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Meridian Audio Prime D/A headphone amplifier Page 2

Listening to Digital
All of my listening up to now had been performed with the Auralic Vega decoding digital data via USB and driving the Meridian Prime's analog inputs. The Vega costs $3499, which is not too far removed from the $3295 the Prime costs with its optional power supply.

With the Prime powered by its wall wart, I connected one of the Mac mini's Type A USB ports to the Prime's mini USB port using an adapter cable and listened again to the same recordings. The Prime's D/A section had a lighter, clearer balance than with the same track decoded by the Vega and with the…

Meridian Audio Prime D/A headphone amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Digital-to-analog headphone amplifier with optional Prime Power Supply. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kHz. Digital inputs: asynchronous USB mini (Prime), USB Type B (Prime Power Supply). Analog inputs: one pair single-ended (RCA), one stereo 3.5mm jack. Analog outputs: single-ended (RCA), two headphone (¼" jack), one headphone (3.5mm jack). Maximum output voltage: 3.1V (RCA), 3V (headphones). Output impedance: not specified (RCA), <0.1 ohm (¼"), 2.2 ohms (3.5mm). Frequency response: DC–70kHz, +0/–1dB. DC–200kHz, +0/–3dB.…

Meridian Audio Prime D/A headphone amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini running OS10.7, iTunes 11, Pure Music 1.89, Audirvana Plus 1.5.10; Auralic Vega D/A converter; Antelope Audio Zodiac Platinum and Meridian Explorer D/A headphone amplifiers.
Preamplification: Channel D Seta L phono preamplifier.
Headphones: Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser HD650, Bowers & Wilkins P7.
Cables: USB: AudioQuest Coffee. Interconnect (unbalanced): AudioQuest Cheetah. AC:…

Meridian Audio Prime D/A headphone amplifier Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I examined the Meridian Prime's electrical performance with my Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"). The Prime was powered by its optional Prime Power Supply for all measurements, and I tested its USB input with my MacBook Pro running on battery power. Apple's USB Prober utility reported the Product String as "Meridian Prime Headphone Amp" and confirmed that the Prime operated in the preferred isochronous asynchronous mode. The Prime correctly handled data with sample rates ranging from 44.1 to 192kHz, including 88.2…

The Great Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Starts Friday

Could it only be the 11th time the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest has welcomed thousands of audiophiles to Denver? The three-day gathering, which takes place Friday, October 10–Sunday, October 12 at its comfortable location, the Marriott Denver Tech Center, has become such an essential part of the international audio scene that it feels like it's been here forever.

That's not to say that RMAF is in any way passé. T.H.E. Show Newport Beach may now claim to be larger, but RMAF 2014's 151 exhibit rooms, combined with a dedicated CanJam that is undoubtedly the largest high-performance…

<I>The New Standard</I> (and Joe Ferla's last thing)

Joe Ferla is the preeminent jazz recording engineer of our time—or, I should say, was, as he recently decided to retire from the profession, after more than 42 years and nearly 400 albums, to run his attention to playing guitar. (I haven't heard him do that, but I hope he's good.) His last-released album, The New Standard, is out on CD and double-LP on the Rare Noise Records label, and it stands not only as another specimen of superlative sonics but also Ferla's return to analog.

For many years after most of his colleagues turned to digital, Ferla remained committed to analog tape because…

Rarities and Reissues: Blue Note Records Turns 75

Fifty-four years after it was recorded, Hank Mobley's immortal Soul Station has become a tale of two LPs.

One, the original pressing (mono or stereo), is an artifact, an insanely valuable antique, the object of fevered jazz collectors the world over.

The other is a fresh vinyl reissue, cut from a high-resolution digital remastering of the original master tapes, that's meant to bring in younger listeners, or those interested enough in the music that they'll pay $19.95 for a new LP.

The creation of Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and later, Francis Wolff, Blue Note Records was…

Rarities and Reissues: Blue Note Records Turns 75 Page 2

One of the holy grails of Blue Note collecting is Hank Mobley, a 1957 set by the tenor saxophonist known among collectors by its catalog number: 1568. More than any other single title, it illustrates just how crazy the collectors' market for early Blue Notes has become. "I've seen one go recently for over $6000," Perlman says. "I've been collecting jazz records for 44 years, and I've never found one that was within my price range."

"Why Blue Note 1568 commands the price that it does? What's the story? I don't know," says Cohen. "All the [Blue Note] Mobleys come up on the marketplace…

Analog Corner #230: Transfiguration Proteus MC phono cartridge

I've lost track of how many Transfiguration cartridges I've reviewed over the years. In all that time I've never met their designer, Immutable Music's Seiji Yoshioka, but every year he sends me an exceptionally tasteful holiday greeting card. I've never reciprocated. The truth isn't always pretty.

The Transfiguration cartridges I've reviewed, too, have always conveyed a midrange musical truth that hasn't been flashy or pretty. But it's always been honest and convincing, particularly of the reality of voices. If you said that the Transfigurations lacked character, you wouldn't be wrong—…

Analog Corner #230: Transfiguration Proteus MC phono cartridge Page 2

The cantilever is of 0.3mm-diameter solid boron, to which is affixed a PA (3x30µm) stylus of solid diamond. The claimed channel separation is better than 30dB (200Hz–1kHz), with a channel balance within 0.5dB at 1kHz. Compliance is moderate at 13 x 10–6cm/dyne, and the recommended vertical tracking force (VTF) is 2.0gm. The recommended resistive load is greater than 10 ohms (or 10 times the internal impedance, which is a useful rule of thumb for the resistive loading of moving-coil cartridges). The body is of resonance-controlled aluminum. The cartridge weighs a moderate 7.8gm, meaning that…