TRANSPORT

cDtransportwiths/PDlF,AEs/EBU andAT&ToutputsMade by: Metronome Technologie, France

Supplied bY: Absolute sounds LtdTelephone: 02Oa 971 3909

www.metronome-technologie.comi www.absolutesounds.comPrice: !8800

Metronome T3A SignatureWith standalone DACs now witnessing a renaissance, audio enthusiasts shouldn'tignore the lmportance of a top-notch CD transport to hear compact discs at their bestReview: John Bamford Lab: Paul Miller

outique manufacturer l\,4etronomeTechnologie hails from southernFrance. The company will sooncelebrate its 25th anniversary

yet it was largely unknown to Britishaudiophiles until distributor Absolutesounds began its Absolute Studio'demonstrations at UK hi-fi exhibitions,where it showcased the company's digitalfront ends in combination with similarlyextravagant darTzeel electronics fromswitzerland and Magico loudspeakersfrom san Francisco. Luxury audio at itsfinest, indeed... Absolute Sounds' RicardoFranassovici has described his quest tosource the world's finest audio jewels as

the search for'an haute couture audioboutique - exclusive, rarefied creations,pieced together to create an audioensemble of uniquely desirable quality'.

IVtrDDIE OF TIIE RANGEMetronome's T3A Sjgnature CD transPort,despite its not inconsiderable price, is

substantially more affordable than thecompany's ultra-high-end Kalista andCalypso models - works of sculpted artformed in Perspex, aluminium and stainlesssteel - which cost the price of a terracedhouse in South Wales. lt's less extravagantlyclothed, but as befits its price is beautilullymade nonetheless.

Metronome Technoloqie does makea couple of integrated CD players,

consequently this T3A signature CD

transport lies somewhere in the middle ofthe company's product line-up, alongsidea partnering standalone DAc, the C5

signature. lt's a manual top-loader withan integrated power supply, housed in

a sturdy chassis with a thick fascia ofbrushed aluminium available in silver orblack finish. Weighing 12k9, the unit sits onthree substantial leet which have circularrecesses cut into their undersides, intowhich inverted Delrin cones magnetically

RIGIIr: Metronome employs a Philip6 cDMl2Pro 2 disc mechanism, modified in-house,

Power supply has thr€e transformers separately

Hing cdtical parts of the transport

locate to afford additional isolation fromany external vibration.

PICKING I'P THE BITSObjectivists might argue that'bits arebits'and that once a CD's information has

been read it js easily error'corrected toproduce nominally'pedect' digital data.But a recovered bitstream remains opento corruption and further degradationunless attention is given to every detail in areplay system, Even the method ol drivingthe final (electrjcal) digital output is upfor debate - transformer coupling or fast,active line-driver? ln the past, the likes ofTheta and Wadia have chosen the latter,in this instance Metronome has chosenthe former [see Lab Report, p65]. Whenin pursuit of audio perfection, therefore,nothing is left to chance.

sliding back the top plate cover ofthe T3A to load a cD reveals its transport

mechanism, a Philips CDM12 Pro 2 v6.8that Metronome cuffently employs for all

its models lsee boxoutl. cDs are placed onthe spindle, label side up, and secured in

place by a magnetic clamping puck also

made of Delrin. Nletronome's engineersmodify the mechanism in-house wjth a

stainless steel shaft, designed to affordimproved disc stability and minimise jitter,while also providing a continuous ground-link from the disc's surface to electricalearth. lt says this provides better workingconditions for the transport's electronicand optical components by eliminatingparasitic electrostatic fields generated byspinning discs,

The T3A has an elaborate power supplyemploying three toroidal transformersand independent regulation lines foreach critical part of the transport - thelaser pickup, servo, and controlfunctions- which the Metronome designers say

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l\lFTtOhrOl\lE aECFiNTOLOGIE

provides inter-stage EMI/RFI radiationprotection and ensures 'a dynamic,analoguelike sound quality'.

There are three diqital outputs at therear to feed to your DAC of choice: S/PDIF

(gold-plated RcA), AES/EBU (XLR) and SIoptical via an AT&T connector, the latterrarely seen on consumer digital audiocomponents - Wadia qear from the Usbeing one notable exception. ST opticalis a high bandwidth interface designedorigjnally by AT&T for computer networkingand it generally uses glass fibre cablesrather than the plastic fibre employed forthe common ElAl optical standard {referredto by Toshiba's 'Toslink' trademark).

