Yamamoto YDA 01 DAC

Hi Charles,

It takes honesty and character to say a much less costly item is preferred over what you payed a large sum for and not make excuses

True, though it is all personal and very much dependent on the rest of the audio components used for the evaluation, especially when it comes to a digital front-end, don’t you agree?

We did some quick research; for those interested in some specifications, here is a datasheet link to the DAC chips used in the Metrum: DAC8580

Check out the distortions (THD) and compare to some older audio DAC chips such as TDA1541A, PCM1704 and AD1865 also used for NOS DACs. Not to talk about the fact that the DAC8580 used in the Metrum has a built-in Digital Low Pass Filter, OpAmp I/V converter and output sections.

Please don’t get me wrong; at EUR800, the Metrum is probably a very, very good value (price/performance) DAC, and without a doubt it will make many audiophiles who like this type of sound very happy, but to even try comparing it to the NWO-M is rather funny, IMHO!

Happy listening!

Alex Peychev

"It`s all personal", Alex, always has been and always will be.Of course not everyone will agree with Srajan`s conclusions, you can`t get audiophiles to agree on anything in an unanimous fashion, it is`nt going to happen. Pointing out measurements don`t impress me at all, they`re a ton of components the look great on paper yet sound can sound like total crap, no need going that route again.

Srajan owned the NWO-M and earlier this year and declared it the "best" digital playback he`d heard to that point(would you question his system or ears based on that?).
to this day he still admires the NWO-M and feels it`s one of the very best. Obvoiusly they`re qualities with the R/2R Metrum Octave that he found better(personal opinion).

Another thing, if one is`nt into trophy audio gear and judges instead on pure sonic criteria, there is much in high end audio that`s over priced. Conversely there`re many reasonably priced components that perform briliantly.

I`d would never use the price of an object alone to determine which is better if there`s the opprotunity to compare directly, which both he and is friend did in this case.
Best Regards,

I was curious about the exact chip used and could never get an answer from Cees on that topic. Not sure why. Thanks for posting the information.

Interesting, not saying that this isn't indeed the DAC used in the Metrum however find it odd that the spec sheet mentions tv's as a primary use candidate when the Metrum site argues these are not used in conventional consumer industry.

Unless you reverse engineered one of these I'm curious how you were able to identify the chip in use since that was supposed to be known only to the manufacturer and is a reason (competitive advantage) the Identifying marks are removed.

Good observation Jcote, the same thought cross my mind. In the end it does`nt matter and does`nt alter the fact that Srajan and friend feel the Metrum sounds fabulous(regardless of price or pedigree). They relied on their ears, and preferred it in their respected audio systems, In this context the specs and measurements are a very distance second in relative importance.They compared the two DACs "directly" and heard what they heard.

These R/2R chips could be sourced from Walmart, who cares if it "sounds" better than NASA approved parts/chips.