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

@audphile1 

Great! It has changed a lot, and I think I'm only around 100 hours. As you said, the treble was a bit rough at first and it's pretty smooth now. 

@audphile1 

I love my Meitner very much and you seem adventurous lol…have you hooked it up directly to your amplifier?…if so what are your thoughts..

@charles007100 I am using a Boulder 866 integrated. But it has a theater bypass mode you can set for each input. I tried it and used the MA3i volume control. There was absolutely no degradation in sound quality. I have used it in this configuration for a few weeks. I didn’t feel there was an improvement but again there was no audible compromise. I switched the boulder to regular mode. 
I would say if this DAC is your only source then using direct into amp is what I would do. I think you would need one heck of a preamp to beat the volume control that’s on the Meitner. 

@audio-b-dog ​​​​@macg19 listening to Bill Evans Sunday at Village Vanguard and sounds incredible. There’s slightly less interference from the venue on this recording. Both albums are fantastic. The sound quality is insanely good on this Craft vinyl mastered by KG. The cartridge and phono stage pull ever out of the grooves. Great album. 

@audphile1 oh ya your amp is integrated, I am talking about just a amp not integrated, nothing else hooked up just the Meitner that lets the Meitner really shine. If you have just a amp laying around give it a try when the mood feels adventurous, it is a lot of work changing things out for sure.

@charles007100 unfortunately, or fortunately, Boulder 866 is all I got. It’s very transparent. I’m sure if I had a Boulder 1163 stereo amp and ran Meitner direct into it, my jaw would drop to where the hobbits live. But alas, I don’t yet have the means to run that level of amplification :)