Which interface is the best? As always,implementation is the key rather thanthe technology used. ln fact we askedlvletronome to elaborate on its use of theAT&T interface since there are preciousfew DACS in the world that feature 5Toptical inputs. lronically they replied: 'Weconsider that all the digital outputs on ourcD transports have equivalent high quality

- we are in the process of modifying ou.products to provide them with a Toslinkoptical connection rather than AT&T'.

clearly, then, Metronome has concludedthere's no real benefit to ST optical when

merely handling i 6-bit/44.1 kHz data -unless your high-end CD transport needsto feed a DAC situated a couple of blocksdown the street...

aa,UJ|l DIGGING DEEPI used the T3A in combination with myresident T+A DAC 8 digital-to-analogueconverter IHFN Oct '12], trying both AES/

EBU and S/PDIF interfaces. I dd perceivesubtle differencesbetween the twoconnections, whichno doubt may beattributable to the cablesI had to hand. Using a

1 loohm Nordost Tyr XLR

interconnect the soundappeared 'fast' and light in

ABOVE: Dsc navigation - Play, Stop/Pause,Previous and Next - is via chromed buttons onthe T3A Signature transport's top plate

Some call this musicality'... Whatever,for its ability to engage you in a musicalevent and draw you in to a performancethe Metronome transport is up therewith the very best. Whether playingrun-of-the-mill, mass-produced popular

'The depth, pitch

detail exceededall expectations'

definition and

recordings or audiophilerecordings madewith TLc on specialistmusic labels, the T3ASignature consistentlydemonstrated its abilityto dig deeply into thosespinning cDs, squeezingout every last drop

opinions difler among designers when it comes to the choice ol disc mechanism,some preterring high-speed CD/DVD-RoM drives, others traditional cD mechs.Metronome is one of several hi-fi companies (Krell, Audio Aero, Electrocompanietand others) that lavour Philips' robust CDM Pro mechanism for its top-of-the-linemodels- Built into a full metaljacket, it is particularly robust and is dedicatedto reading Red Book discs, offering fast disc/track access. ln lact the cDMl2lndustrial mechanism was designed for CD jukeboxes where extremely high dutycycles are expected and reliability is paramount. still made by Philips despitecompact disc being in its 3oth year, the 'Pro' mechanism has evolved over theyears - most recently to comply with lead-free RoHS regulations. We askedMetronome to elaborate on why it considers the Philips superior to Far Easternlinear drive disc mechanisms, but received the pithy answer:'lt's our preferencedue to the high quality sound performances that it generates'.

balance, while with a 75ohm Atlas MavrosRcA cable the sound was subjectivelywarmer and more full-bodied.

lilany audiophiles rank digitalcomponents by how closely they approachthe analogue listening experience, thepristine sharpness and squeaky-cleannature of digital often compared withwhat is generally described as the morefluid, flowing and 'natural'sound qualityexperienced from analogue sources.

of musical information and resolving thefinest recorded details.

The album lfiree-Way Miffot [RetetenceRecordings RR-24CDl by Brazilianpercussionist Airto Moreira and his wifeFlora Purim performing with Americansaxophonist and flautist loe Farrell is a

vivid and dynamic recording containinglayer upon layer of fine detail. Typjcal ofthe work of engineer Keith lohnson, thesoundstage was wide and immensely deep,the tonal individuality of the instrumentswithin the soundstage seeming to becarefully preserved even as the recordedlevel maxed out during the performances'more boisterous passages.

This is where many digitalsourcecomponents often fall down, in myexperience, individual sound elementsmelding into a'mash'at high levels,and appearing as il the spaces in thefrequency spectrum had been filled withintermodulation products. With the T+ADAC 8 fed by the Metronome transportinstruments appeared clearly separatedand the sound was indeed'relaxed'and easy to decipher. Subjectively, theperformance appeared to be'slowed o

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TRANSPORT

ABOVE: Metronome ofiers thr€e digital outputs - eledrical as s/PDIF(on RCA) and AEs/EBU (on xIR) and opticalvia high{peed AT&T. The

volume contrcl on fu handset is redundant here

Digitaldomain measurements on both the T3A Signature'sS/PDIF(consumer) and AEs/EBU (professional) outputs used

the same dithered 16-bit CD data we would employiotour standard analogue domain CD playertests. Frequencyresponse is notteribly useful, tra nslating as a perfectlyflatline up to 22.05kHz, by definition. The distortion tests atemore interesting, revealing fractional shiftsawayfromwhat,theoretically, should be a reciprocal increase in distortionwith decreasing steps in digital level lsee red ttace, ctaph 2].Theoretically then, this should b€ a straight, diagonalljne.ln practice, our dithered 16-bit data equates to 0.00007xdistortion (and noise) at odBFs a nd 1 % THD+N at -90d BFs,

equivalentto a full 14odB range. Jitter is limited tothe 16'bitdata-pattern ofthe test itsell or 1 14psec.

