[Blackmore]

Well, dont ask me, but I used this file for several headphones already and the results were very good, but if you go to there website, you will find the full explanation of it.
 
 
Quote:

One question, how can certain sounds/noise improve burn-in?

 

[Stitch]

Well, dont ask me, but I used this file for several headphones already and the results were very good, but if you go to there website, you will find the full explanation of it.

I've read it and I understand what is written but still can't really make heads or tails from it. It may be that I'm a technician that it sounds a bit like snakeoil.

The octave is still hooked to my pc running the file in loops. Its been running for about 30 hours now since Tuesday, haven't listened to it in between, partly due to my ringing ears(almost over). Saturday I'll put it back in my system and evaluate the "burn-in".

I can admit one thing; I miss the music badly... Heard some Ayreon, the man's a frikking legend, from my phone and it only made it worse .

 

[Blackmore]

No probs, some people believe and others dont, just let your ears to decide, would be interesting to read your impressions.
 
THX
Quote:

I've read it and I understand what is written but still can't really make heads or tails from it. It may be that I'm a technician that it sounds a bit like snakeoil.

The octave is still hooked to my pc running the file in loops. Its been running for about 30 hours now since Tuesday, haven't listened to it in between, partly due to my ringing ears(almost over). Saturday I'll put it back in my system and evaluate the "burn-in".

I can admit one thing; I miss the music badly... Heard some Ayreon, the man's a frikking legend, from my phone and it only made it worse

.

 

[Blackmore]

Any updates?
 
THX
Quote:

Saturday I'll put it back in my system and evaluate the "burn-in".

 

 

[Stitch]

Quote:

Any updates?
 
THX

Not yet, i put it back in my system this afternoon but havent listened to it yet, spent the rest of my afternoon riding my motorcycle 

. Hopefully tomorrow

 

[Stitch]

I just listened to it for a few songs.
I usualy have 2 main reference disks; Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind and Ayreon - Flight of the Migrator.
Piece of mind is one of my fav maiden albums, though sibilant at times its instrumental balance, great musicianship and the subtle details are a joy.
Against all expectations, at first glance the change IS obvious but I couldnt really define WHAT has changed. A few minutes in though made it more clear, pun intended.
There is more detail and clarity overall, impact and decay are even better than expected. The strings have more texture, they really reverberate by lack of a better word on my side. Instrument seperation improved slightly.
The stingy highs i mentioned in earlier posts are gone, the highs are detailed but pleasant. The recording had no sibilance so far . The hi-hats sound subtle, the snares and toms are very tight.
Vocals are a treat, Bruce dickinson goes pretty high for male voice standards and its very smooth. There are also some tiny changes i cant really put my finger on yet....
This may all sound a bit euphoric but i expected not much at all. Wheter its psycho-acoustics at its best or burn-in really working, frankly my dear, i dont care
 
And i havent even tried Ayreon, a complex and fast electric muscial fest.
 
Updates follow as i get to listen to more music.

 

[Blackmore]

Thanks for update, great, I would say, keep that burn in process, usually around 100 hours it will settle.
 
Quote:

I just listened to it for a few songs.
I usualy have 2 main reference disks; Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind and Ayreon - Flight of the Migrator.
Piece of mind is one of my fav maiden albums, though sibilant at times its instrumental balance, great musicianship and the subtle details are a joy.
Against all expectations, at first glance the change IS obvious but I couldnt really define WHAT has changed. A few minutes in though made it more clear, pun intended.
There is more detail and clarity overall, impact and decay are even better than expected. The strings have more texture, they really reverberate by lack of a better word on my side. Instrument seperation improved slightly.
The stingy highs i mentioned in earlier posts are gone, the highs are detailed but pleasant. The recording had no sibilance so far . The hi-hats sound subtle, the snares and toms are very tight.
Vocals are a treat, Bruce dickinson goes pretty high for male voice standards and its very smooth. There are also some tiny changes i cant really put my finger on yet....
This may all sound a bit euphoric but i expected not much at all. Wheter its psycho-acoustics at its best or burn-in really working, frankly my dear, i dont care
 
And i havent even tried Ayreon, a complex and fast electric muscial fest.
 
Updates follow as i get to listen to more music.

 

[Stitch]

Well i put 65-70 hours on it last week, in adition to 40-50 i had on it the first week so i'm calling it a day and just listen to it

 

[Elberoth]

Anyone compared the Metrum Octave mk I and mk II ?

 

[DaveMN]

After a lot of research and a leap of faith, I purchased the Metrum Octave MkII with the USB option.  I have been following this post, so I thought that I would post my experiences with the new Octave.
 
I tend to listen to speakers rather than headphones.  As far as DACs, my only reference is the RCA out from a Squeezebox Touch.  So, I cannot claim to be an expert on DAC comparisons.
 
My current system now consists of JRiver player on Windows 8 to Metrum Octave -> FirstWatt B1 Preamplifier clone (wires are just hanging out since I have not put it in an enclosure) -> FirstWatt F5 clone -> 4 Pi speakers.
 
I tended to believe the user comments on the quality of the Octave.  About like this review, comments coming from a user that has only had one DAC needs to be taken in context.  However, I did not like having to decide on the USB to SPDIF interface.  It had taken me a few years to decide that the Octave was worth considering over other DACs.  I decided that I was going to wait until somebody integrated a suitable USB option into their unit and that the Hex was outside of my price range.  That may not make a lot of sense to some, but I wanted a complete package.  Two weeks later the Octave MKII was announced....................
 
On Wednesday when the unit arrived, I hooked up the DAC to the coax connection out of my Squeezebox Touch.  It may have been missing a little bit of detail, but I noticed a big improvement and the music was non-fatiguing and very enjoyable. 
 
