Metrum Pavane
Feb 12, 2017 at 5:40 AM Post #256 of 682
  Got the Pavane in today. After a few hours of listening, I'm impressed by this DAC compared to the Gumby in terms of detail, clarity and timbre. However, I do notice that it seems a bit bright. I'm getting some listening fatigue that I didn't have with the Gumby.
 
Did anyone else notice this? Does this go away after a day of warming it up or is this part of the final sonic characteristic of the Pavane?


I had the Metrum Octave MK2 and it took maybe a week to sort itself out. The caps and other parts need an amount of burn it. Run it 24/7 with some tunes on repeat. Bet it sounds great after a week (don't panic).
 
Feb 16, 2017 at 2:31 AM Post #257 of 682
  Got the Pavane in today. After a few hours of listening, I'm impressed by this DAC compared to the Gumby in terms of detail, clarity and timbre. However, I do notice that it seems a bit bright. I'm getting some listening fatigue that I didn't have with the Gumby.
 
Did anyone else notice this? Does this go away after a day of warming it up or is this part of the final sonic characteristic of the Pavane?

 
How is the Pavane for you as of now? I get mine in by early next week and will do some impressions versus X-SABRE, Holo Audio Spring, and Yggdrasil.
 
Feb 16, 2017 at 11:24 AM Post #258 of 682
   
How is the Pavane for you as of now? I get mine in by early next week and will do some impressions versus X-SABRE, Holo Audio Spring, and Yggdrasil.

 
Let me get back to you on that. It's been running nonstop since Saturday afternoon, but I haven't had any time to do any critical listening since Sunday. I'm curious to see if run-in had tamed whatever fatigue issues I was having.
 
I want to emphasize that I am literally the only person to have commented on this issue, and I am very sensitive to any sort of fatiguing listening, so I'm 99% certain my initial impressions were due to my weird ear anatomy or my speaker setup. We'll have to see when I get some more time to listen, mostly likely tomorrow night.
 
Feb 16, 2017 at 4:36 PM Post #259 of 682
Seems like you're doing well to break in the unit for as long as you can prior to making judgements.
 
It's strange to hear as the Pavane is suppose to be a couple shades below neutral with a very effortless presentation. To me it's detailed but not bright like the Yggdrasil which sounds a little too clinical at times. Can be due to the added filters.
 
I've noticed you're using the Parasound Halo Integrated which I might guess you're using through the balanced input. Was it only fatiguing on your speaker setup? I wouldn't be able to see how it would be on HD650's as they're so laid back.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 10:07 AM Post #262 of 682
  Get's here tomorrow. Can't wait :)

 
Let me know your impressions. I spent a lot of time listening last night. It's still a tad fatiguing depending on the music I'm listening to, but I'm willing to blame my speakers at this point. 
 
It smokes the Gumby in pretty much every possible way beyond that. I was listening to a Herbie Hancock jam last night with a ton of cymbal work, and I've never heard such realistic cymbal timbre and decay. 
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 10:33 AM Post #263 of 682
 
  Get's here tomorrow. Can't wait :)

 
Let me know your impressions. I spent a lot of time listening last night. It's still a tad fatiguing depending on the music I'm listening to, but I'm willing to blame my speakers at this point. 
 
It smokes the Gumby in pretty much every possible way beyond that. I was listening to a Herbie Hancock jam last night with a ton of cymbal work, and I've never heard such realistic cymbal timbre and decay. 

I think more burn in is required yet possibly. You lave it on 24/7 or switch on each time? Best to leave it on 24/7 IMO for sound quality.
 
How you feeding it? The server / PC setup can affect the sound a lot. Moving up in DAC can 'open the gate' and in some cases expose other  things going on in the system. Just a thought.
 
I used to have the Metrum octave Mk2, nice little DAC and very smooth. This is why is suspect any brightness may be a non DAC issue.
 
Good luck.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 11:00 AM Post #264 of 682
  I think more burn in is required yet possibly. You lave it on 24/7 or switch on each time? Best to leave it on 24/7 IMO for sound quality.
 
How you feeding it? The server / PC setup can affect the sound a lot. Moving up in DAC can 'open the gate' and in some cases expose other  things going on in the system. Just a thought.
 
I used to have the Metrum octave Mk2, nice little DAC and very smooth. This is why is suspect any brightness may be a non DAC issue.
 
Good luck.

