driggs
Head-Fier
Can anyone state sonic differences between the Chord Hugo TT and the Pavane. I have the Stax 009's and BHSE and am between these two dacs...
Can anyone state sonic differences between the Chord Hugo TT and the Pavane. I have the Stax 009's and BHSE and am between these two dacs...
As a Chord DAVE owner, I would take the Pavane over the TT any day of the week, but the DAVE over the Pavane.
The Pavane is a minor miracle in itself. The TT sounds etched and lifeless compared. I've had them both.
I'm fact, I would say the Pavane edges the Yggy and the TotalDac Duel.
I would say the Pavane is too mushy and laid back...I prefer the Yggy. The TT bests all of these DACS, and etched is the last word I would use to describe the TT. In fact, I find the DAVE brighter than either. Great DAC for sure, but still brighter to my ears and neither is "etched". I owned the Hex and really liked it, but the Pavane was a bit of a let down for me.
Oh my, careful, the Yggy fanboys will be after you.....
Simply put, the Pavane sounded real, like the real thing, perfect. No thinness, no harshness, nothing. The bass did not sound strong, nor weak, nor tight, nor loose, it sounded like the real bass instrument.
Everything sounds good and correct. Tons of clear details instead of a mess of sound on other DACs.
No faults with the sound. Even at whisper level it still sounded good.
This is how other DACs sounded compared to the Metrum Pavane :
$6000 PS Audio Directstream: Thin and flat and incorrect, this sounded so bad that if you did an A/B with the Metrum you'd think it's defective and in need of repairs.
$2000 Benchmark DAC2: Hints of thinness. Lots of bass. Shares traits with the Directstream sound.
$2200 Emotiva XMC-1: This thing sounded surprisingly good. A bit veiled at lower volume, also hints of incorrectness from time to time.
Pavane sound reminded me of the sound you used to get out of CD players of the 90s (except way better of course)... What happened to this industry...
I may want to try cheaper dacs of this type, $4000+ is a lot to lock up in a DAC...
Edit: just got to add, Pavane sounded good right out of the box, you don't have to burn in your brain for the sound signature.
As a Chord DAVE owner, I would take the Pavane over the TT any day of the week, but the DAVE over the Pavane.
The Pavane is a minor miracle in itself. The TT sounds etched and lifeless compared. I've had them both.
I'm fact, I would say the Pavane edges the Yggy and the TotalDac Duel.
I would say the Pavane is too mushy and laid back...I prefer the Yggy. The TT bests all of these DACS, and etched is the last word I would use to describe the TT. In fact, I find the DAVE brighter than either. Great DAC for sure, but still brighter to my ears and neither is "etched". I owned the Hex and really liked it, but the Pavane was a bit of a let down for me.
Got this dac a couple days from my friend for nice price of 3ksince he got Metrum Adagio. And i would say that im crazy on that and spending nights near to him. It is gorgeous. Fantastically detailed, very fast and punchy, wide and deep and in the same time natural, smooth.. im enjoing cimbals, sax with my Burson soloist/TH900. I immediately put on sell my Eximus dp-1 as it is considerably less natural and dynamic with notable digital glare but ok.. yet involving. I also had Metrum Musette and it is a good dac for its price but nithing near to Pavane.
Thank you Metrum!!!
Somebody tells that its dark and laid back.. its not true. Its natural. It plays music as it should be. If you think that its is dark your ears broken by artificial glare of delta sigma or sabre.. it is so natural that allows you just relax and enjoy music flow without any loosing of details and annoying sss zzz and piiii