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Great comparison, thank you. For me the Weiss gives me more of a feeling as if I were directly involved in the recording. Even if the Meitner would cost the same - I probably would still choose the Weiss DAC. I ordered one because of one of your videos some weeks ago - and I kept it! Together with my Naim streamer (ND5 XS2) it's just a wonderful combination.
Music sounds great over RUclips. Nice music selection to test the equipment. Your speakers have a nice warm and detailed sound that can be appreciated despite the compression thru RUclips. Good work, keep it up.
Your recordings are really a very high quality ! It is really possible to tell the difference over youtube, although in this case the difference is very small. Personally I prefer the Weiss, not always more expensive gear is better for everyone.
thanks for sharing. yes I totally agree its a personal taste, and yes it's for some Lambo will be the best and for some old jeep just because they have different needs and preferences and price doesn't really matter here if you need to go off-road any Lambo will be the worse option ;) btw funny Lambo video for those who. dream about one ;) ruclips.net/user/shortsXNfWfVsDkys?si=eXqOAJ5OMTMXp8w3
The Meitner is amazing but a difference of 10 000$ is not justified for me, only the Meitner's price is almost your entire system. The 204 is really good, so i choose the 204.
Try Netherlands 🇳🇱 based ecdesigns DAC BX retails fr 1200 dollars.. pcm no dsd .. upto 192 .. only toslink input .. it will outclass these all by huge margin .. designer is not rookie but John brown whose work on TDA 1541 is highly reckoned in diy and audio
Both equally detailed but Meitner has a dip on midband and upper treble. On Weiss ride cymbal is more natural and and full but still smooth which is hard to achieve on a piece of sound equipment. Meitner pretends to be more detailed but that's because of some frequencies coming forward because of dip in the treble region which might become fatigue after a while. Nice choices of recordings👍
Resolution both are quite same. More headroom and wider side to side for MA3 but 204 is so joyful to listen to. I would pick 204 for this set up. Great review, the way you present it is beyond words.
When I opened my eyes I was able to tell the difference between the two DACs. When I closed my eyes I was not able to. I think it is a lot of money for a very small differences. 😂
The most of the difference is in the character. Weiss is more alive and Meither relaxed. Each will move the system to better ones comparing to less advanced DACs but with different flavors. If you like it concert like you and like the Weiss more you just saved 10000$ 😜
I also prefer the Meitner DAC. Instruments (especially piano) sound more natural. I am listening on a Metrum Pavane DAC and Neumann KH310 studio monitors. For the price though, I can easily live with the Weiss. I notice you published a video comparing the Holo Audio Spring with the Weiss 204. Going to listen to it now as I am R2R DAC fan .... (my main DAC is a Sonnet Pasithea).
The Meitner is missing the sharp edges and height that the Weiss has, it comes across more soft in the treble and compressed, but has better bass, better transient timing (esp in the bass), and slightly better texture for reverbs etc. For the most part it comes down to whether you like a classic high res, low noise digital presentation with sharp edges, and slightly lean and restrained bass, or one that vibes a little better, and is easier on the ears, but definitely rounds and softens things. I actually own the EMM Labs DA2 and it is a familiar signature. What I can say, at least from that DAC, is there is a high level of low-level detail that doesn't quite come through on mediums like RUclips, but the softer, rounder, and faster bass signature is definitely there.
Great video as always I think what you can do to enhance your system to get a little bit more of that smoothness mid range is to maybe get a tube preamp and then still run your class D amplifiers. Maybe look to upgrade the fuses that are in Weiss dac.
Meitner MA3 is superb, it is more nuanced (refined) and more layered but I could live with Weiss DAC204 too. By the way, your Qualio speakers are indeed very good!
It seemed to me the Meitner had a more relaxed presentation and longer decays, other differences I couldn't hear over youtube. I guess your tracks ware also better for the Meitner.
It always amazes me how small the differences are between DAC's compared to other components. However, there are differences here. Both DAC's sound excellent. Both are detailed and tonally similar. However, the Meitner MA3 seems more natural without sacrificing all the things the Weiss DAC does well. The MA3 is everything the Weiss is but it sounds more analogue. I prefer the MA3 in your system. I could see in some systems where the Weiss might be preferred. The clarity a bit more overt but not actually more detailed than the MA3. Overall it's a tough decision because the Meitner MA3 costs about 3 times the price of the Weiss DAC 204! For most the Weiss will make the most sense.
