Metrum
Metrum Acoustics is a leading manufacturer of a well-formed range of Digital to Analogue converters, Digital Pre-Amplifiers and Power Amplifiers.
A brand of ALL-Engineering BV, Metrum Acoustics has continuously made waves in the national and international press with the unique sound of its DACS.
Starting in 1989 with electrostatic speaker field developments, the company over time evolved in a leading Digital to Analog conversion product company. Today Metrum Acoustics is a household name for artists, music professionals, audiophiles and lovers of sublime sound alike!
Throughout the existence of Metrum Acoustics, a diverse range of acoustic system products have been created, always relying on sound electronic design principles. Digital signal processing has played a significant role in more recent developments.
In hi fidelity audio Metrum Acoustics attention was initially drawn to the limited availability of certain componentry. Established manufacturers supplying these key components decide how signals should be processed. No alternatives are available and therefore this greatly influences the sound image that is realized.
Current trends among manufacturers are to use the technique of ‘oversampling’ or ‘up sampling’ within the digital to analogue chipset itself. This forces designers to utilise this method of signal conversion for their own products. It also means that many brand systems use the same building blocks and consequently sound the same. The sound images created by such systems can betray the componentry that has been implemented. These sampling techniques were introduced to fulfil the need ‘to smooth’ the conversion process from digital to analogue and prevent phase distortion. Particularly during the years following the introduction of CD replay, conversion methods proved insufficient regarding sonic artefacts. In response, strong filtering methods were employed and the oversampling technique was born. These techniques however had disadvantages which manifest themselves for example in areas of transient response.