Too many choices for R2R DACS--opinions appreciated

The Morpheus arrived on Friday, and it’s been going through its paces all weekend. I’m informed by the seller that it’s had plenty of time in his system to reach its full voice, so I assume that’s what I’m hearing.

Initial impressions: everything they say about the imaging and detail retrieval is true. Spatial cues are vastly improved over my previous DAC, and while the higher frequencies are brought a bit more forward, the Morpheus maintains solid control of them, so they never sound shrill or glassy (unless the source material sounds that way). Voices, in particular, sound natural. Bass frequencies are also very present and well defined. These qualities are very impressive.

However (and yes, there’s a BUT here), there’s a tradeoff for all of this compared to my AMR DP-777, and that is the fullness and roundness of the musical events. While the Morpheus is certainly not what I’d call analytical, there’s a relative thinness to the notes, as if the music has been slightly deflated and spread. That’s where the AMR DAC exceeds the Morpheus: in presenting the image as a unified event. It’s not as precise in its presentation as the Morpheus, but to my ear, it’s more appealing.

So all things considered, I’m impressed but not exactly in love. I guess unless I’m willing to spend some really big bucks, there’ll always be some sort of tradeoff. I’ll live with the Morpheus for a good while and see if my tastes/ears adjust to this new soundscape.

op

if you haven't already, be sure to try the morpheus through its different inputs... in my time with the unit i found they performed rather differently

I have the metrum acoustics onyx which I had upgraded with the DAC 3 chips.  Cees who is the designer of both the Onyx and Morpheus mentioned that with the DAC 3 chips the Onyx is essentially equivalent to the Morpheus as they both now have 16 DAC chips and their design is very similar.

I also have the Metrum acoustics ambre streamer which I highly recommend as it is very well built with upgraded clocks, linear power supply, etc. and has all the digital outputs.  In my system USB was the worst sounding and the images and vocals were thinned out.  I2S was the best connection between the two and images and vocals definitely became fuller and the sound more transparent and dynamic.  It's possible the Morpheus has a better USB input than the Onyx but I would think the other digital inputs on the Morpheus, especially I2S will be better.

Thanks for the suggestions about inputs. I've been mulling over the prospect of adding a streamer to the system, and I wonder if anybody has compared the Metrum Ambre with the Sonnet Hermes? I'm still limited by my choice of USB over I2S configuration on the Morpheus. I may have made a wrong decision here...

I would probably go with the Sonnet Hermes as I'm sure the pricing is very similar between the Hermes and Ambre.  Cees mentioned they both basically sound the same however the Hermes has a slightly larger power supply and uses the Pi4 chip instead of the Pi 3 chip used in the Ambre.  

If you want to use I2s you need to purchase the I2s module which replaces your already installed USB module.  It's very easy to do.  You can't have both I2s and USB connectivity at the same time.