MA3i back in my possession now for a week. Right out of the box, I was hit over the head with everything everyone has commented about in this post. However, I will say that after over 100 hours on the upgrade, to these ears, I notice little change from the first day. YMMV. I had to call Meitner about a $425 bill I received from FedEx yesterday ( for another discussion another day), and spoke to a tech about my listening observations. He confirmed my observation as he said most of the upgrade is done on the analog boards and that they spend about 3 days on the test bench so that each upgrade has quite a few hours on them prior to being shipped out. Currently, I’m using it as a DAC only. BTW, the volume by pass mode has been eliminated so “100” is considered “bypass”. I’ll soon try the MA3i as a pre on a Decware amp and a SS Sim amp. Now, do I need to upgrade the usb cable from the DH Silversonic?
Meitner i upgrades
New i upgrades are available for Meitner DACs. It’s an extensive upgrade requiring a trip back to the factory in Calgary, Ontario and dealers are facilitating the process. I should be getting a return authorization number soon to send in my MA3. Cost for the MA3 upgrade is $3500. I believe it will be a noticeable improvement for a not outrageous cost (by hi-end audio standards). Details are on the Meitner website.