Part of the EMM Labs group, which retains the brand name for its top-of-the-range products, Meitner has made a name for itself over the past few years with a flagship product: the MA3 network player and converter.
At the start of 2025, the MA3 becomes the MA3i and, like its predecessor, it is primarily a DAC, but with a high-quality network module and a volume control ready to transform it into a real preamplifier if need be. To start with this point, the volume module is still controlled by the big knob on the front, by remote control or by a UPnP app, and is none other than the one derived from the EMM Labs DV2i. The MDAC2™ DAC is designed in-house from 16 discrete double-differential DSDs, with a similarly proprietary MDAT2™ audio signal transition technology.
As is often the case with these in-house technologies, the devices do not yet attempt to decode the largest files, which are still virtually non-existent on the market (remember that an SACD or Qobuz Hi-Res streaming works at 96 kHz), but instead use the already very adequate sampling rates of 192 kHz/24-bit and DSD128, with the possibility of going up (via DoP) to DXD352 and 384 kHz PCM via USB link and network. The connectivity menu includes all the classic audio features (USB Audio, AES/EBU, RCA coaxial, Toslink optical and a USB data port), but no HDMI eArc. The MA3i is also platform-compatible, with Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Qobuz and more. It can be connected to a preamplifier or directly to a power amplifier via a balanced XLR connection and a pair of RCA terminals.
This Meitner preamplifier-streamer-DAC is musically very promising, as we were able to see in February at a preview at Studio Hifi in Versailles during a Gryphon event (report to follow), but it is 1 500 € more expensive than the previous generation, with the MA3i now priced at 12 500 € ($11 500 in US).
02/28/2025
