only one person has this dac in the world?
Yep, just me, at least on this forum.
The rest are probably listening to music and enjoying their DACs.
Unfortunately, I have not listened to dozens of high end DACs and have not compared the Pavane directly, at the same time, with other DACs, except for the Hex. My comparisons also include the last disc player I owned, which was the top player from Muse, which bettered the Ayre C5xeMP player, which I also owned. More recently, I have had the Lampi L4G4 DAC here, and also the Aqua LaScala II. My previous DAC (that I will be selling soon) was the Hex. All I can say is that IMO, this Pavane is better than all of those, at least in my system and for my preferences.
If you read the reviews, IMO they get it pretty close. However you cannot discount what source you use to feed it. Going to the Antipodes DX was a significant last step toward full-bodied, musical enjoyment in my system. I still own my tricked out Mac mini, that has an outboard linear power supply, inboard filters and SSD, outboard AV drive connected by firewire and also powered by the linear supply, Atomic platform, ifi power for galvanic isolation, signal only USB cable, and more, playing Pure Music in memory mode. As good as that source was, the Antipodes DX is more natural sounding, analog-like some would say, and more enjoyable, at least with my system. Although Srajan's 6moons review of the Pavane was positive, I think he would have liked it even more with an upgraded source.
The EAR review by René van Es is very strong and, while the level of impact the Pavane has on someone's system may vary from the impact Rene' heard, I found his comments about how it sounds to be on track. The review by Jaap Venstra is also quite strong, but needs to be translated.
I am sure there are differences between the Pavane and other very good DACs. The Pavane displays the natural, organic presentation that R2R DACs are known for, and improves on the very good sonic qualities of the Hex. Not surprising with a S/N of -140dB.
Bass from the Pavane is very good, in my system. Clarity is outstanding as is soundstage. It goes deeper than the Hex, and wider. High frequencies are natural-sounding, not rolled off and not overdone but very clear with good impact (when called for) and realistic decay. Super black background, etc., etc. I run a fully balanced system so have not evaluated the single-ended outputs. Also, I am able to run the unpowered leg of a dual USB cable into the Pavane (as I did with the Hex) since it has internal power for the USB input.
Compared to the LaScala, the Pavane is certainly not as warm but that doesn't mean it isn't as musical or as tonally dense. I found the LaScala comparatively a little forced sounding, maybe due to the highish output voltage. The LaScala was warm, musical, and full-bodied, and it was certainly fun to listen to but, for me, the Pavane was better able to make me forget I was listening to a stereo and helped me to simply enjoy the music.
It is unfortunate the USA Metrum distributor/dealer doesn't promote demos. I believe there may be a return policy, and you should look into that. After having the Pavane in my system, I did not even think about returning it. YMMV
