[Lan647]

Bought me one of these from Custom Cable UK. Wonderful store with great people and wonderful service, highly recommended! 

I do notice an improvement with my Momentum compared to running straight from the iMac headphone out. Not huge, but it's there. This DAC has exactly the sound I want; uncolored, smooth and rich yet airy and detailed. No sense of brightness or grain. Great product, great value.

 

[sling5s]

What is the affect after burn in.  I believe it recommends 300 hours.  I find the ME very smooth but the treble sometimes seems more upfront than the midrange.
So far enjoying more than the microstreamer.  It's does spacial and instrument separation very well. 

 

[mfaoro]

I burned mine in with Pink Noise (see the Pink Noise posting) and I feel like it became more coherent and accurate - that is the instruments were in the right place and the soundstage opened up. It was a pretty major difference for me.  I also added a Moon Audio USB cable about the same time that made a big difference over the stock. I have LCD3s and run the Explorer from a Mac Mini.

 

[DoomForce]

Noobish question here guys: What is the best way to connect a pair of active speakers to the Explorer, through the line out (analogue) or through using the digital optical output? 

 

[flaco]

if you connect them through digital optical out you bypass the intern dac. since you paid 300 for it you should make use of the dac and use the line out or the volume out. I use the line out ( it is also a digital out) for my headphone amplifier and the volume out for my active speakers. It works really well...

 

[frankrondaniel]

Quote:

if you connect them through digital optical out you bypass the intern dac. since you paid 300 for it you should make use of the dac and use the line out or the volume out. I use the line out ( it is also a digital out) for my headphone amplifier and the volume out for my active speakers. It works really well...

I use mine in a similar manner - line out to my headphone amp.  Works great.

 

[DoomForce]

Thanks for the input! That's what I wanted to confirm, that the mini-Toslink digital out is also a normal line out.

 

[DoomForce]

Guys, has anyone bought a USB cable from custom-cable.co.uk to pair it with the Explorer, that turned out to be a worthy investment? Please throw some suggestions

 

[HiFiGuy528]

"The HDVD800 with its 42 ohm output impedance" whoa! that's high.  

 

[sling5s]

Anyone having problems with their Mac recognizing the Meridian Explorer Dac.  Sometimes it will just not show up.

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

Anyone having problems with their Mac recognizing the Meridian Explorer Dac.  Sometimes it will just not show up.

 
I've had no issues thus far. 

 

[BalletJH]

Hi everyone. I happen to have $300 at hand and am considering buying this. A lot of people have mentioned that the original version of the Explorer has a high output impedance but the revised version has a lower one around 16 ohms. I am just wondering is this the revised version (link below) ? If not, what is the best US website to buy the revised version of the Explorer?
 
http://www.ttvjaudio.com/A_Real_Meridian_DAC_p/mer0000001.htm
 
I am getting my clear tune CT200 pretty soon. It is sensitive and has an impedance of 17.5 ohms. Is that going to pair well with the revised version of Explorer? If not, are there any other DAC's around $300 that has a better sound quality or equivalent? Either portable or non-portable is fine.
 
https://cleartunemonitors.com/CT200/#Specifications

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Hi everyone. I happen to have $300 at hand and am considering buying this. A lot of people have mentioned that the original version of the Explorer has a high output impedance but the revised version has a lower one around 16 ohms. I am just wondering is this the revised version (link below) ? If not, what is the best US website to buy the revised version of the Explorer?
 
http://www.ttvjaudio.com/A_Real_Meridian_DAC_p/mer0000001.htm
 
I am getting my clear tune CT200 pretty soon. It is sensitive and has an impedance of 17.5 ohms. Is that going to pair well with the revised version of Explorer? If not, are there any other DAC's around $300 that has a better sound quality or equivalent? Either portable or non-portable is fine.
 
https://cleartunemonitors.com/CT200/#Specifications

 
The revised is 5 ohm output impedance and is probably the only thing you can purchase at this point.  The revision happened back around late March I believe, so it's probably a rare retailer which hasn't been able to clear stock since then. 
 
FWIW, I'll be posting a FS on mine pretty soon (prefer the Microstreamer when using the BTG cable on my 334s) and it's definitely a revised unit as I sent my original in to Meridian for the update.  Just in case you wanted to save some cash.

 

[nicoch46]

buy the arcam ones ,same dac ,better (discrete) output stage ,half price ! the explorer have a little better usb interface

 

[plakat]

Quote:

Anyone having problems with their Mac recognizing the Meridian Explorer Dac.  Sometimes it will just not show up.

 
Could be a problem with the USB-cable. Does it show up if you wiggle the connector and/or the cable (either on the Macs side or the Explorers end)? I had a similar issue with my Leckerton and was able to resolve it by replacing the cable (no, nothing fancy, any working cable will do).