Metrum Onyx Review by Earl

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Earl Teigrob, Apr 2, 2018.

  1. Earl Teigrob

    Earl Teigrob New

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    I just got my New Metrum Onyx about three weeks ago.

    When I first plugged my new Metrum Onyx DAC into my existing system, my first thought was ‘it sounds like I have a tube amp!!!’. I questioned if I had just made a big mistake?!!! Those where my first thoughts...and they have changed dramatically in the days and weeks since then. Before I jump into the review I’m going to build some context about whet I value in a stereo system and my journey to achieve that.


    A few years ago I was standing beside my teacher playing a 9 foot Steinway Grand Piano. There was a timber in the sound I had never heard from any recording before or since. It was impressed upon me that what we hear through our electronics, no matter how good it is, is only an approximation of the original sound. The question for me has been how close can I get to the truth...to the original sound in all its glory? I’m not interested in ‘High Fi’ sound or Hearing ‘Air’ or other deviations from the original sound.


    In building a system, I have tried to choose components that I felt would serve my goals of musical truth the best. I searched for an amp and speakers that where ultra transparent, highly resolving, and added no color or warmth of their own. My philosophy was that all the tonal richness should come from the source (in this case original recording and DAC) alone. In my mind, adding color anywhere in the upstream components was painting everything with the same brush. The DAC is the only component that has the possibility of reproducing the richness Norah Jones voice while maintaining the bite and attach needed to reproduce a snare drum or piano. With that in mind I have ended up with a Bryston B17 cubed amp, a Bryston 4B cubed Amp, paired with Revel F208 speakers. One point of interest is the a normal delta sigma DAC sounds like absolute crap though this system. To me it sounds bright, lean, scratchy, kind if like nails on a chalk board. I have both the highly acclaimed benchmark DAC 2 HGC Saber ESS based DAC and the DAC Built into the Bryston Pre. Neither work well in this system.


    I’ve been on the Metrum track for many years now. I stated with the Octave, then the Hex, and now of course the Onyx. The Hex sounds absolutely beautiful in my system. It is tonally rich and does a wonderful job reproducing the sound I hear in a live performance. In fact, until I got the Onyx, I thought the HEX was perfect.


    Before I bought the Revels I had the PMC Twenty 22 speakers in my system. Now the Hex with the PMC’s made everything sound sweet and beautiful. When I introduced the Revels into my system I realized the there was a level of high frequency detail that I had completely been missing. Pretty soon I could not stand the ‘relative’ lack luster sound of the PMC’s any more. I wanted to hear the full texture of the Cello and violin. Good recordings sounded fantastic through the Revels but anything less then a good recording could sound pretty bad. I just assumed that this was the price of having a very transparent and highly resolving system. It simply never occurred to me the the characteristics I was hearing was primarily lay with the DAC. The Revels simply had the capability to expose every characteristic and ‘flaw’ I was feeding them.


    In hindsight I realize that there where other symptoms of a problem, but again, I just though that was the price I had to pay for this level of transparency. For example, Instruments that produced a lot of natural texture could sound over textured. Heavy distortion from a guitar amp often sounded too bright and detailed. Also, the wind instruments didn’t sound airy enough compared to hearing them live.


    A few years ago I went on a 19 day cruise and every evening I would spend an hour or two listening to a duet playing piano and violin. When I came back home from the cruise I didn’t listen to my stereo system for over a month. I knew that the live violin, particularly, had a tenderness with no edge that my system was incapable of reproducing.


    Enough context...let’s get back to the review. I put the Onyx in my system and my first thought is that the music sounds softer, more tender and somewhat tube like. I am more than a little shocked at the difference in sound!!! I played one of my favorite songs where the acoustic steal string guitar would just stand out from the recording and sounded excellent. With the Onyx, the guitar was now more part of the overall mix instead of jumping out of the speakers at me. I was confused! Is this the way it was really supposed to sound? I had certainly developed a normal bias based on what I had been hearing for many many years. Now I had something in my system that was challenging what I thought was normal.


    As I listened to more music I realized that the Onyx was still able to produce the sharp edges on the music but only if it was in the recording itself. Piano, drums and cymbals did not lose there edge and attack. I started to realize that the (digital) edge I had heard for most of my life was suddenly gone (or mostly gone, I suppose). This was the sound that others where trying to achieve with tube amps and warm speakers, except this did not have the inherent down sides of such an approach. Perhaps I had finally achieved audio nirvana!!!


    Music had all the tonal richness of the HEX (and even a bit more) without the high frequency leading edge. Now the recordings that sounded brutal with the HEX actually sounded very acceptable. Some of The Rolling Stones songs the sounded over bright and edgy on the HEX now sounded great!!!


    The Onyx is very tonally rich. There was a period of time when I even wondered if the Onyx went too far in tonal richness. I especially noticed in the vocals a richness to the voice that was beyond what I had heard on the HEX. Again, I was fighting my normal bias. Compared to my HEX, the vocals seemed to almost have a bloom to them. But again, over time those thoughts vanished as I simply adjusted to the new presentation of the music.


    I finally got to a point where I could stop trying to compare the sound to what I had heard before and enjoy it for what it was...a taste of heaven on earth. The Metrum web site uses the word ‘Sublime’ to describe there DAC’s and I couldn’t think of a better word to describe it myself. Music simply flows and sounds very beautiful and natural. If your looking for high-fi sound with ultra detail pushed forward to create a sense of ‘air’ then this is not the DAC got you. This DAC produces all the detail of the original recording but keeps it in the mix, not pulling it forward in any way.


