hifiyoung Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) Which would produce the best analog audio stereo out from these DACs/players with DAC? From sources such as DVD-Audio, Blu-ray Master Audio, Flac, mostly 96khz 24bit but maybe some 192khz. I would expect the Metrum Octave to be the best of these but it only does 96khz, there isn't much 192khz music available anyway, but how does say 192khz through one of the other DACs/players compare to 96khz. Edited October 29, 2011 by hifiyoung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 The Metrum DACs are very different beasts to the others. There is no best here. The Oppo95 is a very good player, with good DAC (analog outputs). The other 3 are non decoding, non surround, DACs ... so they will only play the stereo PCM tracks of the sources you are quoting, obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Crunch Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 How long is a piece of string? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifiyoung Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Sorry, I should be more clear, how would a setup of say a lower cost player able to play 96khz 24bit with a DAC such as the Metrum Octave or similarly priced DAC compare with The Oppo 95 with its internal DAC Sorry for being unclear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Sorry, I should be more clear, how would a setup of say a lower cost player able to play 96khz 24bit with a DAC such as the Metrum Octave or similarly priced DAC compare with The Oppo 95 with its internal DAC Sorry for being unclear I don't think there is a best, it would depend on your subjective opinion, and the rest of your system. One may have better synergy with your system and your listening preferences. What does the rest of your system comprise of? It would need to have very good resolving ability to hear the differences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhobba Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) Although it is often not stated explicitly it is understood that posts here are usually listening impressions and best varies from person to person. When I say such and such clobbered such and such that is to my ears in my system, or if I am posting about a listening session with others its the group or stated individuals opinion. There is really no objective best as such. That said from my experience the Metrum Octave when fed with a good source will likely sound the best. Thanks Bill Edited October 30, 2011 by bhobba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifiyoung Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Generally which would you prefer of those different combinations if you were buying them yourself for music? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhobba Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Generally which would you prefer of those different combinations if you were buying them yourself for music? Metrum Octave 100% for sure. But I would feed it with a source like the Audiophilleo or if you have more dosh the Off-Ramp. Thanks Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifiyoung Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Excellent, thanks for your suggestion it sounds really good I like the whole concept of a filterless dac having read about the history of cds and digital music. I would then be looking at a cost saving solution for playing digital audio to send it to the dac. What does everyone suggest as their favourite around $1k ish dac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Metrum Octave 100% for sure. But I would feed it with a source like the Audiophilleo or if you have more dosh the Off-Ramp.Thanks Bill Have you had an extensive listen to a bdp-95 on your system Bill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifiyoung Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 What do you think of Octave vs Quad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhobba Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) Have you had an extensive listen to a bdp-95 on your system Bill? No - but I heave heard it. IMHO its not in the same class as the Metrum - with the usual caveats like I said above of course. Thanks Bill Edited October 30, 2011 by bhobba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhobba Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 What do you think of Octave vs Quad? Almost certainly it would be good but the buzz is about the Octave. Thanks Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 No - but I heave heard it. IMHO its not in the same class as the Metrum - with the usual caveats like I said above of course.Thanks Bill Have you heard them both in the same system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
betty boop Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 oppo 95 is certainly an affordably price very well made unit. sonically I would say best to demo in your system to decide. I dont beleive it is the last word in audio though, and would suggest include some other players in reprtoire to check out eg old sony SA players, nad m5 sacd or marantz sa11 s2 all of which could pick up for about the same or cheaper second hand. they are fabulous players too in my opinion re dacs theres is huge variability of whats out there, a lot of it out of mainstream with significantly tweaked sound to different ends of spectrum so will be very much the case of demoing in the system to decide as to how good a match to your system and whether floats your boat sound character wise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I would then be looking at a cost saving solution for playing digital audio to send it to the dac. Then NOT the Metrum. The two sources (Audiophilleo and Off-Ramp) that Bill is recommending to use with it cost the same as the Octave, and double the cost of the Octave respectively. What does everyone suggest as their favourite around $1k ish dac? Audio-GD Wolfson DACs .... put any change from your 1K into the source or USB converter (if using computer). Other than this, I think the only clear way forward in SQ is to spend more like 2K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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