Metrum Onyx versus Metrum Pavane

@justjames72

have you had time to listen to the Adagio?

Just a little - it is nowhere near broken in but sounds pretty good. It does improve on the Jade by displaying a richer tonal quality probably due to more dac chips and a bigger power supply.
I will not be able to try it again until Sunday. I plan to also try the Adagio through my preamp -both through the volume control and after taking the volume control out of the circuit. I have received instruction on how to take the (very high quality) volume control out of my preamp’s circuit so I would then be running my preamp as a unity-gain buffer. It is going to be a lengthy audition if I want to try all configurations and to make sure the Adagio is sufficiently burned to sound its best.

@mitch2 right on, I'm interested in what the difference is. I can't imagine its a big enough difference to justify that price jump from Onyx to Pavane 3 or Adagio

 @justjames72

I can't imagine its a big enough difference to justify that price jump from Onyx to Pavane 3 or Adagio

I currently own Jade (Onyx with volume control), Pavane L3, and Adagio, and can say that while the Jade sounds good, the other two clearly take things to another level. The choice of whether that is worth it depends on system goals, partnering equipment, and finances, but the differences are tangible. With audio its like stepping half the distance to a wall, the closer you get, the smaller the steps.....and you pay more for each smaller step.

@mitch2 I was told by someone else that even Anjo (metrum) said you wouldn't hear much of a difference unless you are a very critical listener, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try it out either way. 

Once I get some funds saved- I'm going to give the pavane a try and see what happens. 

Mitch I'm wondering if you compared the coaxial digital input versus the I2S and if so what differences did you hear when using both of those digital connections from ambre to DAC?

I know you compared aes versus I2S and mentioned I2S was slightly better but wondering if you compared RCA digital to I2S as well and if so if you can comment on differences in sound.

I currently connect to my onyx via rca and am thinking of purchasing the ambre to be able to use I2S if the sound difference is worth it.  I do not have aes output currently as well.

Thanks