Data outputviatheT3ASignatu.e's balancedAES/EBU

digitaloutput was decoded according to 1Ec60958 andAES-3. The receiverand status bits revealed no running patity,

bi'phase,confidenceorC-CRC (Channel status BlockCyclicRedundancy Check) bit errors. however one Q-Subcode CRC

errorwasflagged every "10 se€onds of continuous data, The5/PDIFdata waveform fcraph ], belowl, into 75ohm, is

absolutelyfree of ringing or RF interference, although itsrestricted bandwidth {a function ofthe Puke PE-65612coupling transformers) also reducesthe edge risetime to55nsec. The source imp€dance ofthe transformer-coupledoutput h also hiqherthan the 75ohm standatd at 17oohm.Reade6 are invited to view a fullQc Suite test teportfortheT3A Sig. CD transport by n auigating to www.hifinews.co.uk andclicking on the red download'button. PM

ABOVE: Digital output waveform into 75ohm -transtormer coupled output limits its bandwidth

rDer.sins)Dioirr s.endl.d >> @lABOVE: Distortion vs. dithered 16-bit digital signallevel over a 120d8 dynamic range via the AEs /EBUoutput (red trace)vs. linearity (black trace)

down', allowing the music todevelop almost languidly, enhancingnuance and detail yet withoutappearing over-etched or clinical.

!n the introduction to the track'The Return' the percussive janglingof bells and the sizzle of the cymbalswas spectacular, especially the wayin which the initial sounds gentlydecayed to a truly black silence. Thesense of air and space was fantastic.Where the vocals can sound thinand one-dimensional when this CDis played on lesser gear, the soundwas open, alive and full of naturalwarmth, with a rich presentation,'edge'replaced by body and colour.

EI(CEEDING EIIPECTATIONSI wouldn't normally dream ofusing drummer Bill Bruford's 1979progressive jazz/rock/fusion albumOne of A Kind IEC Records ECCD

40lto assess the quality of a

replay system, its densely packedproduction typically soundingthick and hard to decipher. Yetit presented a fine example ofthe Metronome's ability to peelback layers, stripping apart thevirtuoso musjcians' breathtakingperformances. Clarity and focuswere nothing short of stunning.

The depth, control, pitchdefinition and detail deliveredby the Metronome exceededall expectations from this prettyaveraqe recording. Rather thanserving up merely a blur of low-lrequency information, this CD

front-end snapped tight the lowerreqisters, with an astonishing clarity.

Durinq the charming, ever-so-British Allan Holdswofth composition'The Abjngdon chasp', Jeff Berlin'saccomplished bass playing wasexceptionally well articulated,with an uncompromised senseof pitch and alacrity. The musicaleffect was significant here as

there was more perception ol the

bassist's contribution and greaterrhythmic drive to the composition.The gradations of keyboard lines,Bruford's myriad complex drumpatterns and Holdsworth's weepingguitar throughout were all clearlydepicted. Revelatory, dare I say?

ln stark contrast came a puristrecording from 1992, also onReference Recordings: Testa mentby the Dallas Wind Symphony andTurtle creek Chorale IRR-49CDl.Having already observed thelvletronome's ability to resolve thespatial position of instruments in

a soundstage, this showed thateven with massed voices the T3ASignature/t+A DAc 8 combinationcould display the choir as manysmall and individualvoices. The

scale of the lvleyerson auditoriumwas depicted wonderfully, andthe dynamic power of choir andorchestra in 'The Testament ofFreedom' truly thrilling.

I found the T3A Signature'sperspective on the musical eventto be delightfully unaggressive.The result was a sense of ease thatobviated any fatigue, With suchfine resolution, listening becameimmensely involving. O

The T3A Signature can be highlyrecommended to any audiophilewith a substantial investment in a

CD collection. while it might nothave the visual 'wow'factor olMetronome's cost"no-object audiosculptures this more conventional-looking transport is exceptionallywell made nonetheless. lt willdeliver fabulous sound qualitywhen partnered with a digital-to-analogue converter ofcommensurate quality.

Soundouatity: 87%

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Dirtortion (lkllz, 0dBF -lodBF

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