On Thursday evening, everything went downhill.  I connected the Octave to my computer via USB.  I download fubar2000 for a player.  The music was shrill and I found myself wincing fairly often.  My speakers are horn speakers, so I thought that their directivity might have been partially to blame.  I also figured that burn in might be an issue.  I downloaded JRiver to use as a player at the very end of the night.  The music sounded much better but I decided to call it a night.  There is more to add to this topic later.
 
When I left for work, I put on the burn in track that Blackmore recommended in this thread.  When I got home, I started playing with the options in JRiver.  The default audio output is Direct Sound.  The system sounded much better than the previous night.  The piecing shrill noise was gone.  I played around with upsampling, but I do not have an opinion and need to do more research.  The huge difference was installing JPlay.  It sounds a bit like snake oil, but the improvement is extreme on my system.  Today, I played with CPlay and ASIO4ALL.  They may have promise, but I am a little fatigued from installing and uninstalling programs.  I am strongly leaning toward paying the 99 Euros for JPlay.  It disables volume control, so I will have to get up more often to adjust the volume.  With it, I love the Octave and my entire system.  The system is very clear and detailed.  The sound is not fatiguing.  I am extremely happy.  There are a few settings and file formats that I need to play with, but I love the current setup.
 
One last thing to cover is the shrill noise from fubar2000. This may help to answer some of your questions about the new USB option for the MKII.  When I listened with fubar2000, I did not go into the output options and select the HiFace output option. It was using the primary sound driver output option; maybe that is equivalent to using something like a coax connection without the benefit of a good USB to SPDIF device.  That is just speculation.  The HiFace driver came with the Octave.  There was a big improvement after I selected the HiFace output option.  Like reviews for the USB in the Hex, I believe that the USB in the Octave will prove to be quite competitive with external USB to SPDIF converters.  However, you have to factor my inexperience with such devices into this comment.
 
I have done a lot of experimentation and learning in the last few days, now it is time to sit back and listen.

 

[Blackmore]

Very nice post DaveMN, also the very first one, keep coming and burn the hell out of this DAC first, it needs some time to open up, Cees says the same, few weeks need it. The only differences I can come up with, between USB in MKII and HEX, is the way USB are feed it with power to perform at highest level. Dont forget about the cables, even many are dont believe, but when you use good quality cables, power and interconnects, things changing dramatically.

 

[DaveMN]

I will post more if I have any more realizations.   The burn in is continuing. 
 
I am not necessarily a believer in high end cables, power, and interconnects.  However, I have learned that there are things with audio that I do not know.  I put quality Cardas binding posts on the amp and will experiment with the rest after I build a decent stand and get a better idea about cable lengths. 
 
As far as I can tell, the Hex has a dedicated linear power supply for the USB.  I think the Octave is supposed to have a the same USB card, but the Octave does not have a dedicated power supply.  I would suspect that if anybody tests the Octave USB card performance, that they will discover that the design is well implemented. 

 

[Clemmaster]

Direct sound is the worst output you can use.
Wasapi or Kernel Streaming are a minimum.

Thanks for the impression

 

[DaveMN]

Quote:

Direct sound is the worst output you can use.
Wasapi or Kernel Streaming are a minimum.

Thanks for the impression

Clemmaster, thanks for the feedback.   I am still trying to learn the software variables.  I would agree that Direct Sound is pretty bad.  When I switched from using the wrong driver, it was a short term blessing though.   I have now tried both Kernal Streaming and Wasapi.  Kernal Streaming with the HiFace 1.03 driver on the Octave was better than Direct Sound, but there was room for improvement.  The WASAPI with the HiFace driver was pretty nice and listenable.  I did some comparisons with ASIO with JPlay against WASAPI.  JRiver seemed to freeze requiring a reboot with the WASAPI driver, so the comparison was difficult.  My preference would lean towards ASIO with JPlay.  With ASIO, the sound was a little thinner sounding (less bass?), but the fine detail seemed better.  The differences between the WASAPI and ASIO with JPlay were less than the lopsided comparison of ASIO with JPlay to Direct Sound in my first post. 

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

Clemmaster, thanks for the feedback.   I am still trying to learn the software variables.  I would agree that Direct Sound is pretty bad.  When I switched from using the wrong driver, it was a short term blessing though.   I have now tried both Kernal Streaming and Wasapi.  Kernal Streaming with the HiFace 1.03 driver on the Octave was better than Direct Sound, but there was room for improvement.  The WASAPI with the HiFace driver was pretty nice and listenable.  I did some comparisons with ASIO with JPlay against WASAPI.  JRiver seemed to freeze requiring a reboot with the WASAPI driver, so the comparison was difficult.  My preference would lean towards ASIO with JPlay.  With ASIO, the sound was a little thinner sounding (less bass?), but the fine detail seemed better.  The differences between the WASAPI and ASIO with JPlay were less than the lopsided comparison of ASIO with JPlay to Direct Sound in my first post. 

 
If you've got true ASIO drivers, go for them!
I used to use Winamp with waveout or direct-sound (don't even remember which) output for few years now. I was more in the "PC-players-all-sound-the-same" category until I tried JRiver and played with different sound engines. The improvement, really, was substantial and I bought JRiver right away! 
 
On a side note:
I tried JPlay for the second time yesterday: it is still very buggy (as I remembered it). It couldn't install on my main PC (desktop), I got a driver issue at reboot.
I could install it on my laptop. It works fine for the first time but after you open and close the settings panel, it won't open again until I reboot the computer... I couldn't get it to work with my NFB-27 at all even, so bye-bye JPlay!