Meitner MA3i DAC Review

@audphile1 - thanks.

@yyzsantabarbara - can you elaborate what aspects of using D1 PITA? Also have you heard Grimm Mu2? I wonder how Mu2 compares to MA3i and D1

@panerai557 Recently I got my CODA #11 amp back from Doug Dale at CODA. He was the guy building this amp 30 years ago and I wanted to update it in any way since I am keeping this amp long term. He sent it back to me with $144 new speaker binding and some adjustment on the bias (more Class A). 

I put the #11 together with the D-1 and man that was better than anything I have had with the D-1. I sold my 4x more expensive CODA #16 since I liked the slightly warmer #11. Class A amps and the D-1 have great synergy. I also have used the Schitt Aegir v1 Class A 20 watts with headphones and the D-1.

As of now the D-1 has taken another step above the MA3i sonically. This is really the best sounding DAC I have ever heard.

My friend who sells both the MA3i and the D-1 (I paid MSRP) likes the MA3i over the D-1, but I got to get him back to my house to hear the new setup.

• Yamaha NS5000 speakers
• imersiv D-1
• CODA #11
• Audience AU24 SE XLR
• Sonore OpitcalRendu fibre streaming

Very simple and this system takes me to the grave.

As setup above the D-1 is NOT a PIA to use. No unplugging of the cables to flip between amps (XLR).  No USB cable unplugging and plugging. Any time you need to change the cables you need to shut the unit down from the back. They even say that on the web site now, after people like me messed up. 

Each time you change any cables you need to run CALIBRATE and that is another step to remember. You may also want to change the 2nd Order Harmonic Distortion filter with different amps as I did with 2-channel and headphones.

The SPDIF on the D-1 does not support DoP which is almost a deal breaker for me, but since the D-1 sounds so much better than other DACs to me I let it go. I am using a free RME DAC to play my SACD’s with a GeerFAB D.BOB via the RME SPDIF (which supports DoP).

Today with the simple setup I described above I do not need to do any of those things. The setup is so easy that my wife is starting to use the system with ROON. 

The MA3i is much more robust for my needs. If I had it in the office, I get almost as good Ethernet streaming as my Sonore OpticalRendu (I compared). The SPDIF supports DoP and the MA3i on my SACD is the very best of anything I have heard in my house. I believe disk playback is still better than amazing streaming like I have. If the D-1 did DoP on SPDIF I am certain I would say that was the best I have heard. The MA3i has working XLR and RCA outputs that I could use on my headphone amp and my 2-channel without having to disconnect cables. I did do that and loved it. The D-1 has XLR out that really ONLY work properly. My D-1’s RCA do not work at all, for some systems it may work (but not as good as XLR).

If you are in the USA, send me a DM and I pass a bit more info.

Stereophile has published a new review of the MA3i and it echoes what most of us have stated here: 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/meitner-ma3i-integrated-da-processor