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

Thanks Hands. You too, rlow. You guys solved my problem from a side I hadn't expected. The so-so USB implementation makes it easy to decide on I2S when the choice is I2S or USB input.

By the way, Hands, your reviews led me down this NOS path and I'm happy to be there.

The good news is that I am already running Mike Kelly's, Pi2Design SPDIF hat that is said to be comparable to the DigiOne (possibly better by using transformers over capacitive galvanic isolation). The Signature is interesting, but pricey. If I decide to play with the I2S input, I would look at using a Kali. Time to get an order in at Metrum.

Thanks again

 

I have been evaluating an Onyx with a Metrum Ambre, which of course is designed to go with the Metrum I2S inputs. Metrum uses RJ-45 with a particular pin assignment for their I2S input. You'd have to figure out how to wire that RJ-45 input to the I2S source. I2S has no standard wiring because it was originally designed for device-internal connections.

The 502DAC does really well as an S/PDIF source, which I use with another R2R DAC (Soekris dac1541). In your situation, I'd just go with S/PDIF coax (or AES, which the 502DAC provides via an adapter). The only reason I'm experimenting with I2S is that I had the Ambre first, so it made sense to use I2S when I had the opportunity to evaluate the Onyx.

 

That's the plan. Someday, I may try raw I2S from the RPi, just to see what happens, but for now I will go with SPDIF and the 502DAC.

 

My Onyx arrived today and it is playing in the background with me trying not to listen, so that it has some time to settle in.

Just curious, do you Onyx/Jade owners leave the dac on all the time or do you switch to standby? I've read elsewhere that it sounds pretty good cold and doesn't change much after 15 minutes or so. What's your experience?

 

I would leave it on (the Metrum units need to be really powered up, not in standby which only feeds the front panel). I expect the smaller DACs warm up quicker than the big Pavane that I have.

 

Mine improved for the first week of being on. I keep it always on.

 

Has any of you actually heard the Spring 3 side-by-side? I am considering both (Jade) for my next DAC.

 

Not side-by-side, but I used to have a friend who owned it, lived down the street. So I used to hear it on a very regular basis when we compared new things, both headphones and amplifiers, sometimes using my Yggdrasil A1 and other times his Spring Lvl 3.

The point being, when I heard my Onyx for the first time, it was significantly different from the sound of the Holo Lvl 3 and Yggdrasil A1. I would have trouble to articulate in a general sense, but might be able to triangulate some semblance of its sound, if you have time in a PM tomorrow (and add something to this thread once the PM noise settles down).

 

I spent some time reading various impressions of the Pavane L1 vs Holo L3... from what I recall, @Torq preferred the Spring L3 while @gbeast (and one or two others) preferred the Pavane. Comparison from earphiles (written by gbeast).

 

I picked up an Ambre/Onyx package in the recent sales -- wanted to scratch an NOS DAC itch and to replace my previous Roon solution, which was running slow and producing all kinds of dropouts in my system. I've been running a Gungnir MB for a while now, so will give this setup a listen against the Schiit once I've got a little listening time.

Early impressions are positive -- everything works as it should, without lag or hang, and the Onyx is a seriously dynamic DAC. Will try to fill this in over the next week or so. Props to all those here who have taken their time to explain the tech ands report so eloquently on the results.

 

Yes. Kept the Onyx, just sold the Spring 3. Not a big difference, but for my favored music (modern jazz, modern classical, West Africa, Mediterranean, medieval, baroque), headamps (hybrid tube-solid state), and headphones (MrSpeakers Ether C Flow 1.1), Onyx had overall better instrument separation, dynamics, while being slightly smoother in the mids and highs. Both fed I2S (Onyx from Ambre, Spring 3 from SU-1). To avoid bias, I asked to my wife compare a variety of tracks without knowing which DAC. It was not a blow-out for the Onyx, but a preference for it on a majority of tracks. Before I moved to hybrid amps, I really liked the pairing of the Spring's "bold colors" rendering and neutral, straight-edge solid-state headamps. One metaphor that may help is that Spring 3 paints with oil, Onyx with watercolors. I hear more micro details with Onyx, while at its best Spring 3 can be more intense and involving. But overall, the differences are subtle and do not show on all recordings in the same way. The only reason I was able to convince myself of them was that I was loaned the Onyx for a couple of months that allowed me and my wife to listen without time pressure. If it hadn't been for that, I'd still have the Spring 3. Finally, both Onyx and Spring 3 really "want" I2S input, they aren't as convincing with their other inputs.

