[Radio_head]

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Sir, it is fairly obvious from the asinine tact you have taken to this dialogue that nothing you have to say should be taken as having any gravity, as levity and gravity are clearly at odds.  Please refrain from these childish churlish remarks as its obvious you have nothing to add.
 
Thanks,
Joh 

 

[Aerocraft67]

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I'm aware of that - my point is is while technically speaking that may be where its max output is, if the unit works sub-optimally with a 16 ohm load then it's a rather odd thing to see.

 
My understanding is that you spec output power into a low impedance load as a conservative proxy for how output power will scale to higher impedance loads, but specifying at 16 ohms does carry a connotation that it performs well with 16-ohm loads, but the otherwise unspecified unusually high output impedance of Explorer suggests quite the contrary. Paraphrasing some earlier commentary, it's one thing to make a tube amp with 25-ohm output impedance targeting higher-impedance headphones, it's another to make one with 47-ohm output impedance with no indication that it might suck with low impedance phones, made worse by offering an output power spec into 16 ohms. At least that's what I took away from bobeau pointing it out.

 

[azureaura]

Getting back on subject with the thread. Has anyone tested a meridian explorer on android devices running USB audio recorder? Is there a certain sequence of when you start the program, and plug the usb OTG in?

 

[meat01]

Quote:

Sir, it is fairly obvious from the asinine tact you have taken to this dialogue that nothing you have to say should be taken as having any gravity, as levity and gravity are clearly at odds.  Please refrain from these childish churlish remarks as its obvious you have nothing to add.
 
Thanks,
Joh 

Purrin posted an honest review of the unit, the way he heard it, posted measurements and then was bashed, because his opinion did not match everyone else's and now he has nothing to add?  He has contributed more than the people who have bashed him and I feel his asinine tact was justified.

 

[purrin]

Quote:

 
I could see that.  Oddly enough, I actually found the DF to be warmer for lower impedance IEMs - I ran my 50 ohm GR07s out of it and didn't find quite the differences between that and say the ODAC/O2 as I did with a couple others I recall were 16 and 20 ohms range... with those, I did in fact like the DF more, but it might be because it pulled in the sibilant tendencies more.  Again though, confirmation bias is a funny thing.  By that point I might have already decided the DF had high impedance, and even learning that was not the case after the fact, I still couldn't wrap my head around the differences I perceived.
 
Right now I'm listening to the 334/000 w/ the ME back to back against my MBA headphone out.  The improvements from the ME to my ears are not subtle... far more clarity in the midrange, tighter/impactful bass, and more extension up top.  It just sounds awesome, and I'm not just saying that to save face - this is bar none the best portable setup I've had by a long shot.  I have tons of respect for Purrin and measurements don't lie... that said, I feel like I've just entered the audiophile twilight zone.  I'm eager to get my DF back today to compare.

 
Results will vary depending upon the impedance plot vs. frequency of the IEMs used. Because the UERMs were rolled off with the ME does not mean other IEMs (with their own specific impedance curves) will react similarly with the ME.
 
P.S. On the "defective unit" thing: That's always been an inside joke between my HF friends and I. The joke is if I don't like something because I hear certain characteristics which are later corroborated by measurements, then the unit I received must have been "defective."

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

 
Results will vary depending upon the impedance plot vs. frequency of the IEMs used. Because the UERMs were measurably rolled off with the ME does not mean other IEMs (with their own specific impedance curves) will react similarly with the ME.
 
P.S. On the "defective unit" thing: That's always been an inside joke between my HF friends and I. The joke is if I don't like something because I hear certain characteristics which are later corroborated by measurements, then the unit I received must have been "defective."

 
I get that BA earphones in general can have pretty widely swinging impedance plots (why they're more susceptible to this than dynamics right?)
 
Question: how does having a super high sensitivity factor into this?  My 334s aren't particularly low impedance (I think 40 ohms-ish at 1k?) but very high sensitivity.  They take barely any volume to drive with my ME.
 
FWIW, I got my Dragonfly back and am hearing the same general differences I heard w/ other phones... with the ME I get tighter/impactful bass, perhaps slightly less in quantity, and more extension to the highs.  If anything the mids seem to take a step back but with greater clarity, moving toward the treble riding sibilance edge at times.  At least that's how I hear it.

 

[Aerocraft67]

Quote:

Purrin posted an honest review of the unit, the way he heard it, posted measurements and then was bashed, because his opinion did not match everyone else's and now he has nothing to add?  He has contributed more than the people who have bashed him and I feel his asinine tact was justified.

 
Inside jokery, bro, they're on the same team. Although I will add that the puppy picture was ironically a rather dignified response to the provoking posts, which were so offensively petulant as to otherwise justify unleashing unmitigated rhetorical fury. I daresay Purrin is too kind. Also ironically, fanboy posts of that ilk actually make it more difficult to keep Explorer's merits in perspective vis-à-vis its shortcomings. 

