[g4747]

Hello to the community!
I have a question for you Explorer and/or Explorer 2 owners.
I own the Explorer and I am using it as a DAC only, as I also have an 02 amp.
Do you think it will be a worthy upgrade to buy the Explorer 2 for this use (DAC only)?

I am not considering the standalone DAC by Meridian because rarely I use it as an amp when travelling  and it is perfect, but 90% of it's time will be used as DAC only, so I would like your opinion on that!
 

 

[money4me247]

  Hello to the community!
I have a question for you Explorer and/or Explorer 2 owners.
I own the Explorer and I am using it as a DAC only, as I also have an 02 amp.
Do you think it will be a worthy upgrade to buy the Explorer 2 for this use (DAC only)?

I am not considering the standalone DAC by Meridian because rarely I use it as an amp when travelling  and it is perfect, but 90% of it's time will be used as DAC only, so I would like your opinion on that!
 

not an explorer owner, but I've played around quite a lot with the usb-stick type dacs. owned the UD110v2, Cozoy Astrapi, AQ dragonfly v1.2, and Herus which spans a similar price range and all are quite quite nice. I think if you already own a previous version of a dac, it isn't really worth the loss of reselling it and upgrading to a new one. there are new dac upgrades that come out all the time so it'll get quite pricey. jumping between brands can alter your sound signature if you are still trying to tune for FR. good luck!

 

[g4747]

Thanks!
I'm not looking to alter the sound, just looking for improved sound.
The explorer is neutral to my ears and I'm very satisfied but if the sound is better I will consider it.
On the other hand maybe in a few months explorer 3 will pop, I know I can't win.

 

[pocketmoon]

Tried Meridian Explorer with JDS Labs O2. 
Meridian Explorer itself sounds noticeably better than ME+O2 combo.
I have seen a lot of fu-fu-fu directed to ME's internal amp but it really really sounds better than any amp i have tried so far.
Sure, it doesn't feel "energetic" due to lack of power (usb!) but, still, it's smooth, musical, accurate
Compared to it, O2 adds some "power", not much. And ruins all the smoothness. Music is "rough" now
 
P.S. brought O2 via offsite few weeks ago

 

[senzen]

Just got my Meridian Explorer version 1, first off I wanted to thank everyone in this thread as it had a lot of useful info and the sound is everything I expected. Unfortunately it's day one and I already have a problem, sometimes it's not recognized and other times it cuts out and disappears from the sound panel, this is with a 13" 2014 retina macbook pro with Sierra; when it's not recognized I can see the red light of optical output but the three white lights are off. It might simply be the USB cable, or is it the explorer? Returning this would be an extreme hassle as I bought it in the US and had it sent to Mexico.

 

[peterinvan]

  Hello to the community!
I have a question for you Explorer and/or Explorer 2 owners.
I own the Explorer and I am using it as a DAC only, as I also have an 02 amp.
Do you think it will be a worthy upgrade to buy the Explorer 2 for this use (DAC only)?

I am not considering the standalone DAC by Meridian because rarely I use it as an amp when travelling  and it is perfect, but 90% of it's time will be used as DAC only, so I would like your opinion on that!
 

I upgraded to the Explorer2, first for the apodizing filter, and second for the promise of MQA streaming from Tidal.  The DAC sits in my Stereo stack, fed from my iMac (Bootcamp), through the iPurifier, and iUSB power.
 
This is a noticeable upgrade from the Explorer1.  Very clear image and sound stage.  Sounds great with  acoustic music (Classical and Jazz mostly).
 
Look at great deals:
 
http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=333
 
If you are not holding out for MQA, and don't need portability, AudioAdvisor is selling a Demo Meridian Director for only $300.

 

[senzen]

In case anyone else runs into something similar, my explorer gets along fine with my left side USB, go figure.