@kumizi first of all the review is, as you already noticed, for the original MA3.
And who is this guy and why should anyone take him seriously? He pooped on dCS Bartok and Meitner but is promoting Schiit and Chi-Fi.
In addition, I had the original MA3 and I was very impressed with it. Highly resolving but sweet sounding DAC. Where it lacked was in dynamics and drive. It was definitely not rolled off or overly warm but kind of polite and reserved. Not for large scale where you expect slam.
The new MA3i resolves every single issue I noticed with the original. It’s a terrific DAC that sounds like music and gets out of the way.
If you’re looking for a hi-fi autopsy of a recording, then may be the D1 is for you. My personal preference is for the sound to resemble live performance as closely as possible. I get it with Meitner every time. It will not sound mechanical. It will not sound like a recording studio monitoring tool, which DACs like Benchmark and D1 really are.
Auditioning is key. Otherwise you hop on a merry go round and never get off…