 

[purrin]

 
I get that BA earphones in general can have pretty widely swinging impedance plots (why they're more susceptible to this than dynamics right?)

 
It's hard to say. Some brands of multi-driver IEMs with crossovers have very well behaved impedance response. Others no so much. I haven't plotted the impedance curve for the UERMs which I used, but I'm betting its pretty screwy based on the FR measurement with the ME. (One can pretty much guesstimate or calculate the UERM impedance curve now that that output Z of it is known. Math is fun.)
 

 
Question: how does having a super high sensitivity factor into this?  My 334s aren't particularly low impedance (I think 40 ohms-ish at 1k?) but very high sensitivity.  They take barely any volume to drive with my ME.

 
Transducers with high sensitivity and higher impedance is always good from an amp's point of view, especially one sucking power from USB jack. It would be interesting to see power vs. distortion measurements into various loads (20ohms, 50ohms, 300ohms) of the ME. Tyll, you want to take a shot at this?

 

[teofilrocks]

Wow, it got all serious up in here.
 
Mine will arrive next week. If I enjoy it, I'll call that a win. If I don't, I'll send it back or sell it. Easy.

 

[netdog]

I'm really curious now about this headphone thing and will have to give it a try.
 
Sadly I am not into headphones, and hence only have a pair of P5s for when out and about with my phone.  When I combine the high end roll-off on these with that allegedly coming from the Explorer, it just might sound like listening to music underwater.
 
On the dedicated DAC side, I do have to say that I am still very impressed.

 

[telecaster]

Telecaster out

 

[vrln]

What bothers me is how Meridian didn´t disclose the facts even though it´s obviously a topic many were interested in. Not even replying to emails... Sad to see my fears were entirely justified. The Astell & Kern DAP was caught with the same problem a while ago (and it´s less than 20 ohm!) and the designers were forced to admit on the 6Moons review that it isn´t optimal for IEM use. Time for Meridian to admit the same I think, or at least I´d like to know the design rationale behind going for a high ohm output. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Most closed headphones and IEMs are low ohm, the only ones that usually aren´t are open ones and most of those aren´t suitable for portable use anyway due to noise leaking etc. Might be good as a DAC, sure, but for me the entire point of the product was to use it as an all in one unit.
 
+1 for distrusting mainstream audio magazines too. I´ve valued in depth impression comments from critical members on sites like this way ahead of professional reviews for a long time already.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

 
Transducers with high sensitivity and higher impedance is always good from an amp's point of view, especially one sucking power from USB jack. It would be interesting to see power vs. distortion measurements into various loads (20ohms, 50ohms, 300ohms) of the ME. Tyll, you want to take a shot at this?

 
Regardless of the efficiency, the damping factor will remain the same, which is to say poor. The headphones will not be as tight, clear, and impactive if the output impedance is high.

 

[Aerocraft67]

Quote:

Wow, it got all serious up in here.

 
And all that over a $300 device. Imagine if it were $3,000. Actually, I wonder whether the entry-level stuff actually garners the more dramatic scrutiny and allegiance. 

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

What bothers me is how Meridian didn´t disclose the facts even though it´s obviously a topic many were interested in. Not even replying to emails... Sad to see my fears were entirely justified. The Astell & Kern DAP was caught with the same problem a while ago (and it´s less than 20 ohm!) and the designers were forced to admit on the 6Moons review that it isn´t optimal for IEM use. Time for Meridian to admit the same I think, or at least I´d like to know the design rationale behind going for a high ohm output. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Most closed headphones and IEMs are low ohm, the only ones that usually aren´t are open ones and most of those aren´t suitable for portable use anyway due to noise leaking etc. Might be good as a DAC, sure, but for me the entire point of the product was to use it as an all in one unit.
 
+1 for distrusting mainstream audio magazines too. I´ve valued in depth impression comments from critical members on sites like this way ahead of professional reviews for a long time already.

 
On the 'distrusting magazines' part, I  think you will find that most of the old-timers here have an, ahem, healthy skepticism of magazine reviews, but is that really fair when most of the reviews I've read have either been:
 
   -  the ME used purely as a DAC in a speaker rig
   - Chris Connaker's impressions with 300-ohm HD600s
 
If this had been a $300 gadget with a tube hidden discreetly in the casing, we would have thrown the measurements in the nearest dumpster and everyone would be raving about how 'analog' and 'musical' it was. How many people ran measurements on the GF TubeDAC ? I'd be interested to see how they line up with GF's claimed numbers. 
 
Sadly, the high output impedance *is* a big deal for reviewers, because it means that your mileage will vary from mine depending on which headphones you choose to plug into the thing : we might as well have an epileptic with an equalizer between our source and headphones. OK, that's probably a little melodramatic, and epilepsy is no laughing matter. 
 
Just out of wild curiosity, did anyone measure output impedance on the DF ?