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Sonic Studio 302 (aka Metric Halo ULN-2)


jp11801

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Yeah, at this point I would rank them:

1. PS Audio

2. Audio Research DAC7

3. Metric Halo ULN-2

4. Weiss DAC2

5. Apogee Mini DAC

After hearing the Amarra 4 at Ciamarra I am convinced that it is in another class than the ones I have now.

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Yeah, at this point I would rank them:

1. PS Audio

2. Audio Research DAC7

3. Metric Halo ULN-2

4. Weiss DAC2

5. Apogee Mini DAC

After hearing the Amarra 4 at Ciamarra I am convinced that it is in another class than the ones I have now.

Jeff Have you done any recording with the MH yet? I'll take that outcome for $1695 since I think both the AR and PS AUdio are 2-3x the ULN2 price

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I have not recorded anything as I have only had it hooked up for a week after getting my cables from Nate.

I actually go back and forth whether I prefer the ULN-2 to the AR but I would definitely recommend the ULN-2 as it is just as good for a lot less. I also am using far more expensive cables out of the other DACs for those that think that might make a difference.

The PS Audio is capable of fantastic sound on two of the five filters and a bit closer to the others on the other three. The interface is nice and I am leaving it on Native with no upsampling for most use and find it to be a very good source.

Edited by VPI
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Yeah, at this point I would rank them:

1. PS Audio

2. Audio Research DAC7

3. Metric Halo ULN-2

4. Weiss DAC2

5. Apogee Mini DAC

After hearing the Amarra 4 at Ciamarra I am convinced that it is in another class than the ones I have now.

Hmmm, you know if #3 gets the boot I know this guy who might be interested in taking it off your hands. Just sayin' :)

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Yes, JP, Filburt and I put them through some paces today. They were both quite good, but the win goes to the Amarra 4. Probably closer than I expected, which means the ULN-2 was closer than I thought it would be. We listened to 16/44 and 24/96 files, and had 6 songs that we intended to compare but I think we did more like 3-4. I felt the 4 was better in terms of bass tone and definition and quantity, there is more weight to the sound (maybe the same thing), the image is a more compact and flatter on the ULN-2 and the definition is a little better with the 4. We did have some issues in trying to switch back and forth using one Firewire connection and changing settings and such, but we were ultimately able to get a sense of it and I don't think the technical glitches really prevented us from hearing the units.

We also tried Filburt's modded Assemblage DAC and it sounded very good as well. The bass is very strong and it sounded very good overall both through Filburt's Headamp Dynalo and through my speakers. Great DAC for the money.

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The day started well with an IPA from 21st Amendment brewery but the promise of an easy day soon passed. We set up both the amarra 4 and the sonic 302 and got made sure the drivers and sonic consoles were set up (Mike thanks for emailing the 302 file). Like good audio geeks we then did a run through on our test songs and got the output setting stabilized using a SPL meter. Let the games begin... well not so fast as every time we switched dacs either the sonic console hung up or the amarra software got hung up.

We were able to go back and forth between the two dacs a few times even with the glitches. The model four had better dynamics, lower and better bass, the image the 4 threw out had better definition with greater front and back stage definition. The model 4 also sounded more open on top.

We also fired up Filburts assemblage dac and played that with the model 4. The assemblage had greater bass weight and tonally was thicker sounding but the 4 had greater feeling of openness to me, they both were really great but I may be used to the metric halo house sound.

I would really like to do a longer term comparison as I think particularly with dacs differences are more subtle and are often time heard better after a few days with a the "better" unit in your system then switch back the the other unit.

We did salvage the day with a few pints from Toranado beer bar after the listening was done.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Al, was nice enough to loan me the Amarra 4 (uln-8) over the weekend and top to bottom it clearly bests the sonic studio 302 (uln-2). IT was better to the degree that I now have to find a way to get one.

From the moment it went in the system it was apparent, while the differences were there at Al's you really need to hear sources in your system to get a complete feel for them. I have rationalized the $6k purchase as not bad for a dac/phono pre and preamp.

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