm now worried Morpheus is bright and etched af.
     
  12. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    hardly. Morpheus is an apple drop from the Adagio tree.
     
  13. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    Wonder how it fares against the Holo May,
     
  14. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I learned as a kid that apples on or off my backyard tree were basically just a Trojan horse for bees.

    I'm fairly certain apples we buy from stores are grown in sciencey vats.
     
  15. exocer

    exocer Acquaintance

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    Jexby, it has been several weeks since the last update on your Morpheus journey. Interested in your more recent observations.
     
  16. neogeosnk

    neogeosnk Friend

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    Morpheus should be here soon. Will give a brief impressions vs. Yggdrasil, Matrix, Gungnir Multibit, later next week. In the meantime, found this review on Youtube.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
  17. bilboda

    bilboda Florida boomer

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    Here is a polish review https://hifi.nl/artikel//28650/Revi...met-de-R2R-ladder-DAC-naar-hogere-sferen.html
    another https://alpha-audio.net/review/review-sonnet-morpheus-dac-pre-amp/
    Cees tole me the single ended is the same as balanced, derived from a class a circuit...
    I've been into it for over a week and have come to the conclusion that I need new speakers. Why? The JBL Drop 305's have never sounded so good. Stage expanded in 3 dimensions like a giant inflated balloon. Incredible detail, tone and spacing but I am sensing the speakers are holding me back.. I can't help but wonder what Omega's might sound like and what model I should get. Decware or Bottlehead amp or another? Speakers first with Adcom GFA 535 , I think.
    I have had the Matrix Xsabre Pro and Gungnir MB and from memory, neither had this pinpoint imaging or resolution. I am listening to DSD, downsampled to 384 with HQPlayer via usb, and don't feel like I am missing a thing. Sure it's not native but whatever I may have lost is negated by the dac's playback. I will not be getting the MQA module but I2S is on order for either pi2aes or from the pc. Having AES as the secondary option is OK too.
    For a lot of reasons, I thing I have found my dac. The volume control seems faultless.

    Geez, I gotta sell some stuff again....
     
  18. Scott Kramer

    Scott Kramer Friend

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    1.jpg
    3.jpg

    Fired up an old PSAudio DAC (opened up checking for bad caps, surprisingly all perfect)... I believe it's the 1st "Digital Link" and precursor to their popular/common DLIII dac.

    Expected to find a small circuit board, cheapie BurrBrown or at best PCM63P's --> but discovered a huge board and ancient 18-bit Analog Devices R2R AD1860's. Reading the datasheet reminds me of Schiit's AD escapades, talk of de-glitching and their proprietary serial datastream.

    This was the era right before "UltraAnalog" potted de-jitter circuits ~ 1991... this may be a good thing, it's a raw input not messing* with (XO hard re-clocking) the superb pi digital transports we have now [allo/pi2media/etc]-- possibly why I'm really having a blast listening to it haha! Also, funky capacitive touch buttons that work really well.

    Hoping I can set it to "NOS" in the Yamaha YM3434 8x oversampler somehow. Edit... nope, can't, 4x, 8x oversampling only.

    * well, it's PLL'ing, but at least kinda adapts to current stuff, maybe.

    That's all, thought it was cool.
     

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    Last edited: Mar 11, 2020
  19. wbass

    wbass Friend

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    I rarely hear any talk about DACs built around Analog Devices chips. There's plenty out there about ESS Sabre chips and AKM chips.... Wondering if anyone has any thoughts, specifically, about the possible traits of a DAC built around the Analog Devices AD1955. I'm looking at maybe getting a Cambridge Audio Azur 851N, which uses two of these AD chips.

    It's one of these combined DAC/pre/streamers. Those don't get much love on here, and the Azur is maybe 5 years old now. But I like the looks of it--nice build, nice screen that shows album art, etc.--and have a lead on a well-priced refurb. I've been curious about building a Pi2 streamer, but it's maybe more DIY than I want to attempt at the moment.

    Anyway, apologies for a slightly tedious post here from a most-of-the-time lurker. Thanks for any thoughts. Here to learn, as always.
     
  20. animus

    animus Almost "Made"

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    The Bricasti M1 and the Convert 2 are built around 1955s. Based on their reputation it seems like a pretty competent chip. Though granted both companies have pretty solid output stage design as well
     

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