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REVIEW: Metrum Acoustics Octave DAC Processors


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Model: Octave
Category: DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price: $1083
Description: NOS DAC
Manufacturer URL: Metrum Acoustics
Model Picture: View

Review by sbrians on March 22, 2014 at 08:33:25
IP Address: 99.46.90.131
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for the Octave


I have the Mark I Octave, with the power supply in a separate housing. After a lifetime of building a stereo system and ~15 years of trying to get music out of CDs, my journey has ended.
I have finally found what I was looking for with this DAC. Satellite radio and CDs are quite enjoyable. I prefer this DAC to Schiit Gungnir (more detailed, but too aggressive which made us feel tense), Channel Islands Audio VDA-2 (very nice, but not as dynamic nor as involving). I now feel that delta-sigma DACs may be a fraud to which I fell victim for a very long time. I think that people who are trying to like delta sigma DACs have not heard this one. I cannot imagine someone preferring that other type over this for music enjoyment (I could imagine a mastering engineer using the other type). After years of trying to listen to CDs from various other sources, I thought that most CDs were just mastered poorly and were not enjoyable. It turned out that it was the DACs, not the CDs. Now, I can listen to all of my CDs for the first time and all of the things that prevented me from enjoying CDs before are not there.
I think that this DAC also sonically gives me everything that I can get from vinyl.
Whereas the OverSampling DACs give you apparent detail and therefore draw attention to themselves and spark more reviews, I think that this DAC gives you music and those of us with one of these no longer think about the playback hardware because we are enjoying music so much. Sonically, there is nothing between the music and the listener with this. I think that the analytical DACs achieve apparent detail through some form of dynamic compression which does not sound like compression until you hear a DAC such as this.
After years of listening for certain aspects in comparison to other equipment, I eventually learned to just notice how I feel. This has resulted in a much more musically satisfying sound, especially when it comes to DACs. In terms of that, no DAC that I have heard, comes close to the Octave.
I have slight tinnitus and so am very sensitive to some sort of artificial high frequency noise that I hear from OS DACs, but not from live music. This DAC does not exhibit this type of noise nor listening fatigue.

Another interesting attribute is that previously, when I would expect a dynamic impact in a song, other sources never really delivered the impact when it was expected; it was as though they compressed the music. A strength of this DAC is very open micro and macro dynamics.

I have buried the housings in sandbags, top and bottom to eliminate boominess in the bass, but I would not want to have a more expensive unit that does not need this, because then it would be beyond my budget.

My goal was to have CDs sound great, and this does that. I do not even prefer high-resolution DVD-A discs, which surprises me based on theory, but does not bother me.

Some comparisons:
Order of preference based on feeling:
Octave
Bifrost
Channel Islands VDA-2
Uber Bifrost
Gungnir

Order based on "objective" sound (but not feeling):
Gungnir
Octave here maybe?
VDA2
Uber Bifrost (or maybe this goes up one slot)
Bifrost

Build quality (or apparent housing resonance):
Channel Islands
Schiit
Metrum

I think the Octave is comparable to my vinyl set up. I no longer need to play vinyl for musical enjoyment, only to play records which I do not have on CD.


Product Weakness: Resonant housing.
Product Strengths: Natural, realistic music.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Channel Islands D-200s, Anthem Amp 2SE, bi-amped.
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Conrad Johnson PV-10BL
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Oppo BDP-83
Speakers: Magnepan 3.3 w/ KMF active crossover
Cables/Interconnects: Morrow MA-3 ICs, Zcable & Transparent speaker cables.
Music Used (Genre/Selections): All; much Jazz, 70s
Room Size (LxWxH): 27 x 16 x 9
Time Period/Length of Audition: 4-5 months
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner



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