When Tidal started streaming MQA from Warner Music, I bought a Meridian Explorer2 DAC ($199 on Amazon) to see what all the fuss was. I have enjoyed a PS Audio DirectStream DAC now for 2 1/2 years. I am really smitten by MQA, streamed from my Windows10 Tidal app. I have not brought home the Ultradac simply because of its prohibitive cost. The only way to compare DSD vs PCM vs MQA, would be via Meridian’ s new Ultradac which does all 3. Also, the highs are airier via the Esoteric.
Meridian’s Explorer 2 does the same thing according to a Stereophile report while RH of TAS observes the same thing in his review of the 808v6. The Meridian foreshortens soundstage depth, bringing me to rows 1-3 while the Esoteric places me at rows 7-9 which I find much more pleasant and natural. That said, comparing the PCM versions through the Meridian 808v6 and Esoteric N-05, I preferred the Esoteric. Needless to say, I can’t listen to MQA via the Esoteric. Having said that, I couldn’t compare DSD vs PCM or MQA versions of the same files as the Meridian does not do DSD.īut comparing PCM vs DSD via my non-MQA Esoteric N-05 dac, I preferred PCM. I found that the 808v6 renders the PCM version beautifully, and there is an incremental improvement with the MQA version. If you're already pushing the limits of a high-end DAC, however, the Meridian Director would be a great choice for your next upgrade.Coming back to the title of the thread, I have listened to PCM vs MQA files from the 2L website via the mqa-capable Meridian 808v6 player in my home system. Even so, you won't find much benefit in using this DAC over Meridian's own Explorer or the Best Buy winning Arcam rPAC, unless you own ultra-high-quality speakers. However, the Director's small size makes it easier to use as a computer sound card if you don't need the Xonar's extra outputs.
The Meridian Director is one of the most expensive DACs we've reviewed, even more so than the standard edition of Asus's feature packed Xonar Essence One, which has more outputs and a headphone amp.
The CS4353 has a maximum sample resolution of 192KHz and a 24-bit bit depth, so it can play maximum quality PCM audio files, assuming or software that can play them, such as Jriver or Foobar 2000. The CS4353 is by far the most capable Cirrus Logic DAC chip we've encountered, and frequently appears in high-quality amp units and CD players from premium manufacturers such as Marantz. It contains a lot of audio hardware used in Meridian’s hugely expensive 800 series, and also has an asynchronous USB connection, high-end capacitors, an XMOS L2 DSP chip and a Cirrus Logic Crystal Semiconductor CS4353 DAC chip. It's also far more expensive than most other compact USB DACs. The Director's audio quality is unquestionably excellent, although you'll need a good set of speakers to appreciate it at its best.
We could pick out individual instruments with ease from the most complex tracks, while the resonant interplay of vocal harmonies in Coope, Boyes and Simpson's Jerusalem Revisited was reproduced with spine-tingling accuracy. All our standard reference tracks, from the rich synths of Pendulum to the crowded guitar-driven soundscapes of Coldworld's Tortured by Solitude, were rendered with perfect clarity and precision. In general, the DAC has a beautifully balanced audio profile that makes the most of any decent-quality recording. Subjectively, it has a slightly warmer tone and broader soundstage, which become most noticeable in orchestral recordings such as Holst's Jupiter, recorded by Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Even with high-resolution tracks, you're going to hit the quality limits of even high-end speakers, such as our reference Kef X300A speakers, before you can distinguish the Director from other high-quality DACs. In comparative tests against Meridian's Explorer DAC and the Arcam rPAC, both of which are incredibly high-quality audio sources, the Director produced only the slightest perceptible improvement in subjective sound quality when listening to standard CD-quality (44.1KHz, 16-bit) lossy MP3 and lossless FLAC audio recordings. During our tests, we connected the DAC to the analogue input of our reference Kef X300A speakers.