Any opinions on the AMR Digital Processor 777 Dac?

I'm not denying the AMR is a Swiss Army Knife.Its features are wowonderful and the interconnects, powercords and extra bixes it makes unnecessay makes it a good value if you our these things to use as you obviously do.

For those of us that use it solely as a DAC, however, I think similar or even better results can be had cheaper. I won't name people, but I've spoken privately with a handful of former AMR owners who reported similar findings with less expensive competition. In fairness one of then hated the Metrum Hex but still slightly preferred a DAC in the sub $1500 range that even did DSD.

Look, I'm not suggesting the Octave is better, but if your needs are limited to a dac, you are still paying for the unused features so it has to be compared MSRP for MSRP.

As a compliment to AMR, I significantly preferred it to the LampizatOr I previously owned, which was beautiful and seductive, but so colored and romanticized as to play a large role in dictating what I listen to.

Oh and for the record we compared both DACs with the LampizatOr Transport and a Bolder Cable Co Modified Squeezebox Touch with Deluxe power supply and Music Rail upgrades .

David,

Thinking further about it, the fact that your using def 4s makes a bit of sense in your preferences. I have a set of those nanotech drivers for my def 2s and as impressive as theyare, they are a good bit more neutral in presentation and I can.see that extra sweetness of the AMR making a nice synergy.

Beyond that the DACs presentations were more similar then different, don't mistake me for saying the AMR is a poor performer.

What's your budget?

Partial retraction: I was just informed the AMR DAC I'd listened to was an older one and there is a new main board, according to distributor Dareen that sounds much better. I haven't heard this version so I don't want to taint waters/reputation.

My feedback stands with regards to the older version.

I have owned the Octave and used it with the Cynosure USB cable (which I owned at the time) and the Diverter HR (which I owned at the time) the BEST USB-->SPDIF converter I have ever heard.., along with that I installed the AMR fuse in the Octave. Was it good. HECKS YEAH!!!! It was good. One of the best sounds I had heard and as someone who has heard the $90K CH-Precision dac at a friends home, I would say that I would MUCH prefer to listen to the Octave/Diverter HR combination. Now having said all that I will state again as I have in other posts that the Octave is NOT in the same league as the AMR...period. I wanted it to be better because it is less expensive (not by much when you consider the Diverter is about $3K alone) but it simply could npt deliver the goods like the AMR DP777. If you have not replaced the stock fuse in the Octave with the AMR fuse, you have no idea what the Octave is capable of, yet and still it is out-gunned. Now, lets be fair... it is a roughly $1k dac that I think beats up most dacs out there regardless of price.

The AMR either direct into my Graaf GM 200 Graaf Modena or my Thaumaturges or via my MFA Ref or Baby Ref simply outperformed my Octave in the areas of naturalness and flow. Even my (then girlfriend) immediately chose the AMR as the goto device).

Lately I have been downloading hi-res files (just bought Glad Rag Doll / Diana Krall) and that dac is just as killer on my hi-res as it is on well recorded RB material.

I have not heard the Hex... I was going to purchase one, but honestly I have been so pleased with the level of sound I am getting now that I am in no hurry. Perhaps I will find someone who lives near me and get a chance to hear the Hex.

I now use the DP 777 with the ifi iUSBPower finding that is better than the Dynex hub I found and used to use in front of ALL usb dacs including my former Diverter HR as it simply makes them all sound more natural. The AMR DP 777 was the least affected by the hub but it did improve it a bit. The iUSBPower went even further.

Just my 2 cents.