Yamamoto YDA 01 DAC

I must confess that I canceled my order for the Metrum. I hadn't paid, nor had Cees mailed out my invoice yet. So no harm done. He was very nice about it.

A friend of mine whose ears I trust, and whose system I have spent many an hour listening to, told me he had the Metrum in his rig for about a month....thought it was definitely an overachiever, but prone in his system to displaying just a hint of hardness in the upper mid/lower treble.

This quality is my "white whale" so to speak, and the one thing that would make or break it for me, so without some type of return policy, I had to reluctantly pass on it.

I just couldn't take the plunge.

YMMV

I ordered the metrum octave in September to be used with a stello u3 after reading all the rave reviews.
Of course I just read the six moons review of the new Eximus dp1 Dac and wonder did I make a mistake. Big price difference of course.
Any insights?

Further thoughts on two excellent DACs,
I have over 200 hours on my Octave and stand by my earlier comments with 2 addedums, after re-inserting the Yamamoto DAC into my system the Octave is a very good DAC but it is`nt superior to the Yammy. WITH continued listening and patience subtle differences arise, both DACs are good but one does`nt stomp the other. I feel the Octave has "slightly better",micro detail and venue nuance/ambience but in my system the Yammy is just a "bit" more dynamic with more impact(not that the Octave lacks these qualities).

In terms of tone, timbre and overtones again they`re close but the Yammy is superb with overtone production with just a bit more air. I`d expect the NOS R/2R Octave to be very organic and natural(which it is)but how does Mr. Yamamoto get equal organic character from this oversampling DAC ? The Octave may be more resolved by a tiny margin yet both sound so transparent and veiless.Bass is exceptional with both DACs ,not overdampened nor fat and slow, just natural with control, good tone and weight.
I `ve not notice the high frequency issues at all with the Octave, both DACs are extended and are a bit sweet. Neither has edge,glare or harness.

Both of these are quite fine but with differences that may cause one to be preferred over the other based on taste and system makeup(nothing new there).
The Octave does have a clear value advantage(1K USD vs 2.5k or higher for the Yamamoto, big difference).
At it`s price point the Octave will be very difficult to beat.
In my case that`s a moot point, the Yamamoto is a purist Redbook only player but a damm fine one. In head to head comparisons each will have it`s supporters.

I retain my high opinion of the Octave and I feel the reviews and internet buzz is justified.
The Yamamoto-YDA-01 DAC is a classic, I`m keeping it. As involving as the Octave is, I find the Yammy even more so.Emotional respond to music is hard to explain, but you know it when you feel it. It`s the same reaction as when I replaced an excellent 100 watt push-pull amp with my 8 watt SET 300b amplifier(sublime).

Quietman,

I have no insight regarding the Eximus, but if you haven't yet, you might want to look over at computeraudiophile.com the "Metrum Octave - WOW" thread, where member Bhobba compares the U3, an Audiophileo, and an Offramp feeding the Octave. The short story is he feels the Audiophileo is far superior to the U3, and then the Offramp is superior to the former although quite more expensive too. And he's adamant about feeding the Octave hi resolution files.

Charles1dad: thank you for the great input. Seems like this is it for me. I now need to pull the trigger, which might take a while.

I`d expect the NOS R/2R Octave to be very organic and natural(which it is)but how does Mr. Yamamoto get equal organic character from this oversampling DAC?

Having both non-oversampling and oversampling digital sources which I enjoy, the answer in my opinion is because in the scheme of things, it's the overall design and not just the chip that determines the sound.