Weiss has more transients. I guess it has discrete or hybrid (discrete and opamp) output buffer. In terms of conversion quality, it's the same. From my point of view, the only slight difference is the line output amplification.
Not sure what Playback Designs dacs sell for over there but at the price of the Meitner I’d be taking a serious look at them. It’s the only dac that has made me want to spend that much
While i do really appreciate these sound comparison videos, i wish that on high priced items, you would also use a high end/similarly priced amplifier, because even though the fosis are very good for their money, i would really like to be able to see if with a higher tier amplifier, we would also be able to better distinguish the differences between streamers/dacs.
Hello. I am working on finding better more musical amp for the speakers but it is not that easy apparently. This amp after modifications is a true giant killer, and I had it against multiple accuphases, gryphon, nagra classic, other well received class D amp costing with the dedicated preamp 20'000$ and few others and basically it made them all pointless. After I finish up everything with the DAC Streamers, I'll leave the amps for last. Maybe I'll find a way better amp that I'll find payment for 10-20k$ worth it, because now I still did not have a chance for that ;)
If you can swing to get a Grimm MU1 it sounds more natural. I just traded in my Auralic Ares G2.2 for the MU1. The MU1 upsamples 4x and just uses SPDIF or AES on purpose because they use better processing and filters than most DAC’s do with a better clock most DAC have. I just A/B it with a Taiko Extreme and it was 95% as good as the $32000 Taiko. Taiko just has slightly more bass kick and a slightly richer mid that was very close. The Auralic sounds like it has Digititus and that’s the harshness you hear from the Weiss not the DAC. The 204 DAC is being honest the Meitner is sleepy
El MA3 DAC suena con Mayor Cuerpo Bajos Acentuados y Buenos Agudos aunque el Weiss 204 DAC tiene Mayor Agudo pero al tener Menor Bajo Disminuye el Cuerpo de la Musica
Not really sure what features you lack in coaxial but USB itself degrades the signal, so I made a point to avoided it at all costs. I did an A/B test with the same cables, streamer everything, and the only point where USB got in was on storage, and just by having that USB standrd degraded the sound very slightly, so I cut out any USB.
hi there , first i love your speaker and i ll purchase them !!! second i love the weiss is fantastic , streamer : auralic ? , ( rose 130), lumin u2 , t3 , i am not sure about the streamer , antipides k22 , thanks !!!
Jeżeli użyjesz aplikacji Auralic oczywiście z ipod to też zmieni brzmienie, Roon ma swój własny głos i w porównaniu z aplikacją Auralic brzmi trochę za ciepło i jakby zaowalowany, gubi trochę detali (w moim systemie, kable również robią dużą różnice) pozdrawiam
Dzięki za porade. Tak chetnie kiedys sprawdzę ale jestem Androidowcem a support jest tylko na IOs ;) kabelki jak najbardziej zgadzam się. Często w źródłach robią wiecej roboty niż we wzmacniaczach.
would be interesting to put out a compare vid with a nice expensive DAC and the SMSL D-6S as an example and not tell anyone what the cheaper DAC was and see what kind of comments would there be...
I'm on the fence with the Weiss DAC204 but I don't know if it will clip with my amp. I have a Primaluna amp with a input sensitivity of 870mV. I'm still looking around DACs
not sure about that Weiss has a output level that can be adjusted, but from my experience tube amps can live with high level signals without clipping ;) wait for a moment I had a very positive encounter with Holo audio spring DAC which I do really like and there will ba a video on that soon ;)
Please take into account, that the Weiss is in its default version an at least 10k DAC, thus pricewise in the same league as the Meitner! Weiss is only just so nice to offer this reduced and a bit ugly child variant to make it much more affordable, especially for professional audio environments where nobody sees the components like otherwise in your private halls where every guest is admiring your HiFi setup presented on marble stone with gold edges 😉
I think once our are on the 3k range with dacs going 3 x 4 times up can only give you very little nuances and difference. For me for an average decent audiophile system Weiss DAC is more than enough enough or something like denafrips Venus is more than enough
@@VirtualHiFi . Lol, now I see. With HDMI Out, I like to display the Cover Art, Meters or Spectrum analyzer on a large format monitor instead of that tiny 4" screen. But/ to each their own. Peace.
Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE 😄👍
For stunning revolutionary 3-way speakers visit - www.qualioaudio.com
Looking for the best fullrage drivers - Cube is the answer - www.cubeaudio.eu
Love what I do ? You can buy me a coffee ☕☕☕ here - www.buymeacoffee.com/VirtualHiFi
What cables are you use ?
Great comparison, thank you. For me the Weiss gives me more of a feeling as if I were directly involved in the recording. Even if the Meitner would cost the same - I probably would still choose the Weiss DAC. I ordered one because of one of your videos some weeks ago - and I kept it! Together with my Naim streamer (ND5 XS2) it's just a wonderful combination.
Music sounds great over RUclips. Nice music selection to test the equipment. Your speakers have a nice warm and detailed sound that can be appreciated despite the compression thru RUclips. Good work, keep it up.
Thank you very much for your amazing feedback I definitely will and I believe I just find a way to delete the compression totally ;)
Your recordings are really a very high quality ! It is really possible to tell the difference over youtube, although in this case the difference is very small. Personally I prefer the Weiss, not always more expensive gear is better for everyone.
thanks for sharing. yes I totally agree its a personal taste, and yes it's for some Lambo will be the best and for some old jeep just because they have different needs and preferences and price doesn't really matter here if you need to go off-road any Lambo will be the worse option ;)
btw funny Lambo video for those who. dream about one ;) ruclips.net/user/shortsXNfWfVsDkys?si=eXqOAJ5OMTMXp8w3
The Meitner is amazing but a difference of 10 000$ is not justified for me, only the Meitner's price is almost your entire system. The 204 is really good, so i choose the 204.
Try Netherlands 🇳🇱 based ecdesigns DAC BX retails fr 1200 dollars.. pcm no dsd .. upto 192 .. only toslink input .. it will outclass these all by huge margin .. designer is not rookie but John brown whose work on TDA 1541 is highly reckoned in diy and audio
Meitner MA3 used is only $6k.
Both equally detailed but Meitner has a dip on midband and upper treble. On Weiss ride cymbal is more natural and and full but still smooth which is hard to achieve on a piece of sound equipment. Meitner pretends to be more detailed but that's because of some frequencies coming forward because of dip in the treble region which might become fatigue after a while. Nice choices of recordings👍
The meitner MA3 by a mile. More open, dimensional than the Weiss while still maintaining a very natural sound
Resolution both are quite same. More headroom and wider side to side for MA3 but 204 is so joyful to listen to. I would pick 204 for this set up. Great review, the way you present it is beyond words.
When I opened my eyes I was able to tell the difference between the two DACs. When I closed my eyes I was not able to. I think it is a lot of money for a very small differences. 😂
The most of the difference is in the character. Weiss is more alive and Meither relaxed. Each will move the system to better ones comparing to less advanced DACs but with different flavors. If you like it concert like you and like the Weiss more you just saved 10000$ 😜
I have the same goals as you! Ultimate speed, dynamics, openness and immediacy - essentially what live music is all about.
Love that! Yes I listen to relaxed music not systems ;)
I also prefer the Meitner DAC. Instruments (especially piano) sound more natural. I am listening on a Metrum Pavane DAC and Neumann KH310 studio monitors. For the price though, I can easily live with the Weiss. I notice you published a video comparing the Holo Audio Spring with the Weiss 204. Going to listen to it now as I am R2R DAC fan .... (my main DAC is a Sonnet Pasithea).
The Meitner is missing the sharp edges and height that the Weiss has, it comes across more soft in the treble and compressed, but has better bass, better transient timing (esp in the bass), and slightly better texture for reverbs etc. For the most part it comes down to whether you like a classic high res, low noise digital presentation with sharp edges, and slightly lean and restrained bass, or one that vibes a little better, and is easier on the ears, but definitely rounds and softens things. I actually own the EMM Labs DA2 and it is a familiar signature. What I can say, at least from that DAC, is there is a high level of low-level detail that doesn't quite come through on mediums like RUclips, but the softer, rounder, and faster bass signature is definitely there.
