Meridian - Explorer2 USB DAC

I wanted to buy a DAC having subscribed to Tidal Hi-Fi and to use on my iPhone -- the iPhone 7 having a very poor DAC (enclosed in the white dongle cable, which sounds much worse than its predecessors that are in the phone itself). I'm using it with a pair of Shure SE535 earphones.I was in two minds between the Explorer 2 and the DragonFly Red, but the cheaper price point and the fact that it can fully unpack MQA files used by Tidal Hi-Fi Masters swung it for me. Although its larger than the DragonFly, its not big by any means and certainly punches above its weight for its price. Make no mistake this will sound significantly better than your Mac/PCs inbuilt headphone jack regardless if you're playing MQA files, FLAC or other lossless audio. Unlike the DragonFly, the Explorer 2 can play full 24-bit 192kHz.I'm pleased to say it will also work on an iPhone with the Apple 'Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter' ( Apple Lightning adapter for USB3 Camera ). Mine prompted me for a software update to the adapter when first plugging in, then worked fine. Note however you need the USB 3 version that also features a lightning-in cable to power the Explorer 2, not the standard and smaller adapter.

Cross posted to head-fi.orgReceived my Explorer2 in the post from Meridian through Amazon UK yesterday ... wasn't expecting it to arrive until after Christmas so was well impressed with Amazon's serviceAnyway - only had one evening with it but I can tell I'm already sold and this one won't be going anywhere soonMy set up isSource:- Dell Inspriron I5 PC running Tidal/ Spotify (premium)/ also with a number of HD tracks download from a short time with QobuzDAC: Previously Music Fidelity V90-HPA ... now obviously the Meridian Explorer2Headphones: B&O H6The change of DAC has made a huge difference to the detail and smoothness of almost anything I listen to ... the highs are detailed but smooth and the bass has completely tightened up and really shows the H6s to have great bass extension (not something that most people would expect, but I think it just goes to show they need the right set up to make them shine)The only downside is that it's sort of killed Spotify for me, still great for mobile on the go use but not for serious listening ... I couldn't believe how much better the Tidal lossless streams now sound versus the 320Kb Spotify equivalents. I have only been trialling Tidal for the past few months but looks like it might finally be time to move on from Spotify.One thing I need to do some research on is hooking the Explorer2 up to my ipad air ... the Tidal app on IOS looks great but I'm not sure if the DAC will play nice and already know from previous posts it will need a USB power splitter and battery to even stand a chance.The only thing I'm not sure about is the well publicised MQA decoding feature ... seems unlikely that Meridian are likely to get enough industry buy-in for another new format (although I see Warner are supporting it) and as there aren't any files available yet, I can't vouch for any quality improvements.

This is the 3rd meridian Dac that i own :previous Eplorer ,which always worked flawlessy;Director which had some issue with usb 3 portfixed after months with a firmware .Now the explorer 2 :works great from line output ,better than Expl 1 ,but i have a problem with control panel volume ,not working;tried to reboot several times the driver ,on diferent Pc without success.I discovered that one application it is not loaded ;i suppose that most of troubles of this unit is due to v1717 firmware ;i am not ableto up load other bin files ,and i know ,by my previous experience with Director ,that people at Meridian are not very responsive .I posted my problem on computer audiphile ,hope someone should help me ,before i return the unit.Aniway the sound from line is fantastic ;downside :2 out of 3 of my Meridian purchase made me crazy to fix the problem

Been listening to music at work on a daily basis for nearly 30 years. Started with the walkman then on portable cd then onto minidisk and then mp3 .I have arrived at Tidal with its master quality though my sennheiser headphones. Good but not quite great. Added this Meridian explorer 2.I have arrived. The detail here is excellent. Looking forward to going back through 30 years of music and listening to the bands I can get on master quality on Tidal.Great purchase if you have good headphones and MQA streaming.

Great form factor and portability. Tried the MQA with Tidal masters and found I could easily discern difference between CD and MQA versions. This was a bling test on basic Hi-fi equipment. Very well made and packaged, a real treat to use.

Amazing sound quality, better than my Creative ZXR & the naff audio on my laptop, even works on my LG G3 Smartphone which was unexpected.Works great with Tidal and Spotify (Although better using Fidelity than Spotify), applications with WASAPI output like XBMC/Kodi do seem to sound better.One tip - leave the shared mode at 16-bit/44.1Mhz in order for it to let the device do the up-sampling rather than windows according to MHQ. If you have material above that quality then play it through a player with WASAPI or maybe ASIO outputs.Going to get a better USB lead, probably the Atlas Element USB mini and might get a mini to micro lead for my smartphone.

Excellent but a little limited in connection options.Usb only from laptops etc. However can be used with a y splitter to power it with a usb ower supply and then used with android or ios phones/media playerd

excellent device. easy installation in a Windows environment. The MQA format is the best I've heard in Digital so far.