Sonnet Digital Audio: New kid on the block, well.. not really!
Aug 7, 2023 at 2:10 PM Post #1,471 of 1,507
So I have had my Pasithea back from repairs for several weeks now, and I finally decided to give it a listen. Mind you, it has seen less than 24 hours of burn-in since I fired it up so I assume that things are still evolving.

I have been listening to some music this morning/afternoon, and admiring with awe the performance advantages that the Pasithea has over the Morpheus! The much lower noise floor, the black background, the massively spacious, airy, soundstage stage and pinpoint imaging! The Pasithea has excellent detail retrieval and yet it also manages to be so quiet in the background that I can feel its relaxing and calming effects in my muscles as I lie down listening. which makes me think I could lie down listening all day doing nothing else. The Pasithea is such a great match with my Niimbus US4 that it has got me wondering how I managed to live without it for the past six months when it was out of commission.

The funny thing is I have spent much of the last year second-guessing my Niimbus US4 and wondering whether I should get another SS Amp. I have been dreaming about some of the newer "passengers" on the head-fi FOTM hype train, such as a Holo Bliss, the Cen.Grand Silver Fox and even the older KG CFA3, especially for driving the Susvara or the Abyss 1266 TC.

However, now I am listening to this chain:

Singxer SU-6 (with Paul Hynes SR4T LPS) ==>> Pasithea (via RJ45 I2S) ==>>Niimbus US4 ==>> Hifiman Susvara,

... and the music is so grand, so charming, so relaxing and stately that I am positively wondering what could have made me dream of a more "perfect amp," talk less of a "more perfect" rig.

I cannot immediately figure out what exact difference the Singxer SU-6 is making in its contribution to the music, since I have not compared it directly with the Ambre. It is also new in my system--even newer than the Pasithea--and I am thinking that it too might need some days of extensive burn-in before coming into its own. Still, I can say that this is easily the best performing rig I have ever heard for the genres of music I typically listen to. I can easily imagine the existence of even better rigs and chains out there, but for today at least, I do not care about anything "out there." All the demons of "upgraditis" seem to have vanished in the face of the wonderful synergy I am getting on this one, and it is all very pleasing indeed.

If there is an "endgame" rig anywhere in existence, then it must be a product of some synergy between a set of components and human factors (some predictable and repeatable, and others not) rather than that of any particular group of components exclusively. I feel like I am riding on a nirvana of synergy today, and I thank Cees and Sonnet Audio for their input in making it happen.
 
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Aug 17, 2023 at 2:42 AM Post #1,472 of 1,507
Do you guys use pre-amplifiers with Morpheus?
I don’t have any issues driving planar-magnetic headphones with Burson Soloist GT via XLR output but…
I received one tube OTL headphone amplifier for the test which is single-ended and the RCA output of Morpheus (2 V) is not sufficient enough.
 
Aug 17, 2023 at 9:29 AM Post #1,473 of 1,507
So I have had my Pasithea back from repairs for several weeks now, and I finally decided to give it a listen. Mind you, it has seen less than 24 hours of burn-in since I fired it up so I assume that things are still evolving.



The funny thing is I have spent much of the last year second-guessing my Niimbus US4 and wondering whether I should get another SS Amp. I have been dreaming about some of the newer "passengers" on the head-fi FOTM hype train, such as a Holo Bliss, the Cen.Grand Silver Fox and even the older KG CFA3, especially for driving the Susvara or the Abyss 1266 TC.

However, now I am listening to this chain:

Singxer SU-6 (with Paul Hynes SR4T LPS) ==>> Pasithea (via RJ45 I2S) ==>>Niimbus US4 ==>> Hifiman Susvara,

... and the music is so grand, so charming, so relaxing and stately that I am positively wondering what could have made me dream of a more "perfect amp," talk less of a "more perfect" rig.

I cannot immediately figure out what exact difference the Singxer SU-6 is making in its contribution to the music, since I have not compared it directly with the Ambre. It is also new in my system--even newer than the Pasithea--and I am thinking that it too might need some days of extensive burn-in before coming into its own. Still, I can say that this is easily the best performing rig I have ever heard for the genres of music I typically listen to. I can easily imagine the existence of even better rigs and chains out there, but for today at least, I do not care about anything "out there." All the demons of "upgraditis" seem to have vanished in the face of the wonderful synergy I am getting on this one, and it is all very pleasing indeed.

If there is an "endgame" rig anywhere in existence, then it must be a product of some synergy between a set of components and human factors (some predictable and repeatable, and others not) rather than that of any particular group of components exclusively. I feel like I am riding on a nirvana of synergy today, and I thank Cees and Sonnet Audio for their input in making it happen.
Yes - the niimbus is a great amp and i feel an undervalued/underestimated one. But as i own one i am biased, i know.

maybe there is limited opportunities to demo one at retailers. There wasn’t any opportunity to demo one here in australia when i bought it a couple of years ago.

there is one listed for sale in australia, on another forum for $2250 usd and it has just been sitting there.

as well as it’s “blackness” of sound and tonal texture which was evident from my first listen i did come to the realisation over a bit of time that it does add a bit of colour, in the form of a fuller sound in the upper bass and mids. Not as much as the v280/1.
That brings out this more “musical”, rounder, warmer sound that i really enjoy.
it is still pretty much a reference offering but with that texture and tone it hits the right spot with the susvaras for me. That together with it’s ample power.
And plays well with the abyss by not having the mids dipping low, and gives the lcd5 a fantastic texture/impact down low.

and fills out the sound of the utopia, though it doesn’t help the utopias with a larger soundstage though.

i certainly have not needed a newer ss amp.

enough of my preaching to the converted - glad to hear you are happy with it and not looking to change (at least for now)
 
Aug 30, 2023 at 12:10 PM Post #1,475 of 1,507
Aug 30, 2023 at 12:52 PM Post #1,476 of 1,507
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Sep 15, 2023 at 7:55 PM Post #1,477 of 1,507
They have updated info about i2s module & compatible streamers/ddc.

Edit: if you look at i2s info they have mentioned that i2s can accept upto 5v ( same as su6 rj45 i2s ). Pin out also matches su6. The impedance on su6 is 37R.
Could you provide the link to this update on the i2s and compatible streamers. I am already using the SU6 to feed my Pasithea, but any related new info about such a setup from Sonnet/Metrum would be welcome.
 
Sep 15, 2023 at 11:31 PM Post #1,478 of 1,507
Sep 16, 2023 at 12:43 AM Post #1,479 of 1,507
Sep 16, 2023 at 10:45 AM Post #1,480 of 1,507
Sep 16, 2023 at 11:17 AM Post #1,481 of 1,507
That's interesting. I didn't realise Denafrips DDCs were Metrum/Sonnet RJ45 compatible.
You’ll need a custom Ethernet cable to use with denafrips ddc.
 
Sep 16, 2023 at 11:41 AM Post #1,482 of 1,507
Sep 16, 2023 at 1:59 PM Post #1,483 of 1,507
Any recommended usb cables for connecting the SU-6 to my source, in case the quality of the USB cable matters?
 
Sep 16, 2023 at 2:43 PM Post #1,484 of 1,507
Any recommended usb cables for connecting the SU-6 to my source, in case the quality of the USB cable matters?
Honestly, it doesn't matter. People say it does, but it doesn't. Buy a well made USB cable and be happy. Supra will do.
 
Sep 16, 2023 at 2:46 PM Post #1,485 of 1,507

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