Sold: Meier 2 Move Price Drop

Originally Posted by Skylab

> Meier Audio MOVE 

Kein Titel

I have always liked Meier amps, so I was anxious to get my hands on a MOVE. My main beef with the Porta Corda was it's very DIY looks. It sounded very good (although I did find it slightly lean).

After breaking in the MOVE for 100 hours, I listened to it a LOT before writing this - much more so than many other amps I have reviewed. I used a bunch of different headphones. Why? I wanted to be sure of what I was going to say, because there will be some people who are going to get their panties in a wad about this review.

I think the Meier MOVE is a phenomenal headphone amp. Stunningly good. Better than any amp in this review aside from the Larocco PRII, and in some ways better than it. It combines a natural, warm sound with incredible detail, an outstanding soundstage, and very extended frequency extremes. It's also built like a tank, is very well featured, and is bargain priced. It's impossible not to recommend with great enthusiasm.

Build Quality: A: Awesome metal case. I'm certain it could survive being thrown against a wall at high velocity, although it's so pretty you wouldn't want to. I'd give it an A+ except for one thing - the volume knob, while attractive, is very difficult to grip, and thus hard to turn. It's my one complaint about this amp.
Treble: A+: Treble is amazingly clear. Smooth, open, liquid, and detailed ZERO grain. Highly transparent, and neutral. Very much like other Meier amps. Great extension and air. I doubt there has ever been a portable amp with better treble than this.
Midrange: A: Beautiful, wide open sound. Inviting, clean, open, and engaging. Grain-free. Just gorgeous.
Bass: A+: Excels in pitch, attach, and definition. Also punchy as heck. ZERO bloat or boom, but great weight.
Neutrality: A: There are simply no issues here - very, very impressive.
Soundstaging: A: soundstage width is excellent, depth is just short of the best. Image specificity is very good. The soundstage is top-shelf.
Transparency: A: This is a strong suit to be sure – all Meier amps I have ever heard are jaw-droppingly transparent, and the MOVE is no exception. I was prepared for it not to be, since there was some talk that the choice of op-amp wasn't going to mean a transparent sound. That isn't the case. It's very transparent.

So now we have a terrific Meier portable amp that also looks nice. I preferred the sound in high current but low gain mode. Basically noiseless in this mode. Dynamic, lush, detailed - it's hard not to gush. I listened over and over again to it to be sure - I am sure. The MOVE is the best bargain in portable headphone amps right now on the market, based on all that I have heard.

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> Meier Audio 2MOVE 

Info: Kein Titel

I got a 2Move from Jan on loan to review, but with the advice that I focus mostly on the DAC section, as the amp section was the same as the Move I already own, and had already reviewed. I went ahead and compared the 2Move and the Move, and was unable to tell any difference at all in their amp sections. As such, I am not going to “review” its sound – just look up at the review of the Move. Sonically, they are identical when you use the analog inputs. I will post thoughts on its DAC section elsewhere. The short stroke is that the 2Move’s DAC is much better than the Move’s and makes the amp an even bigger bargain.

A couple of other comments, however. Jan changed mini-jacks from the original Move. Apparently the original Move had some problems with the jacks. Well, just to be a pain, I never had any issue with the jacks on the original Move, and I like them better than the ones on the 2Move. The Battery Door on the 2Move is a HUGE improvement, though, as is the volume knob, which can actually be turned without undue angst 

The Meier 2Move retains its very high ranking in this survey, and I believe it represents the best value for money in all of portable amp land.

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Level 3:

Headamp Pico @ $349.00
Meier Audio 2MOVE (and the older MOVE) (3MOVE @ $270.00)
iBasso Audio D4 Mamba @ $219 (Review Here )
RSA SR71 @ $395.00 (original SR71, not the SR71A)
RSA The Predator @ $475.00
RSA The Hornet “M” @ $370.00