Meitner MA3i DAC Review

@audphile1 

So the sound should change just with the cable in or out. Since all playback is actually always local.

I've tried two different specialty cables vs my Panduit. I have a 2.0 main setup, another 2.2 office setup, and a headphone setup. All seem impervious to this.

@habaneromonk no. The buffer is small. Usually 30sec to a minute. It isn’t local playback.

The only streamer I know that will cache your entire playlist or album is Aurender - they use a fairly large SSD as a cache. 

You hear the difference between Ethernet cables or not depends on several factors including your system and your ability to hear these differences. 

@kray on the D-1 I tried A, B, C 2nd Order Harmonic Distortion filters. The A & C filters were only used when burning in the DAC and the sound was fatiguing. Once burned in I removed 2HD filters went naked for a while. However, I found I wanted a bit of warmth when using headphones, so I am now settled in with filter B at Level 4. I even use that with 2-channel. In fact, the D-1 is really only used with 2-channel (Livingroom) and the MA3i will be used with both 2-channel (office) and headphones.

I asked John La Grou, the D-1 designer, to help end users out by posting a page on their web site to explain the sonic attributes of 2HD A to F filters. I have no clue as to how they individually differ from each other, John said that was on their ToDo list.

BTW - do you have a D-1 DAC in the house?

@audphile1 I had to reinstall my Qobuz desktop app and I am now able to stream to the MA3i from Qobuz by-passing ROON. I do not have time to do a lot of testing, but I tried 1 song that I find can sound too hot on playback, that is DREAMS by Fleetwood Mac. On the MA3i streaming from Qobuz there is a bit more energy on top. Not too much to make it fatiguing but noticeable. On ROON, this is slightly tampered down. I do not feel like I am losing resolution (hard to tell) but the sound is a bit less hot on top and I prefer it (for this song).

After listening to another song, there is definitely a subtle difference, and I am not sure which I prefer. I am listening with the CODA #16 and the Yamaha NS5000 speakers. 

I do not have a direct connection via USB to my D-1 DAC, so I am not sure how I can get the Qobuz app to stream to the D-1. I think I need Qobuz connect to be setup to my DAC. My Sonore OpticalRendu which I use to stream to the D-1 is the ROON ONLY version so that will not work.

@yyzsantabarbara yep. You heard what I heard. Slightly more energy up top. I like it in remastered rock albums where they killed the top end air. Example - Led Zeppelin 2. Sounds better with Q Connect. Not surprised you like the MA3i. It’s a world class DAC. 

@audphile1 no. The buffer is small. Usually 30sec to a minute. It isn’t local playback.

Trying to square this. My streamer has a 30 second buffer, so if Internet or it’s local connection is lost I still hear music for a max 30 seconds. 

If the connection is down and it’s still playing, and the data is not local.... Where is it?

My desktop I use JRiver and have 1Gb of buffer going to RME> Genelec 8331a So the amplification is built in. So theoretically I can queue up entire PCM 16/44.1 albums without a network connection.