[sheldaze]

Can prime owners comment on synergy with LCD4? I'm hoping to get one but worry about if the prime drives it competently like how it powers my lcd3fs now.

Recall that Jude said he could power Abyss and HE-6, in a pinch.
 
::
 
How much volume are you looking to use? How much do you use currently with your LCD-3?
 
I have been quite pleased by how well it drives HE1K. And I have heard HE1K (mine) and LCD-4 (at a recent meet) powered by the same amplifier, at basically the same volume. No - it was not the Prime. But I do not expect any trouble if you plan to use the Prime with LCD-4.

 

[jayboy76]

Thanks Sheldaze, what u say makes sense!

 

[JamieCole]

Hello everyone, and happy holidays! Mind if I ask why there haven't been any posts to this thread in few months? Are folks still enjoying the Prime?
 
I came across the Prime a few weeks ago and it's piqued my interest. It helps that it's currently $999.00 on Amazon, which seems like a deal compared to the original $2k figure. Does anyone have experience with the Prime and Fostex TH line (TH-X00 and 900 specifically)? I'm currently using a Grace m9XX but like the form factor and technology of the Prime (filters, MQA support, ASP, etc.), and Meridian house sound. Anyhow, any thoughts or comments would be helpful.
 
Oh, my chain is MBP>QNAP>Tidal>Roon and I listen to pretty much everything but my favorites are indie, punk, hardcore, hip hop, classical, electronic/downtempo, and some pop.
 
Cheers!

 

[JamieCole]

@sheldaze I believe you have the Grace m9XX as well. Any thoughts or comments between the two setups? 
 
I do like my Grace, quite a bit actually. But, I also like the Meridian house sound. It's one of the few all-in-one setups I'd actually consider over the Grace. 
 
Many thanks! 

 

[sheldaze]

  @sheldaze I believe you have the Grace m9XX as well. Any thoughts or comments between the two setups? 
 
I do like my Grace, quite a bit actually. But, I also like the Meridian house sound. It's one of the few all-in-one setups I'd actually consider over the Grace. 
 
Many thanks! 

Kind of a tough comparison - these two products are each seeking things, which are so different from each other.
 
The Grace is paramount a DAC. They even wrote custom software, as I understand it, to extend the 4490 chipset as far as it can go. However the amplifier portion is limited. It is not volume limited, but does not sound as clean and free of distortion as a dedicated amplifier should - not going to be as good as their m920. I've fed the output from the m9xx into amplifiers, such as Moon NEO 230HAD or the Cavalli Liquid Carbon with excellent results. While I can use the m9XX as a complete product, DAC and AMP, it is not something I would personally listen to as an all day primary system.
 
The Meridian Prime is an amplifier first. It excels at exactly those things that the Grace cannot do - clear, distortion-free, dynamic sound. But it's DAC has the Meridian processing, which is a blessing and a curse. It is not your typical DAC sound. I've owned the Explorer, Director and Prime. Meaning I've enjoyed how each sounded. I feel today that something like a Gumby exceeds this Meridian sound, so that's more the path I've taken. But I've had many sessions, where I enjoyed the entire product - DAC through to amplifier, into something like a high end Grado headphone. This is something I would listen to for many hours. The Meridian processing, and the clean amplifier power, did wonders for this sonic nirvana.

 

[zerogorgor]

  Hello everyone, and happy holidays! Mind if I ask why there haven't been any posts to this thread in few months? Are folks still enjoying the Prime?
 
I came across the Prime a few weeks ago and it's piqued my interest. It helps that it's currently $999.00 on Amazon, which seems like a deal compared to the original $2k figure. Does anyone have experience with the Prime and Fostex TH line (TH-X00 and 900 specifically)? I'm currently using a Grace m9XX but like the form factor and technology of the Prime (filters, MQA support, ASP, etc.), and Meridian house sound. Anyhow, any thoughts or comments would be helpful.
 
Oh, my chain is MBP>QNAP>Tidal>Roon and I listen to pretty much everything but my favorites are indie, punk, hardcore, hip hop, classical, electronic/downtempo, and some pop.
 
