Metrum Musette Impressions

My guess is it's more the Menuet that will be competitive with the Gungnir Multibit in terms of performance. Prices might be more comparable if Metrum wasn't a much smaller company (AFAIK).

 

I doubt it. Transient chips are 16-bit with around 1 LSB max INL/DNL, so perhaps closer to 15-bit performance. THD is higher too. With the Menuet and Pavane, you get the FPGA module and I believe paralleled modules, so accuracy and linearity, at least on paper/per measurements, seems much better. Would be closer to the 18-bit performance you get on the Gungnir Multibit. THD is still higher on Metrums regardless but might play less of a role in this case, and, honestly, might not matter at all for any of the DACs. Remains to be seen if THD affects detail retrieval in these cases.

This is complete and utter guess work based only on experience with Gungnir Multibit, previous gen Metrums (totally different, I know), and some relatively limited experience looking at spec sheets and correlating/listening to whatever DACs and various chips inside I can get my hands on. I repeat, total guess work and could be totally wrong. Take it all with a grain of salt!

I will be borrowing a Musette soon to hear for myself. Will only have memory of Gungnir Multibit to go off of, though. Will report back then.

 

be in touch once you get closer to your Musette demo, perhaps my Gungnir Multibit can make it's way to you for a bit?

 

I should have clarified in comments above that my guess was that Gungnir Multibit would be more detailed and resolving, not that the Metrums wouldn't have other subjectively better traits. Plus, there's a reason I tend to use non-oversampled DACs, so...

 

After listening and comparing directly against my Audial Model S, and the Gungnir Multibit based on memory, here are my thoughts on the Musette:

1. Staging is probably the Musette's main weakness. It's a bit small, intimate, and up-front. The Model S has width and depth and possibly more air. The Gungnir Multibit is even better still, but only when paired with a good SPDIF source. That said, I almost always find individual elements and the stage as a whole to sound more 3D on non-oversampled DACs, and the Gungnir Multibit did have a bit more of that flat-plane soundstage characteristic to me, but probably one of the best I've heard for oversampling.

2. Musette is certainly fast. Micro-dynamics are good. Edges are well defined and sharp in a good way. The Model S is a hair softer and less focused in this regard.

3. The downside to the above is that occasionally the Musette starts to sound a bit rough around the edges. Both the Model S and Gungnir Multibit, latter when properly fed, sound a bit more organic and natural when it comes to timbre. Minor differences. They are all pleasant to listen to. No real nasties.

4. Non-oversampling is going to mean a bit of a treble droop on redbook content. Musette is better about showing this LESS than the Model S, the latter which has a slightly sweeter quality in the treble.

5. Counterpoint to the above, the Model S does have more extension and slam in the low registers than the Musette. The upside is the Musette might be a touch faster and tighter down low than the Model S. Gungnir Multibit seemed to have the best extension on both ends with low-end slam focused at the very last octave, and the Model S having more power in the next octave up. Musette sounds like it has the least amount of low end slam and power, which affects the sense of macro-dynamics as well, which is another weak area for the Musette. It almost reminds me of the Bifrost Multibit because of that.

6. I have to say, the new Metrum Transient DAC modules are a BIG step up from the industrial chips in the previous generation. Without the FPGA, forward correcting module in the Musette, we're looking at 1 DAC module per channel, 16-bits, with about 1-bit LSB. THD is lower too than the previous gen, but still not absurdly low. I think this puts the modules alone in a similar performance realm as the TDA1541A in my Model S, albeit the 1541 might be a hair better on paper depending on the grade and production location/year (trust me, it matters). That says nothing about subjective differences and inherent qualities, though.

Anyway, what I was getting at is that the Musette is much more resolving than any previous Metrum DAC I've heard before. I'd say it sits somewhere between Bifrost Multibit and Gungnir Multibit in this regard, as does the Model S. Resolving abilities seem similar between the Musette and Model S. NOTE: Often you will sacrifice that laser focused sense of detail retrieval and clarity you get with oversampling if you listen to a non-oversampled DAC. Yes, the Musette and Model S both have some of this trait, but really mitigate it. The Pavane almost ignores this trait entirely by having the positive NOS qualities combined with excellent resolving abilities, which I'd assume is due to the paralleled DAC modules and FPGA.

7. Tone is really good. There's something about it that sounds a wee bit unnatural to me vs. the Model S, and the Gungnir Multibit can have a to-die-for tone with a good SPDIF source. I'm splitting hairs here, though. It really comes down the the Musette sounding slightly leaner than either and occasionally having a bit rougher around the edges sound vs. the Model S. This is almost all based on personal taste.

Overall, I'm impressed with the Musette. We're talking big strides since Metrums first generation DACs. I would say the Musette is priced competitively given the relatively small scale company vs. the likes of Schiit, and it does offer a competitive non-oversampling DAC that I feel one could happily substitute in place of the Gungnir Multibit if that's more to their tastes.

But, look...if you have the money, skip the Musette and go for the Menuet or Pavane. I think the paralleled DAC modules + FPGA (forward correcting wizardry) really pay off. When I heard @MisterRogers's WIP Pavane, it was really wonderful. Awesome staging and imaging, nicely improved sense of power and dynamics, excellent resolution, and yet that slightly sweet, 3D NOS sound. The Musette has some of that magic, but the Pavane is the real deal. I'm only guessing the Menuet is pretty close to the Pavane as well.

 

Nah, not enough time on hand right now for that, and I've done more than enough screwing around with upsampling on all sorts of DACs, including the old gen Metrums and the Model S. Save for maybe the filter in XXHighEnd, which I am too afraid to even try again due to the horrid UI, I have yet to find a combination of playback software and filter that sound all that good to me. In other words, I've done tests, and I end up preferring non-oversampling for a reason, tradeoffs and downsides be damned. That said, if you find an upsampling filter you like, non-oversampling kind of gives you a blank slate to find the sound you want via that method.

Also my transport doesn't have any sort of upsampling available.