The new Metrum is managed by a totally different team than those who were involved in the previous business failure. It’s a complicated story, I don’t know all the details, but the new team should be judged by what they do going forward, not by what their immediate predecessors did.
it is up to everyone to judge the new team.
I don’t feel like buying anything from this company anymore. Even though I was practically a fan of the brand and gladly recommended it to others.
Such small firms are always at risk of bankruptcy.
I am particularly annoyed by metrum’s information policy.
The buyer of my Adagio himself had a defective Adagio from the beginning of 2020 that he could not get repaired at the time.
He’s been luckier than me now.
as @Fernando_Pereira says it’ s a complicated story. basically Metrum was taken over by a speculative group (meaning… the company was financially solid and going strong, otherwise no one would bother). its founder left and founded a new company (Sonnet. he also released, under the new brand, a couple of great new products). then, I don’t know the details, he managed to get hold of the Metrum brand again and… all is well that ends well 
a little searching the web, a bit of trust in good people (there’s plenty, even in this silly branch, and Cees Ruijtenberg is for sure among those), plus a lot less “nervosa” 
… and you would still own one of the best DACs out there 
anyway…
even if you want to portray me like an idiot with your tone of voice, i have declared my position and am out of here now.
not my words nor my thinking. all I said is you acted too quickly
Hello Fernando
I’m curious if you ever got the Ambre to work with the Holo SPring using the I2S connection?
Thanks
John
No, I did not. Sold the Ambre and the Spring long ago. I now have Spring 2 KTE and May KTE (two different systems on different locations) that I run from USB, which is much better on them than it was on Spring 1.
I’m interested in trying the Metrum Ambre with my May KTE using I2S (USB is in use already).
How did you like the Ambre ?
The Ambre was a good fit for the Metrum Onyx I got at the time. However, it’s tricky to convert its RJ-45 I2S output to the HDMI input that Holo DACs require. AFAIK, you can’t just wire some RJ-45 wires to some HDMI pins, you need some additional circuitry. Someone might know what to do, but back when I was playing with this, there was no easy path.
Another consideration is that the Ambre is limited to 192K PCM on I2S, while the most fun with the May is to drive it at higher rates with external upsampling. I use HQPlayer for both of my Holo DACs, upsampling/modulating to DSD256, with results that beat anything else I’ve heard with these DACs.
Hi Fernando
Thanks for this info.
I think the converter in question needs to work with LVCMOS to LVDS I2S.
Modules like this may work: I2S Input to HDMI I2S LVDS Output Module - Audiophonics
However, the I2S limitation is the main consideration as you say.
I’m running a Musica Capella III which has Roon and I2S to the Holo. Seems to look better all the time 
Cheers,
John
I have the Spring 3 KTE via USB from my Mac Mini. The sound is the best I’ve heard with my tube amp; better than my AES connection to my Ambre and DAC (Cat 5 cable from my Mac Mini to the Ambre).
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USB is definitely the best input for the more recent Holo DACs, including Spring 2 KTE and May KTE that I own. You also get the benefit of greater freedom with external upsampling over the limits of the other connections. Since I use HQPlayer for upsampling and DSD modulation, the two DACs are driven by NAA endpoints (UP Gateway mini-PCs) with Intona isolators just for good measure.
I have have my Ambre for a few years now but considering get rid of it. Sound is great and has been 100% rock solid from day 1, but the limitations are starting to have an impact. It’s Roon only so with the lack of streaming options in Roon it creates an issue. Also no USB out.
Was thinking of getting a new streamer with QOBUZ and Deezer plus Airplay 2 to give more options, but hard to find anything good that doesn’t also have a DAC in it, which I don’t want.
I was using Metrum Ambre and faced the same problem since it’s limited to Roon. Got a Zen Stream and I am very happy. SQ is very close to Ambre and has multiple options for streaming. Thinking of getting rid of the Ambre. Using USB out from the Zen to my Metrum Pavane.
Yeah - USB Audio out seems to be disappearing from streamers, which is odd and I need to be able to use other streaming options, like Airplay.
I was also thinking of the Zen Stream.
For me my main reason for the change is that I had my DAC (Gungnir MB) upgraded to Unison USB and want to use it.
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I’ve had a very good experience with the Silent Angel M1T. Has USB out, supports Airplay, Tidal, and Spotify connect.
there’s a review here:
I do not have the external power supply.
I know about the WiiM, but what other streamers have dropped USB out?
At the budget end you won’t find a USB, Cambridge Audio MXN and AXN, the NAD CS1, and as mention the Wiim range all of these came out last year. At the opposite end not one of Naim streamers do nor their digital preout. The cheapest options are the Ifi Zen Stream then the Eversolo and Project Stream box.