[Rotur]

As above, will i notice a difference between the two? (apart from no balanced outs) I currently have the Lavry and am looking to get the Metrum

 

[Szadzik]

What other equipment do you have apart from the DAC? 

 

[Rotur]

DNA Sonet, HD800's, SBT, Oppo bd-95, audio research LS3, audio innovations s1000 mono blocs, image r38 revelators (poac clones) motiva xpa 3, umc-1

 

[Szadzik]

How are you going to connect so much gear to a DAC with only one output?  What bothers you about the Lavry? 
 
When I did research before buying my Metrum Octave, I searched for the most transparent DAC - Metrum Octave is one of those.

 

[Rotur]

There is a very clean almost clinical sound that after a long listen can fatigue a bit. Have heard the Metrum is less so

 

[Szadzik]

Quote:

There is a very clean almost clinical sound that after a long listen can fatigue a bit. Have heard the Metrum is less so

 
Octave is very clean, but not fatiguing at all, indeed.

 

[surge]

Just got the metrum. a little background:
 
using a rotel 971 before getting a benchmark DAC1.  i connected the output from cdplayer as well as output of benchmark to my amp so that i could switch and do A/B comparison. Sold the DAC1. the 971 dac did a better job. better in terms translating the soul of the music that one can feel more connected and enjoy the music. benchmark had more details but sounded dead. A/B comparison made me stick to rotel as the music were more involving. (when working and listening, rotel makes me want to stop and increase vol to enjoy some songs. benchmark makes me want to decrease the music as they distract)
 
when i got the metrum, i did the same. signal fed from cd, no upsampling etc. with rotel, i tend to skip songs that are faster and with more instruments as after awhile they sounded clustered. For metrum, i listen to them all and enjoyed the different instruments in the music. separation was improved and music remains coherent. When it comes to vocals, i couldnt stop listening to them. For metrum, many occasions i just want to sit back and enjoy the music without doing any work (you may consider this 1 weakness of metrum, makes you lazy.) when playing with my kids in the living room, i could also leave the metrum playing and dont find the music noisy.
 
simply said, the metrum make music feel like music, for the purpose of enjoyment...the w4s usb spif converter is on the way...wonder what will happen when 192khz files are fed to it.
 
love the metrum.

 

[Gintaras]

Metrum Octave is amazing sounding DAC, i bought this to replace Rega and i am happy as pig. Music makes so much sense via this little DAC.
It gives me shivers competing with my Naim CDP so well that it scares me. Ok, Naim cdx2 sounds more organically rich and full timbre but boy i was not expecting this little gizmo to come close to mega buck player. What amazes me the most is how relaxed and smooth this NOS DAC sounds, almost vinyl like.

a true Gem for hard core audiophile, could not wish for more and it saves me some pennies which otherwise would had to be spent on Naim or Weiss DACs.

Kudos to Cees of Metrum who created this musical instrument, highly recommended to anyone who wants go back to live like musical reproduction.
and remember, Octave is big sucker for tube amplifiers, tubes make Octave sound godly :-D