 

That was a really good feedback for me @earnmyturns, much appreciated.

 

Thanks for all your guys help. I was really committed, at one point, to get the Spring after a short demo in my place but the chance to be able to try an Onyx (and the 14 days return) after all the reviews and impressions became something in my mind.

After both experiences I ended up with the Jade because the Pre-Amp function is something that i always enjoys, without adding another unit. Since my Crimson couldn't pass after 9 o'clock (many times with low gain even, depending on the HPs) without being to much for my ears this ended up the "perfect" setup for me.

Even though i would be happier with either for the same price the Onyx/Jade is a better DAC for my taste. Why do i know that when i really enjoyed the Spring? Because my head /rocks moves more when i listen to music, without getting fatigued or lowering the volume after a few minutes.

Great DACs but getting a Jade for the same price ended up being a no-brainer and i am relieve/happy that i am enjoying this unit so much.

So, as usual, a potato-quality photo:

https://i.imgur.com/LyR5utH.jpg

 

I am curious. Outside of the Ambre, has anyone fed i2s to the Onyx? Any success? I so, what did you have to do?

The reason I ask is that I have been doing some experiments feeding i2s to the Onyx from an RPi.

Feeding directly from the RPi produces no sound. The RPi doesn't have a master clock output from the GPIO pins (at least that I found), but that's OK as a dac usually creates it's own master clock from the bit and word clocks.

Checking the software (PiCorePlayer), PCP said that there was a problem connecting to the output. When I reconnected the 502 DAC that I usually use for SPDIF output, SPDIF output played just fine. My assumption is that the PCP software is looking for 2-way communication from the following dac.

The 502 DAC has i2s outputs available, but my understanding is that they are not reclocked or isolated like SPDIF. The first experiment was to connect i2s master, word, bit, and data from the 502 DAC, each with their own twisted pair ground. This combination played music, but with massive static.

Removing the master clock resulted in clear music, but thin, flat sounding music. In comparison, the SPDIF output resulted in clear and dynamic music with black background, nice harmonics, and excellent inner detail. In other words, the SPDIF is preferred by a large margin. The reasons for this are unclear to me. Certainly, reclocking and isolation could be a big part of that difference.

I'm just trying to understand what's happening and learn if there is a worthwhile i2s solution short of the Ambre. In the meantime, I'm happy with the 502 DAC SPDIF as a source.

Thanks.

 

I wrote up a brief comparison of Ambre>I2S>Onyx vs 502DAC>S/PDIF coax>Onyx last year:

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...pressions-and-reviews.7106/page-2#post-234308

When I got the Ambre originally, I tried to wire its I2S output (RJ-45) to a Holo Spring (HDMI) but although I'm pretty sure the wiring was correct relative to the circuit drawings I got from Metrum and Kitsune, I never managed it to work. In the meanwhile I got an Onyx loaner, and liked it better than the Holo Spring, so the issue became moot.

 

Very interesting. That supports my theory that you need more than a driver and the right wires to make i2s communication work between source and dac. Some sort of 2 way communication must be happening.

Thanks for your comparison write up. I admit, I am scared off by the Ambre price. Now all I need is someone who has compared the Allo Digione Signature with either the Ambre or the 502 DAC. It would be fun to be able to triangulate those options.

 

@lehmanhillm:
There is a baby ambre as of this month. More affordable. Performance wise too early to tell...
https://metrumacoustics.com/product/babyambre-by-metrum-acoustics/

 

No i2s output though, which is what these guys were looking for. Just coax and toslink.

 

Interesting. It looks like the only input is Ethernet. That means that your only source would be a PC of some kind. You could potentially output audio from an RPi to ethernet, but why would you want to? It doesn't appear to be a cleaner solution than USB or i2s from the GPIO pins.

That just leaves a dedicated PC connected to a Baby Ambre.

 

This is a network streamer (aka Network Audio Adapter), so it would hook to your router via Ethernet and output PCM from network files/server (or Tidal) to Coax/Toslink via Roon probably. Same as the regular Ambre, but with less outputs.