"The best budget portable DAC on sale"
Monday, 21st March 2016
If you are on the lookout for a portable DAC/headphone amp to boost the sound from your laptop (or desktop) computer, you need look no further.
If you are on the lookout for a portable DAC/headphone amp to boost the sound from your laptop (or desktop) computer, you need look no further. David Price, reviewing, is unequivocal about its performance: "at the price, I have not heard a better DAC/headphone amplifier than the Meridian Explorer²". There is a caveat though - we'll come to that shortly.
First, there're the practicalities to look at. "As a product", he says, the Explorer2 is lovely to look at and easy to use". How easy? Well, it really is a plug and play device, especially if your chosen source is an Apple model - "simply a case of plugging it into your computer at one end, and plugging headphones or hi-fi into the other" (Windows users will just need to install the appropriate driver).
A sound decision
When it comes to sound quality, the Explorer² performs as good as it looks. But it's here where that caveat comes in I mentioned earlier: this is not a device that's going to make a bad recording sound good. "Normally" he observes, "the difference between good and bad recordings is less pronounced, but here it is as plain as day". That's not too much of a problem for audiophiles of course, as we are likely to be more choosy about what we listen to anyway. And "when given high-quality source material, the Explorer² is capable of flying", he reports.
In specific terms, he listens to Café Regio's from the soundtrack to Shaft by Isaac Hayes which, he argues, "is a stunningly well recorded song, with oodles of scale and warmth". Here, with a 24/192 version, the track is an "unalloyed joy via the Explorer², which proves utterly at ease with a superlative recording, glistening with detailing, blushing with warmth, and displaying an almost mineral clarity". I think he's quite impressed! 
The review continues: "the music flows superbly, and the Meridian proves well able to signpost all of those subtle dynamic inflections. A veritable treat for the ears, I almost have to pinch myself in order to remember that I am listening to a portable DAC".
This raises an interesting point. All listening here is from standard hi-res FLAC files. That makes the Explorer² a great buy in straight comparison to other hi-res capable DACs. But, of course, Explorer² has another ace up its sleeve in the form of MQA* compatibility. With this, David Price moves to a Classical piece in the form of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5, Op73. Again, the performance from Explorer² is superb: "there is a wonderful sense of texture and body to the strings, and the space in the concert hall makes things highly atmospheric. The music pushes along in a compellingly rhythmic way, sounding dynamic and expressive".
In conclusion
It's clear that David Price is highly enamoured with the little Meridian Explorer² DAC, whether used with standard hi-res files or MQA. So much so, in fact, that he says "At the price, I have not heard a better portable DAC/headphone amplifier than the Meridian Explorer²". If you want to really want a serious step up in performance, he suggests you're going to have to look at the likes of the Chord Hugo at around the £1400 mark. Not surprisingly, then, Explorer² comes highly recommended!
Magazine: Hi-Fi Choice
Issue: April 2016
Rating: Five stars
*MQA is the brand new format developed by Meridian which is able to offer better than hi-res sound quality in files the size of a standard CD - click here to visit the MQA website to find out more).
Written By Simon Dalton
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