[George Hincapie]

That’s true about snake ool but since he designed the adagio and the pavanne, and thenI left to design something that’s a fraction of the cost of that and says it’s better, that’s why I’d say I’d let my ear is tell me and not him. What’s he going to say? I have a new product that’s 25% less than what I just designed but it doesn’t sound as good?

The markup in audio is obscene. Material cost for devices thay cost thousands may be well under <£500. I wouldn't allow the price to be indicative.

But it sounds like you've made your mind up. What a shame.

 

[ken6217]

Markup is definitely insane. I love how my system sounds, and have bought and sold so many components, and at this point I don’t feel the need to make a change.

I did pass this thread on to a friend who this might be of interest to however.

 

[Fredoo]

Have now heard from Cees. The DAC performance will match that of Adagio/Pavane and may exceed that.

Sounds like a winner for the money...

Thanks for sharing, I think it’s important to understand what ‘DAC performance’ would mean in this context:
1) Performance of one new DAC module card (vs one Metrum DAC TWO module)
2) Performance of the DAC section of the RoonDAC (with 2 modules) compared with 8 modules of the Adagio/Pavane.
3) Performance of a DAC section with 4 ‘Sonnet’ modules vs 4 DAC TWO modules
4) Performance of the RoonDAC as a device (taking all other components and implementation into account: power, software, clock, etc etc)

Imho the RoonDAC is very interesting in ALL cases above. That said, as the RoonDAC is a different product (with Endpoint and DAC combined), SQ wise it will be impossible to make an one-on-one comparison with Metrum products (perhaps it’s better to have a separate RoonDAC / Sonnet Digital Audio topic..)

 

[George Hincapie]

Good idea. New thread needed. Will you start it please with the information we have to hand?

 

[Fredoo]

Good idea. New thread needed. Will you start it please with the information we have to hand?

Please feel free to start a topic

 

[George Hincapie]

Please feel free to start a topic

I am on holiday and have only my mobile so it'll be a PITA to copy the links etc. Will do it in 2 weeks when we get home if no-one else has.

 

[Fredoo]

I am on holiday and have only my mobile so it'll be a PITA to copy the links etc. Will do it in 2 weeks when we get home if no-one else has.

No problem, here you go:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sonnet-digital-audio-new-kid-on-the-block-well-not-really.912400/

 

[Thenewguy007]

Given he's the designer, why wouldn't you trust him?!

He is also making money off of the new product. The only way to be know, would be through a non-biased 3rd party to do a full review.

 

[ken6217]

Also if it supposed to compete with DAC’s in the $2000 - $3000 price point than that in itself would say it doesn’t compete with the Pavane and Adagio since they are significantly more money.

Also separate components sound better die to isolating the internals, and especially the power supplies.

It’s easy for him to say his new product sounds better as whose going to really compare them? Anyone else has those two DAC’s are not gonna sell it to buy this new product.

I’m sure it will sound nice, but it’s not gonna sound better.

 

[gvl2016]

I find it a bit disconcerting that over these years we haven't seen any independent technical assessment of Metrum gear. Because of it I suspect they have something to hide, otherwise they would have sent their product to say Stereophile. It may sound "nice" but do you really know what you're listening to? Sure, there is that argument that what you hear is what really counts, but I'm not going to buy that. Money is a very bad indicator of anything, speaking of that Totaldisaster.

 

[ken6217]

I find it a bit disconcerting that over these years we haven't seen any independent technical assessment of Metrum gear. Because of it I suspect they have something to hide, otherwise they would have sent their product to say Stereophile. It may sound "nice" but do you really know what you're listening to? Sure, there is that argument that what you hear is what really counts, but I'm not going to buy that.

Wow. That's got to be the craziest thing I've ever read.

So you can listen to something nice but you don't really believe it's nice because you need a magazine to write about and tell you it's nice it so that you can really know if was you think sounds nice is real nice. You need for someone to tell you what you're listening too?

Do you think your girlfriend is pretty, or do you need to have someone tell you that to believe it?

 

[gvl2016]

Here it goes. I don't want to start this debate. I want to see how Metrum DACs perform on an independent test bench. Is this too much to ask?

 

[ken6217]

Testing and listening don’t equate as far as I’m concerned. Take a look at how a tube amp tests. It tests horribly, but sounds great.

Just let your ears do the testing, if you could trust them. LOL

 

[ken6217]

Testing also does not take into account your own personal taste. What if you like something that’s more forward, or more laid-back, or more bass, or more shimmering highs. You can’t tell any of that from a test.

In addition, it’s also how it plays with the other components that you have.

 

[gvl2016]

My ears tell me that the Pavane I sold produced colored sound that lacked details. It was reasonably pleasant to listen to though if I oversampled.