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Metrum Acoustics Octave - Page 12

post #166 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:04pm

I think he means the gradual reduction in HF level when running NOS at 44k1. Otherwise known as the 'ZOH' effect - zero-order hold. It starts about 5kHz and reaches over 3dB by 20kHz.

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post #167 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedBull View Post

What is "slow roll off" Curra?

I think he mentioned he was going to show some visuals so we can see what he is seeing. 

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post #168 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:10pm
Yes, most probably the HF, but just want to be sure it is not different thing as Curra use different word for it.

And then he also mentioned steeper with higher sampling rate. I suppose the rolloff 'cured' by feeding higher sampling rates, right!?

Sorry for the noob questions. I like this forum, I learn new things everyday.
Edited by RedBull - 8/3/12 at 9:13pm
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post #169 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:14pm

Hey don't apologize for questions!cool.gif

 

He said its steeper when running OS - so I think he means that with OS the frequency response is flatter - no gradual roll-off from 5kHz, but just a steep one above 20kHz. That's what I see with my DACs anyway - I think at 2X OS its about 0.7dB down at 20kHz.

 

So I interpreted 'steeper' as meaning 'sharper corner'.


Edited by Sapientiam - 8/3/12 at 9:15pm
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post #170 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by No Disc View Post

I think he mentioned he was going to show some visuals so we can see what he is seeing. 

Yeah! Great! visual please! biggrin.gif
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post #171 of 472
8/3/12 at 9:22pm

If any of you guys want to learn up on some technical stuff, then this article is the best one I've seen about DACs and freq response http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4317993/Flatten-DAC-frequency-response. It is a bit daunting to total noobs though...

 

For those averse to math and equations, just click on the figures which load pdfs with visuals which are worth 1000s of words.

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post #172 of 472
8/7/12 at 9:33pm
I found someone who was comparing some other offerings to the OCtave so I inquired about his observations....



Originally Posted by No Disc
Would very interested in your observations and comparisons.


So very quickly and without wishing to slight any of the products with a brief caricature -

Antelope - totally outclassed by the other two. Bit too 'studio' for me, and lacking in depth and character. Sounded flat and uninspiring in this company.

Lampizator (L4) - insane amount of depth and weight to the soundstage, maybe the heaviest digital images I have heard to date. I was however expecting a smoother and more liquid treatment of vocals which were just 'okay'. Everything else was superb. Maybe not the quickest at times.

Metrum Octave - Apart from giving away weight and bass to the Lampi, it provided the most even and transparent reproduction of the three. Extremely effortless and analogue sounding, it has a nice even and balanced treatment. Speed and texture. The winner for me in that company.

All just opinion, very dependent on room, system and ears so YMMV etc.
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post #173 of 472
8/8/12 at 5:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by No Disc View Post

I found someone who was comparing some other offerings to the OCtave so I inquired about his observations....
Originally Posted by No Disc
Would very interested in your observations and comparisons.
So very quickly and without wishing to slight any of the products with a brief caricature -
Antelope - totally outclassed by the other two. Bit too 'studio' for me, and lacking in depth and character. Sounded flat and uninspiring in this company.
Lampizator (L4) - insane amount of depth and weight to the soundstage, maybe the heaviest digital images I have heard to date. I was however expecting a smoother and more liquid treatment of vocals which were just 'okay'. Everything else was superb. Maybe not the quickest at times.
Metrum Octave - Apart from giving away weight and bass to the Lampi, it provided the most even and transparent reproduction of the three. Extremely effortless and analogue sounding, it has a nice even and balanced treatment. Speed and texture. The winner for me in that company.
All just opinion, very dependent on room, system and ears so YMMV etc.

 

Wow, looks like the Octave is a great bargain at its price.

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post #174 of 472
8/8/12 at 7:59am

hmm, I dont know how much I would trust a review that values the lamp, yes its expensive, but if you have a look inside its not exactly a marvel of good layout …


Edited by qusp - 8/8/12 at 8:00am
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post #175 of 472
8/8/12 at 4:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post

hmm, I dont know how much I would trust a review that values the lamp, yes its expensive, but if you have a look inside its not exactly a marvel of good layout …

What does good layout mean?  Are you speaking in terms of aesthetics or that the lamp shows poor craftsmanship from a circuit design perspective?

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post #176 of 472
8/8/12 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by No Disc View Post

What does good layout mean?  Are you speaking in terms of aesthetics or that the lamp shows poor craftsmanship from a circuit design perspective?


a bit of both, the lamp either does not know, or simply ignores sound design techniques. replacing SMD bypass caps with large leaded and often inductive audiophile approved caps for bypassing HF pins/signals, using collections of modules connected with straggly vaguely twisted wires to connect i2s signals instead of actually designing a PCB, which at this price is lazy. using point to point wiring for a dac, its USB and psu components is not the way to keep good signal integrity. his air-sculptures are notorious in DIY circles.

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post #177 of 472
8/9/12 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post


 his air-sculptures are notorious in DIY circles.

"Air sculptures" ?

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post #178 of 472
8/10/12 at 4:46am

use your imagination.... point to point connected components in an interconnected straggly mess; for digital i2s and low noise power supply lines that should be on a ground plane. P2P is ok for high power or tube amps if its done well, you can get very short direct connections, but that is not the case here. the sort of low level low noise and high frequency signals here should be decoupled to a solid ground plane, long sometimes untwisted unshielded wires for power supply or clock can very easily not only pick up noise and be very inductive, but they also radiate noise in the RFI bands


Edited by qusp - 8/10/12 at 4:48am
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post #179 of 472
8/10/12 at 6:57am

Ok, don't take these as gospel, as there are some issues with the measurements being trustworthy (eg: the stereo crosstalk figures returned are completely on drugs), but this is what I got with RMAA using my ULN-2 with peaks as close to -6dB as possible:

 

16/44.1:

 

1000

 

24/96:

 

 

1000

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post #180 of 472
8/10/12 at 9:02am

Looks like it rolls off early? 

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