Agreed. It seems 16 ohm plus earphones drives just fine out of the Meridian. In fact sounds great. I don't plan on sending mine back any time soon. I don't have any issue with the high impedance out at all.
Glad to hear that you found a combination to your liking, feverfive - imagine how you would have felt if you had simply sent it back to Todd only to see reports from others that they were having no issues with their phones .....
I hope it's okay to mention this, but I received word from Meridian, through the dealer I purchased through, that they know about and are addressing the low-impedance concern. In particular:
... a few weeks ago we made a running change in manufacture to broaden compatibility ...
They invited customers who've bought the Explorer to contact them with the unit S/N, dealer used, etc. if they feel their experience is being affected by the headphones they're using.
Edit: They did not specifically mention replacements, to answer your question more directly. Not that I would expect them to publicly offer such. The product isn't "defective". But it seemed clear they want happy customers.
They invited customers who've bought the Explorer to contact them with the unit S/N, dealer used, etc. if they feel their experience is being affected by the headphones they're using.
Edit: They did not specifically mention replacements, to answer your question more directly. Not that I would expect them to publicly offer such. The product isn't "defective". But it seemed clear they want happy customers.
Indeed. And it´s important to remember that quoted impedance is usually just the average. With dynamic drivers the plot is usually more stable, with BA´s it can go pretty wild. With the Explorers output impedance it´s no wonder XBA-40 sounds horrible, frequency response will be all over the place. It won´t be accurate with MDRXB90 either though, but at least better than with the XBA-40. With 250-300 ohm headphones one will finally hear the headphones as they were designed.
As I was the one who tested the xba-40 with the Explorer, I do have to be clear, they did not sound terrible, they sounded like they were missing their magic. The full spectrum of sound wasn't quite there. Without hearing what the xba-40 is capable of, one could be quite satisfied with what they were hearing. Granted the MDRXB90 did sound better, but not by much.
I still think the Explorer is a good unit, but one that is going to be very picky about what you use with it, unless you USE AN EXTERNAL AMP.
As a DAC it seems to work flawlessly.
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.
I'm not eager to pursue "compensation" with Meridian, since I don't feel directly impacted by the impedance issue, given my high-Z phones and plans to listen primarily through an outboard amp. And the hassle may not be worth the outcome.
That said, the above quote gnaws at me, implying unnecessary performance degradation at any Z. And the high output Z kerfluffle does depreciate the value of my investment considerably more than "normal,"even if its impact on my application is negligible, and we're ultimately talking about a $300 device. And maybe I'll fancy low-Z phones someday. So lots to consider.
Anyway, gratifying to see some responsiveness here, which reduces overall concerns about dubious implementation and integrity. Looking forward to seeing it through.
I hope it's okay to mention this, but I received word from Meridian, through the dealer I purchased through, that they know about and are addressing the low-impedance concern. In particular:
... a few weeks ago we made a running change in manufacture to broaden compatibility ...
This is what I've heard as well. Sell through at stores is very high, units in current production have the change. Next shipment through retailers should have the change. Should be less than a month. Likely anything currently on backorder will be the new units----educated guess.
I'm finally using one now - after hearing it at CES briefly.
So far, when I got back to the HRT microStreamer (using my trust JH Audio JH-13's and Sennheiser HD 25-1 IIs) I find the microStreamer, with these cans and to my ears, far more seductive in its presentation. Meaning: I get more of an emotional connection to the music. The Meridian's detail retrieval is fine, but it sounds like great Hi-fi to me. The HRT sounds more like music.
With those two low impedance headphones you won´t be listening to their original voicing at all on the Meridian Explorer due to the high output impedance. The HRT on the other hand has an output impedance of 0,5 so frequency response is left as originally designed.
Pretty soon they might even start embedding them into the source themselves! Like, could you imagine how convenient it would be to have a DAC built directly into your laptop or iPod?
With those two low impedance headphones you won´t be listening to their original voicing at all on the Meridian Explorer due to the high output impedance. The HRT on the other hand has an output impedance of 0,5 so frequency response is left as originally designed.
My experience with the Meridian could have been completely different with transducers other than the HE-500 or UERM. I found the Meridian quite adequate with the V-Moda M80, which has a nominal impedance of around 30ohms, but its curve is actually fairly level never rising above 35ohms throughout the band. Other headphones with highish impedance, such as the HD650 or HD800 would be less affected. The ER-4S would probably sound brighter than usual given its lowish impedance and rising curve. This is why certain people felt the Meridian was less bassy than the Dragonfly with other IEMs.
Using the Meridian strictly as a DAC would yield the most consistent results.
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