Digital Processor Reviews

"Is the Meitner MA3i integrated DAC ($11,500) sufficiently different from its predecessor to warrant a full review?" That's the question Editor Jim Austin posed as he contemplated the alternative: a shorter follow-up to my 2022 review of the now discontinued MA3 ($10,500).

I am not big on streaming overall, but I do like to find new releases on Qobuz, enjoy the live feed from the Berlin Philharmonic via their Digital Concert Hall, and sample multichannel music on Apple Music. If I really like something, I buy discs or downloads to add to my local collection. But I must admit that audio streamers are hot!

I have been fascinated with Dirac, the Swedish audio-optimization software company, ever since I noticed the Dirac booth in the back at CEDIA 2010 in Atlanta. This was not a demonstration but a tease, a tantalizing promise of a cure for problematic listening room acoustics using digital filters to adjust loudspeaker response in both the frequency and time domains