Cheers!

 
Ah. This is the forth time I am writing this reply. Couldn't find the right words for the first three times, and Chrome forced me to kill the page upon the forth. 
 
I got my Prime HPA with the Prime Power Supply at a nearly criminal price from a very good friend of mine, but even so I am afraid I would not say I "LOVE" the set. Prime is not bad, but it is not all too easy going. My headphones/earphones don't pair up well with the Prime (listed below). I am still exploring how to appreciate it, but it has not been a very fruitful journey.
 
One very interesting thing I find about the Prime is that the reviews/impressions online are not wrong or not legit per se, but I would not take them as the perfect reference. I usually read reviews and impressions when I get a new toy, and compare my own impressions with them. When I first listened to Prime and read the reviews, I felt like "well I would not really say that", but then after listening for a longer period, it went like "well I would not really say that but you are not wrong". 
 
To me, there is an adjustment session every time I listen to my Prime. It is not that the Prime set is bad, but somehow I feel unused to it, I feel uneasy with its presentation at times, but this peculiar feeling makes the Prime interesting, even intriguing. But most of the time I go back to my other set up.
 
***
 
Headphones: German MAESTRO GMP450 Pro, Sennheiser HD600
Earphones: Etymotic ER4S, Ocharaku Donguri-KEYAKI, Ocharaku/Olasonic TH-4FN, qdc 4SS

 

[JamieCole]

  Kind of a tough comparison - these two products are each seeking things, which are so different from each other...

 

   
Ah. This is the forth time I am writing this reply. Couldn't find the right words for the first three times, and Chrome forced me to kill the page upon the forth...

 
Thank you both for your comments! I found it odd that this thread has so few posts for such a (seemingly) nice bit of kit, and a Meridian product at that. Your responses have certainly steered me away from the Prime. I was intrigued but I really enjoy my Grace and will stick with it for the time being. For small desktop listening and low impedance headphones, Grace is hard to beat. But, maybe Chord has an announcement that'll sway me another way? We'll see. 
 
Cheers, and thanks again! Happy New Year. 
 

 

[obsidyen]

   
Ah. This is the forth time I am writing this reply. Couldn't find the right words for the first three times, and Chrome forced me to kill the page upon the forth. 
 
I got my Prime HPA with the Prime Power Supply at a nearly criminal price from a very good friend of mine, but even so I am afraid I would not say I "LOVE" the set. Prime is not bad, but it is not all too easy going. My headphones/earphones don't pair up well with the Prime (listed below). I am still exploring how to appreciate it, but it has not been a very fruitful journey.
 
One very interesting thing I find about the Prime is that the reviews/impressions online are not wrong or not legit per se, but I would not take them as the perfect reference. I usually read reviews and impressions when I get a new toy, and compare my own impressions with them. When I first listened to Prime and read the reviews, I felt like "well I would not really say that", but then after listening for a longer period, it went like "well I would not really say that but you are not wrong". 
 
To me, there is an adjustment session every time I listen to my Prime. It is not that the Prime set is bad, but somehow I feel unused to it, I feel uneasy with its presentation at times, but this peculiar feeling makes the Prime interesting, even intriguing. But most of the time I go back to my other set up.
 
***
 
Headphones: German MAESTRO GMP450 Pro, Sennheiser HD600
Earphones: Etymotic ER4S, Ocharaku Donguri-KEYAKI, Ocharaku/Olasonic TH-4FN, qdc 4SS

How would you describe its presentation?
 
Meridian has a special house sound used by their own DSPs, you either love it or hate it.

 

[zerogorgor]

I tried typing some impressions, but Chrome killed the page and all the text is gone. Too bad, but this is all too discouraging.
 
Anyways, Happy New Year!

 

[mswlogo]

 
How would you describe its presentation?
 
Meridian has a special house sound used by their own DSPs, you either love it or hate it.

 
I hate when people say Meridian "House Sound". Meridian DAC/AMP sounds NOTHING like their DSP Speakers and do not implement their "hybrid volume" control that they have used for eons in their Preamps and DSP Speakers.
 
