Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?

@audphile1 

Thanks for the response. I inherited a Matisse drawing from my mother that I thought was real. I knew it was a real drawing and it was signed by Matisse and it was damned good. Better than any of the artists whom I knew could do. 

I took it to the Matisse archives in Paris to get it authenticated. The woman who ran the archives knew in one look that it was a forgery. Matisse used a fine fountain pen and this was done with a slightly thicker sharpie. Matisse's fine fountain pen was much more elegant. And that's what I think of when I say a note is focused or thick.

In a way the Meitner reminds me of tube gear of old that was lush and "musical," but distorted. 

@audio-b-dog that’s why I bought MA3i. The concerns I noted with the original MA3 are addressed. 
I’ll also add that Pass Labs gear tends to homogenize things a bit. That in combination with the sonic signature of MA3 might be too much of a good thing. 

I’m also confident you can improve upon the MA3 with better Ethernet cable or by adding a network filter or isolator. Removing an extra layer of network induced smearing might help clean things up a bit. 

@mclinnguy 

 Is that with both Roon and a UPnP software? 

No. I’ve taken out Roon ROCK NUC with library on internal SSD and replaced it with dBpoweramp on a Windows NUC using a back of the library on a ReadyNAS controlled by Linn App.

@audphile1 

Give jplay a try.

Thanks, I like jPlay, but unfortunately it’s not hapless with Linn DSMs.

@audphile1 

My ethernet run is 35 feet so high-grade audiophile cable would be expensive. But tell me more about the network filter or isolator. 

BTW, I don't hear any homoginazation on my Pass Labs equipment. My preamp is a newer issue (XP-30) with three boxes, one for power and one for each channel. I replaced an ARC Ref. 3 with it, and it is as good as the Ref. 3 and superior in clarity and clean soundstage. When I say clean, the soundstage might not be as large as the Ref. 3, but it is quite exact in separating and placing instruments. It's very highly reviewed. And, of course, my ultimate test is with well-recorded records which sound amazing on my system. 

@newton_john that’s interesting about gapless and Linn. So even if you enable gapless in jplay settings it’s still a no go?