Metrum Acoustics Pavane DAC listening impressions

I had DAC2 and DAC3 chips and ultimately went back to DAC2. Here’s my experience. In traditional NOS fashion, DAC2 chips have soft transients. That makes NOS a poorer match for music that requires a sense of speed. What NOS gives you in return is a sense of beauty and timbral accuracy. Cees then modified his filter for better attack, putting this in Pasithea. DAC3 was an attempt to create Pasithea’s sound, but the process was limited by Metrum’s less-capable FPGA. The result is a compromise. DAC3 provides (at least more of) that sense of speed, but the harmonics are all screwed up in the vocal region. The result is drier, almost recessed female vocals. Now the DAC sounds more modern but compromised. In my view, if you want a fast sound, go with an oversampling DAC, not a NOS DAC that is attempting to sound like an OS DAC. If you want the NOS sound, and the beautiful tonal density, then stick with DAC2. For me, DAC3 is a weird middle ground that satisfies none of my desires.

 

I have tried to find any issues with the female vocals in my rig with the DAC3 modules over the past few days and I honestly can't hear it as dry or recessed. The female vocals come across to me as rich and warm and very pleasant. Perhaps not quite as prominent or warm as they were with the DAC2 modules, but I doubt my audio memory is good enough to be sure of that. It might be a case of my aged ears not being up to the challenge of hearing the changes correctly, or maybe it has been masked by my amp/DDC upgrades mentioned previously.

 

I think @skem uses only 2ch. You’re on headphones. Does 2ch exposes/magnifies deficiencies more vs hp or vice versa?

 

Good question. I rarely use 2ch, so I can't say for sure. At a guess I would say headphones should be more revealing, but no doubt there are plenty that would disagree.

 

Yes. 2ch. Fwiw, I think @Ishcabible joined me and can share his view. It was a while ago.

 

Metrum’s new website

https://metrumacoustics.com/

Metrum dac3 factsheet

https://metrumacoustics.com//index.php?controller=attachment&id_attachment=23

i2s adapter specs & compatible ddc/streamers


https://metrumacoustics.com/content/21-i2s-module

 

Just for fun, I tried pushing some DSD256 through my Matrix Audio X-Sabre MQA Pro DAC. Wow. I had no idea DSD could make such a difference.

Chain:
PC (Roon conversion PCM to DSD256) -> SU6 -> I2S HDMI -> Matrix Audio X-Sabre -> Holo Bliss KTE.

Bottom line is that the Metrum Pavane, even with the DAC3 modules and I2S RJ45 feed, isn't in the same ballpark to my ears. I have removed the Pavane from my audio chain and will be using the Sabre DAC until the T+A DAC 200 arrives, hopefully soon. The strange thing is that the DAC3 module upgrade cost me more than the Matrix DAC did (I got the Matrix as a special ex-demo unit). This brings me around to broader topic - Delta-Sigma DACs were generally pretty awful sounding about 10 years ago when I got serious about audio - this is what pushed me into NOS and the Metrum Pavane after a few years of trying to find a D-S DAC that didn't suck. D-S has come such a long way. The ESS 9038PRO dual chipset as implemented in the Matrix DAC is superb sounding. No digititus or treble nasties of years past. Makes me wonder if the extra cost of a NOS ladder DAC is really worth it anymore. Not to my ears, but YMMV.

Since I am retiring my Pavane I will exit this thread. Good luck to all

 

Have you tried using 8x HQP upsampling/Roon with pavane ? Roon upsampling is meh imo.

 

Completed 6yrs of ownership!
Few updates from my end.
1. Better to use XLR out for best performance.
Pavane Upgrade DAC3
" Older Pavane models (L1) have the Lundahl transformers on the DAC boards, where in later models an operational amplifier is used to go from Balanced XLR to Unbalanced (single ended) Cinch output. The Balanced XLR
outputs of the Pavane are directly connected to the DAC modules."

2. CAT6 UTP is the preferred cable to use for i2s connection. ( Pasithea user manual Download )

3. After tube rolling on my Herron 360 preamp; the stock EH 6922 or NOS Amperex 7308 are my preferred tubes. I've never tried the Holy Grail 6922 tubes. Thanks @noisyscott.

4. HQP5e 8x upsampling: PS Halfband -s / Closed Form M sounds pretty good especially if the source material is well recorded. Otherwise, PS gauss short /hires LP works for majority of genres. Sinc L/Mx for some classical/OST stuff.

5. I prefer NOS mode for the regional genres & sometimes I listen everything on NOS. It helps me to appreciate the changes.

I recently tried holo red (coax out ) vs su6 (i2s) & preferred the latter on both NOS & Ext upsampling. My unit has AK4113VF receiving chip.

 

For shorter length, CAT6 is preferred to avoid any ground loop
I too use CAT6 with SU-6

 

I agree, XLR is better than coax with most Pavane models. That said, it all comes down to implimentation. When I bought my Pavane L3, I owned an Onyx and compared the two. My Pavane was originally a L1 that was sent back to Metrum by the original owner to upgrade to a L3. My Pavane has the transformers in the balanced to single ended conversion. The Onyx uses opamps. When I compared the two dacs, the difference between XLR and coax was larger in the Pavane than the Onyx. In fact, I preferred the Onyx over the Pavane when using coax. And I much preferred the Pavane over the Onyx when using XLR. Some of this could be down to synergy in my system. But it also comes down to the details of execution in the circuit. So keep using XLR if you can with the Pavane, regardless of which dac chip you have.