DAC’s

I detect a sense of exhaustion from the OP.  This is supposed to be fun.

My 2 cents is keep the DAC and streamer separate.  The DAC is the larger determinant of the sound, but the streamer can make or break the experience.

A great sounding streamer that has a poor software controlling package, or that doesn’t connect well, can make you frustrated and miserable.  Keeping DAC and streamer separate allows you to change one or the other independently.  There are already a couple of comments in this thread that the streamer end of the Meitner may be subpar.  That would scare me off.

  I think that in general DACs get better as you go up the financial ladder but the rest of the system matters as well.  Have you been able to demo anything in your own system

There are big differences Between DACs, I used to use a dac hooked up to my iPhone to listen when on a plane for work.

‘For me, the dac has to be FPGA based, network and i2s capable, mqa and dsd capable or I won’t even look at it. These are more expensive but worth the expense.

The MA3 is a streamer/DAC but the streamer section is not as good as the DAC, and if it necessitates the use of Roon to stream then as others point out you will need a Roon Core to feed it. As well, Roon software has a great UI, but is not the best sonically.

The Lumin T3 is a streamer/DAC with its own propreitary software so it’s truly a one box and done source, plus it has very good build quality and manufacturer support. Sonically it is resolving and dynamic, but loses out just a bit on soundstage and tonal/textural accuracy compared to the Holo or Denafrips you mentioned - but then again you are saving minimum $2K on a streamer transport.

If you value soundstage and tonal/textural accuracy as must-have primary strengths then really stretch the budget and get either the Holo Audio May "KTE" or the Denafrips Terminator Plus 12th Anniversary AND MAKE SURE YOUR STREAMER TRANSPORT IS HIGH QUALITY (ignore the naysayers, EVERYTHING in a digital source chain counts).

Suggestions for a streamer transport are a Lumin U2 or an Auralic Aires G1.1 - or go all out and get an Aurender N200, the very best streamer transport under 5K IMO.

@kairosman Thank you, your response is one of the best ones I have received so far. I have gone back and forth if I am being honest on what to get. This is my first dac and the lumin t3 is prob the easiest to get into to start. I have pass labs gear and I just didn’t wanna feel like I would want more down the road… 

@dlcockrum

Thanks for sharing your detailed listening impressions of highly regarded DACs. Based upon your description and distinctions between them I’d favor the MA-3. It’s clear to me that you could not go wrong with either. It seems that the MA-3 digs deeper and is the more expressive and resolved (As well as better micro dynamics and musical pace) nice!

Charles