    With previous DAC’s, I could very distinctly hear every inflection in some voices, to the point where it was unnatural and somewhat distracting. Now with the Onyx, I could still hear those infections if i concentrated on hearing them but the Onyx does not highlight them and therefore the vocals sounds so much more natural. I used to think that many recordings had recorded the singer too close to the mic. I was wrong. It was my DAC.


    I believe the Onyx has moved a significant step closer to reproducing the original sound compered to the HEX and it way ahead of my other DAC’s. I believe that much of the tenderness I heard while on the cruise listening to the live violin can now be reproduced with the Onyx without the hard edge.


    Are there any downsides to the Onyx? Well, it’s not Cheep, but then you wouldn’t be reading this review if you wanted cheep. If you’ve built your system around compensating for a typical delta sigma DAC it might over do the tonal richness, but then I can’t really speak to that because I have no way to test that. Again, if you want the ‘in your face’ ultra detail sound this is not the DAC for you.


    Will my system reproduce ever nuance and timber of the Steinway Grand? No...but it’s come closer. Piano sounds good, great even, through the Onyx, but nothing can compete with an un-amplified acoustic instrument.


    If you, like me, are on a quest for ultimate audio truth, I’m not sure if any DAC is going to get you closer then the Onyx (Save it’s bigger brothers, the Pavane or Adagio). This is a music lovers DAC, and I can’t imagine any music lover not loving this DAC given the right supporting components.

    Earl
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2018
  2. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
  3. Erikdayo

    Erikdayo Friend

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    I feel like I learned so little about how the Onyx actually sounds for 17 paragraphs other than it being God’s gift to audiophiles. Funny because I own one.

    There seems to be a lot of missing information about music used, direct comparisons to other DACs you’ve used, etc.

    There is also an Onyx/Jade thread here where impressions are typically posted: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...-balanced-dac-and-jade-balanced-dac-pre.5181/
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
  4. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    I'm also curious where you acquired your Onyx from? Is it a "review" unit?

    edit - I too am curious as to what other DACs you have auditioned, for comparison sake...
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
  5. Earl Teigrob

    Earl Teigrob New

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    I bought it from the Canadian distributor. Thought I might be sending it back or selling it after the first listen. I was not impressed. It took time to start to like and eventually love this DAC. Not a loaner or Review unit. All the DAC’s I compared the Onyx to I own and are mentioned in the review.
     
  6. Earl Teigrob

    Earl Teigrob New

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    In my opinion, trying to describe how something sounds without a direct frame of reference is a waist of words. I pointed out the primary differences I hear between it and the other DAC’s I own. I also framed it in comparison to a live performance. I made the points I wanted to make.
     
  7. drgumbybrain

    drgumbybrain Science Nut

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    I think this thread its escalating quickly to the "how to win friends and influence people" thread.[​IMG]
     
  8. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

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    I'm going to give you some constructive advice as far as reviews go:

    1) You really need to be more concise. A lot of the review was kind of irrelevant to how the product is and, honestly, you could have condensed this into three paragraphs or less. Because of the fluff, any impact the review would have had is obscured and the entire thing feels like it has no real detail in why you have the opinion that you do.

    2) You mentioned other DACs...but only said "this dac is better than my other dacs with vocals." That tells us nothing. We don't have a frame of reference because we don't know what your DACs are. We just know they exist. That isn't enough.

    3) Do you own any other headphones? What amp are you pairing this with? We need more information about your chain. What songs were played, what was different with those songs than other DACs you have, ect?
     
  9. sacredgates

    sacredgates Audio-Technica's high priest

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    to be fair: some dacs were mentioned in between the popcorn...
    Also the Hex was mentioned and used as a reference.

    But I´m all with you with what you are actually trying to convey to Earl Teigrob.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
  10. luckybaer

    luckybaer Friend

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    Cliff's Notes Version:

    He's on a mission to get as close to LIVE sound as possible via digital solutions.

    He is a speaker guy, currently with Revel F208 speakers. Prior to that, PMC Twenty 22 speakers.

    His amps are a Bryston B17 cubed amp, & a Bryston 4B cubed amp.

    His DACs include a Benchmark DAC 2 HGC and the DAC Built into the Bryston Pre. Neither one works well with his existing system - too bright, lean, scratchy.

    He's familiar with Metrum, having previous experience with the Octave and the Hex.

    When he put the Onyx in his system, it sounded so different to his ears that he thought he had made a poor decision to go with the Onyx. Over time, he began to appreciate the rich, almost tube-like qualities of the Onyx. To his ears, he believes the Onyx comes close to reproducing the original, live production of music.

    He mentions a few downsides:
    • Price - RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE
    • Not the most "in-your-face" detailed DAC
    • If you built a system to obtain a fuller, tonally rich sound to compensate for a typical D/S DAC, the Onyx may end up as too much of a good thing (pay attention to synergies of components, I guess)
     
  11. Earl Teigrob

    Earl Teigrob New

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    Thank you...couldn’t have said it better myself :)))))
     
  12. PacoTaco

    PacoTaco Friend

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    He edited his post last night and added some things. The part you quoted wasn't there when I made my post.
     
  13. Earl Teigrob

    Earl Teigrob New

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    It was all there from the beginnng...one cut and paste. Only a few spelling corrections.
     

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