new Meitner MA3 hit the rack today

I should clarify, I sold the NS1.

So I just got a Meitner MA3 the other day. Been wanting this thing for a long time and it just ticked a lot of boxes for me. I had this whole post on here, which I pretty much immediately deleted, about how disappointed I was in it. I wanted to love it so bad cause I had waited for so long and I was upgrading from a blusound node! I was thinking it was going to be this massive upgrade. I feel my system should have been resolving enough, so i thought. But it was only marginally better than my node. So here I was thinking about what type of crack you guys were smoking to hear this level of audio quality you were describing. I know diminishing returns is real but from a less than 1k dac/steamer to a 10k one I had assumed it was going to blow me away and it just didn’t. I had hyped myself up so much. So, as I said I had this whole post, since deleted, asking you guys if I’m crazy.. Anyways over the next night I just ordered an audio quest Ethernet cable as I just had a piece of crap generic Ethernet cable plugged into it. Well, once I hooked that thing up, holy ****!! I was never one to believe in the cable thing, especially Ethernet. Audiophiles talk about “liquid” sound and that is something I’ve been searching for. Well now I think I know what they mean.. I had to the right gear but it was Ethernet cable holding me back?!?!? Crazy! 

First, glad you stepped back and started thinking about what could be wrong and hope you didn’t spend a fortune on an Ethernet cable.  Funny thing is in my system I have a 10’ Ethernet cable I that came with some god knows what device from years back and never really thought about an Ethernet cable. I’m in the camp you were, I mean, it’s a network cable who cares!!!  I may need to now try this out myself.  What audio quest cable and length did you go with and did you get a deal on it?  I’m not gonna run out and go get a Nordost Odin 2 thing, but may toss a few pence and something better than scrap cable to see if there’s any change.  Also, how long have you had the unit on?  break-in is a thing but happened quicker than a CD player or preamp/amp.  Also, are you using Roon with the device?

Hey! I got the most inexpensive one they sell, the pearl. .75 meters. I think it was around $50. The one I replaced was like a 6’ super basic one with plastic ends. I’ve only had the unit for 3 days now but it’s been on ever since I got it. You know maybe you’re right, it could have been a burn in thing. I did let it sit on for over probably 20 hours before I listened to it again, which is when I put that cable in. That’s a great point. When I read about burn in on a electronic piece like this dac, which really doesn’t have much inside it as far as parts/pieces, I feel like it’s just people adjusting to its sound over time. That stuff didn’t make much sense to me but maybe it’s real after all! But since I let it sit for awhile and replaced this cable at the same time, now I’m not sure which it was. Maybe it was both things.. I say give it a shot! I got my cable off Amazon, so it can be returned. Try it out and send it back if doesn’t work out, but let me know how it goes! I’m using its internal steamer. There’s a new app out called J Play which so far seems to be really nice. It cost me $50 but I think it should be much better than M connect. I think J Play is just a much more dressed up version of M connect, but so far it’s worked very well and looks really good on my iPad. Another thought.. The reason I bought the cable was because in the user manual it was talking about using an appropriate shielded USB cable, then said something along the lines if using Ethernet use an “appropriate” cable as if they were saying themselves not to use a generic plastic end cat5 cable. That’s what made me try it out.