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First Listen: Meridian Explorer USB DAC

First Listen: Meridian Explorer USB DAC

First, and this is just preliminary–In spite of the fact that I’ve only listened a short while to the new and very chic Meridian Explorer pocket-sized USB/DAC, I haven’t been anything less than impressed.  Very impressed to be exact. It’s arrival coincided with my first listen to the new Reference Recording CD [RR129] of Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Vaughn Williams The Wasps Overture a personal favorite. It’s a reference disc if there ever was one with especially gorgeous string sound. Later this week I plan to air the Explorer out  with higher rez files but based upon my initial encounter this bodes very well indeed for my next listening session.

Packaging and instructions, by the way are first rate and the feel and look of the aluminum-bodied capsule is luxe. Setup was uneventful–virtually glitsch-free as I suspected it would be with a Meridian product aimed at an audience only interested in getting up and running in a hurry. Here’s the drill; Beginning with  the USB2 mini B socket of the Explorer,  I plugged the included USB cable to the Explorer and my MacBook Pro (Pure Music software/Memory Play setting, and 8 gigs of RAM) and ran a stereo miniplug-to stereo RCAs cable (I use an AudioQuest) into the analog inputs of the Hegel H300.  After checking the Mac’s Midi and Sound settings I booted up Pure Music/iTunes.

At this stage, most impressive was a lack of soundstage constriction–an area that tends to dog this portable segment. It’s not an arid sound rather there are touches of  analog-like warmth and fluidity that I regard as essential. The Explorer conveyed a wide expanse of the orchestra’s layout with a rewarding sense of depth and air between images. Even more important to these ears was an impressive ambient bloom that elevated the ceiling of the venue rather than tamping it down like a heavy lid over a stew pot. The sound was spacious, extended and transparent,  inviting comparisons to the more expensive DACs I’ve been listening to of late.  Next up , the higher rez files. Stay tuned. http://www.meridian.co.uk/en/collections/products/explorer-1000/4/

Check out the press release and detailed specs at: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/meridian-introduces-explorer-usb-dac/
First Listen: Meridian Explorer USB DAC

Neil Gader

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.

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