 
Yeah it's been on and playing music straight for the last 10 days, so we're up to roughly 240 hours of continuous play time since it arrived. It also was a demo unit used for shows that I bought from Zach at ZMF Headphones, so it had a decent amount of hours before that. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm beyond the point of burn-in/warm up having much in the way of sonic changes.
 
Source is Roon > Wyrd > USB input > XLR interconnects > amp > speaker. I think it's my speakers and my room, to be honest. I'm starting to suspect the room is just too small for a 5-way floorstander, even with as much room treatment I've done. 
 
One big difference between the Gumby and the Pavane is the clarity in the Pavane. The mids in the Gumby seem a tad recessed in comparison, almost like the Gumby has a very shallow U-shaped response. This probably isn't the case from a measurement standpoint, but the Pavane's mids are more forward. It's like the Pavane is front row, and the Gumby is 5th row.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 1:43 PM Post #265 of 682
It would be great if Metrum would implement MQA decoding into this.  I have a Hex, and was considering a Pavane or Menuet, but then out of curiosity I bought a little Explorer 2 dac which really opened my ears about MQA.  Now I cannot see spending big bucks on a dac without MQA.   And now with Universal Music Group going with it, I really am confident about the MQA future.
I don't mean to derail the thread but MQA is definitely an elephant in the room...
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 2:00 PM Post #266 of 682
  It would be great if Metrum would implement MQA decoding into this.  I have a Hex, and was considering a Pavane or Menuet, but then out of curiosity I bought a little Explorer 2 dac which really opened my ears about MQA.  Now I cannot see spending big bucks on a dac without MQA.   And now with Universal Music Group going with it, I really am confident about the MQA future.
I don't mean to derail the thread but MQA is definitely an elephant in the room...

 
I have the Musette and am just about to upgrade to the Menuet. I have exchanged e-mails with Cees at Metrum over the last few weeks and he has told me he has made an MQA module for all Metrum DACs which has been approved. He is hoping to release it as an upgrade at the end of March. Look at the Metrum site then for details, or email him directly. You will need to send your DAC to him for fitting.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 2:02 PM Post #267 of 682
  I think more burn in is required yet possibly. You lave it on 24/7 or switch on each time? Best to leave it on 24/7 IMO for sound quality.
 
How you feeding it? The server / PC setup can affect the sound a lot. Moving up in DAC can 'open the gate' and in some cases expose other  things going on in the system. Just a thought.
 
I used to have the Metrum octave Mk2, nice little DAC and very smooth. This is why is suspect any brightness may be a non DAC issue.
 
Good luck.

 
Metrum DACs are not bright. You are right to suggest the issue lays elsewhere.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 2:29 PM Post #268 of 682
  Yeah it's been on and playing music straight for the last 10 days, so we're up to roughly 240 hours of continuous play time since it arrived. It also was a demo unit used for shows that I bought from Zach at ZMF Headphones, so it had a decent amount of hours before that. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm beyond the point of burn-in/warm up having much in the way of sonic changes.

I would look at your source. How are you feeding the DAC? And USB is dirty dirty dirty. I needs lots of help to get the best from it, even though the board inside the Pavane is very good. Don't panic, and keep going. I have had major ups and downs in my journey. For example when I bought my current DAC it sounded lumpy and thick, no dynamics. Turned out the tubes were needing replacing, and the caps on the line board went for (now) Deulunds. 
 
But your DAC is almost new, so got to be an issue before the DAC. Can you try it on a mates speaker system? It may be your headphones are the limiting factor or the headphone amp? I assume you are using decent software and running it non upsampled and at full volume at the DAC? The Pavane is R-2R so probably sounds best at 44.1 resident sample rate.
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 2:36 PM Post #269 of 682
I have the Musette and am just about to upgrade to the Menuet. I have exchanged e-mails with Cees at Metrum over the last few weeks and he has told me he has made an MQA module for all Metrum DACs which has been approved. He is hoping to release it as an upgrade at the end of March. Look at the Metrum site then for details, or email him directly. You will need to send your DAC to him for fitting.


So this would be a software update? Or a physical piece? I wonder if they are making one for the hex also...
 
Feb 21, 2017 at 3:12 PM Post #270 of 682
So this would be a software update? Or a physical piece? I wonder if they are making one for the hex also...


It is a physical chip. There's a photo on the Metrum Acoustics Face Book page.
 

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