Sonnet Digital Audio: New kid on the block, well.. not really!

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

and back

 

[romchique]

Looks similar to Onyx/Jade. Same layout, similar back panel. Apparently those new DAC modules need to be much better than Metrum ones to justify the price tag.

 

[Fredoo]

Looks similar to Onyx/Jade. Same layout, similar back panel. Apparently those new DAC modules need to be much better than Metrum ones to justify the price tag.

With 16 ladder DAC’s better to compare the Morpheus with the Adagio. It seems to be at least similar, at about half the price.

 

[Fredoo]

Et voilà, the first review of the Morpheus:
https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/sonnet-digital/

 

[Sapientiam]

With 16 ladder DAC’s better to compare the Morpheus with the Adagio. It seems to be at least similar, at about half the price.

I'd guess deleting the output transformers shaved a very significant percentage off the BOM cost.

 

[Fredoo]

I’m trying to understand what your remark is. I believe the Adagio and Morpheus have a similar approach on adjusting volume/output. If you have other information, please share

Description of the Adagio (from Metrum site) :
“The idea of having a decent volume control to prevent a necessary Pre-Amplifier could improve performance dramatically. However, we also know that the way of introducing such device in the signal chain can also have a negative effect.

Experiments were made and as result the best sound was coming directly from our Transient™ modules. Even the digital approach did not convince us but still one idea was not tried yet. Especially in case of R2R ladder DACs it is quite easy to change the output voltage of the DAC by changing its reference voltage but to realize this, dedicated DAC boards were designed to get the best regulation possible.”

 

[iamalex]

It's only a guess, but I think he meant the Lundahl output-transformers that transform the balanced signal to single-ended; in the Onyx and Jade the balanced signal is only summed to deliver a single-ended signal.

But these transformers, found in the Pavane and Adagio, only cost around €70 (x2 = €140). I would like to find them in the current Morpheus, but probably they will be implemented in the forthcoming TOTL DAC.

 

[Sapientiam]

Yes, those transformers were what I was talking about. I agree 70euro is fairly cheap for a commercial signal trafo.

 

[Baten]

Personally I'd rather have transformers out of the output signal or at least optional, really.

 

[iamalex]

Personally I'd rather have transformers out of the output signal or at least optional, really.

You can also go for an external balanced to single-ended transformer like the ones from Lundahl. Just make sure to take the right model matching the input impedance of your headphone-amp.

 

[penguinofsleep2]

Anyone know if these have shipped yet? A little surprised by lack of thoughts/impressions on general internet.

 

[kumar402]

Did anyone get a chance to listen to these? Really interested to see how they stack against Onyx or even Pavane

 

[musicfrommemory]

Did anyone get a chance to listen to these? Really interested to see how they stack against Onyx or even Pavane

Bumping this as also very curious to know if anyone's received their Morpheus yet and how they are finding them - do please chip in if you ordered one and have received them yet or not...

Big thanks.

 

[BlackMagic]

Did anyone get a chance to listen to these? Really interested to see how they stack against Onyx or even Pavane

Comments are slow coming (not unusual). Rene van Es has just published (HiFi.nl) and some v. brief comparisons made. A year or so ago Firefox would translate but since its upgrade ... its now downgraded translation function on my PC. Chrome used to work but the other day didn't like it - worked once then packed in. Strange.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Comments are slow coming (not unusual). Rene van Es has just published (HiFi.nl) and some v. brief comparisons made. A year or so ago Firefox would translate but since its upgrade ... its now downgraded translation function on my PC. Chrome used to work but the other day didn't like it - worked once then packed in. Strange.

This add on to firefox works great
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/simple-translate/