Your choice of headphones will dictate the bulk of the "House Sound".
 
The Meridian Prime Preamp uses off the shelf DAC's with an Off the Shelf Op-Amp with an Off the Shelf Attenuator. What is "House Sound" about that?
 
They even used the upsampling of the DAC Chip in the earlier on Explorer 1.
 
The only thing "signature" is the Apodizing Filter and that only kicks in when they upsample. When listening to MQA there is no upsampling or when listening to hi-res.

 

[mswlogo]

I've posted my Meridian Prime Headphone Amp review in the Reviews section if anyone is curious.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/meridian-prime-headphone-amplifier/reviews/18160

 

[Hooster]

  I've posted my Meridian Prime Headphone Amp review in the Reviews section if anyone is curious.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/meridian-prime-headphone-amplifier/reviews/18160

 
Great work on that review.

 

[Rocker UK]

I am very tempted to buy one of these but am a bit confused by some of the technology so hope someone can help me:

1 - If I connect the Prime to my iMac via the USB connection am I using the DAC and amp in the Prime or are there settings I need to adjust to do this?

2 - Does the USB connection decode 24/96 files ok?

3 - If I wanted to connect an iMac using the analogue/RCA inputs which output from the iMac would I use (USB? Optical?) and which cables would I need?

4 - Does the Prime decode MQA? (I have read different reports hence why I am asking)

Sorry for so many basic questions - just need to know before I buy.

I was actually going to buy an Explorer 2 but not sure whether this would be good enough from my iMac.

Thank you very much for any help.

 

[Dynaudio lvr]

My thoughts on the Meridian Prime.(using the Prime Power Supply)

LCD-XC
Flac or MQA/Tidal sources

So few positive reviews for this setup on Head-Fi. This is an honest review from someone who owns the Hugo and owned the IDSD Micro and Ican SE.

It's neutral, a tad forward with Vocals. There's great bass when it's supposed to be there and not when it's not.
Rap probably won't sound the way one would hope..depending on the headphones.
Smell like teen spirit by Nirvana will sound exposed as the awful recording it is and probably not be enjoyable...depending on the headphones.
Beyonce's Lemonade album sounds amazing ( especially MQA or Hi res)
Huge soundstage with depth. In general this Amp sounds very natural and organic/analog. Details are superb.

Obviously the soundstage is better than the Hugo. Not surprising considering it's a desktop Amp. The question seems to be comparing the Dac's. Prime gets no love here and I suspect it's partly because all the specs aren't laid out and the DSP design isn't explained.
The Hugo is great, of course. It's a digital sound. I've had it for two years and played every genre most nights I can and it is so precise and accurate but eventually I found the sound to be a bit flat. Not equalizer flat but digital sounding. Instruments don't have rounded edges and smoothness as some do in real life. Gentleness, Delicateness. (Take Five by Dave Brubek) The body ( to me) is missing. Although for the IDSD crowd...Hugo is likely exactly the right cup of tea. I do agree that Hugo is a better all rounder for all genres.

MQA - It's 192khz. That's it. No need for hate or disbelief. If you mostly play Hi res flac type files from your library then MQA may not be very useful to you. It's for streaming. To send more data than a typical 16 bit 48khz sized file can hold.
The two biggest Hi Res streaming companies in the world both use MQA. Deezer and Tidal. Thankfully they do because I don't want to bother finding Hi res files for every band I like.
If you are in the wagon of people who don't hear a difference between a song that was sampled at 192khz compared to 48khz...then MQA likely isn't for you either.

The Prime was one of the first rigs to use MQA but it's becoming a more readily available license. Again though..only for streaming. I gather alot of people have their own large collections and won't need that feature in a Dac.
Mytek Brooklyn Dac managed to throw MQA in as well as the whole kitchen sink for $2000. In contrast, Meridian has significantly lowered the pricing on the Prime.

I love the prime. There are only a few genres, rap included, that I will use a less accurate, sweeter sounding Amp to feel that kind of music.