Great video as always I think what you can do to enhance your system to get a little bit more of that smoothness mid range is to maybe get a tube preamp and then still run your class D amplifiers. Maybe look to upgrade the fuses that are in Weiss dac.
I'm surprised to find that the Meitner has more of a digital sound.
You should try using the meitner with its internal streamer. The built in streamer sounds very good
Meitner MA3 is superb, it is more nuanced (refined) and more layered but I could live with Weiss DAC204 too. By the way, your Qualio speakers are indeed very good!
Cool, thanks for your opinion and comment. Yes for sure Meitner is more refined and relaxed 😌
Totally opposite. Weiss play Music, meitner reproduce sounds
It seemed to me the Meitner had a more relaxed presentation and longer decays, other differences I couldn't hear over youtube. I guess your tracks ware also better for the Meitner.
I’d like to see the comparison of Weiss 204 vs junior Lessloss Echoe’s End
Interesting. I'll try to arrange the Losless Dac : )
Both seem very nice. I love the recording set up. What model of shoeps are you using? Nice system, thanks for sharing.
I'm using a Formula dac with lumin mini network streamer with upgraded external power supply...😁🎶
It always amazes me how small the differences are between DAC's compared to other components. However, there are differences here. Both DAC's sound excellent. Both are detailed and tonally similar. However, the Meitner MA3 seems more natural without sacrificing all the things the Weiss DAC does well. The MA3 is everything the Weiss is but it sounds more analogue. I prefer the MA3 in your system. I could see in some systems where the Weiss might be preferred. The clarity a bit more overt but not actually more detailed than the MA3. Overall it's a tough decision because the Meitner MA3 costs about 3 times the price of the Weiss DAC 204! For most the Weiss will make the most sense.
Wondering if the Weiss dac would be a match for a Hegel h590.
Great music btw...
Weiss has more transients. I guess it has discrete or hybrid (discrete and opamp) output buffer. In terms of conversion quality, it's the same. From my point of view, the only slight difference is the line output amplification.
Not sure what Playback Designs dacs sell for over there but at the price of the Meitner I’d be taking a serious look at them. It’s the only dac that has made me want to spend that much
While i do really appreciate these sound comparison videos, i wish that on high priced items, you would also use a high end/similarly priced amplifier, because even though the fosis are very good for their money, i would really like to be able to see if with a higher tier amplifier, we would also be able to better distinguish the differences between streamers/dacs.
Hello. I am working on finding better more musical amp for the speakers but it is not that easy apparently. This amp after modifications is a true giant killer, and I had it against multiple accuphases, gryphon, nagra classic, other well received class D amp costing with the dedicated preamp 20'000$ and few others and basically it made them all pointless. After I finish up everything with the DAC Streamers, I'll leave the amps for last. Maybe I'll find a way better amp that I'll find payment for 10-20k$ worth it, because now I still did not have a chance for that ;)
Thanks! I’m hoping to get that Weiss and its upgraded power supply. Try that out.
Yes before you go with the Weiss wait a few weeks I have a new great toy ;)
Thanks any clues?
If you can swing to get a Grimm MU1 it sounds more natural.
I just traded in my Auralic Ares G2.2 for the MU1. The MU1 upsamples 4x and just uses SPDIF or AES on purpose because they use better processing and filters than most DAC’s do with a better clock most DAC have. I just A/B it with a Taiko Extreme and it was 95% as good as the $32000 Taiko. Taiko just has slightly more bass kick and a slightly richer mid that was very close. The Auralic sounds like it has Digititus and that’s the harshness you hear from
the Weiss not the DAC. The 204 DAC is being honest the Meitner is sleepy
El MA3 DAC suena con Mayor Cuerpo Bajos Acentuados y Buenos Agudos aunque el Weiss 204 DAC tiene Mayor Agudo pero al tener Menor Bajo Disminuye el Cuerpo de la Musica
Not really sure what features you lack in coaxial but USB itself degrades the signal, so I made a point to avoided it at all costs. I did an A/B test with the same cables, streamer everything, and the only point where USB got in was on storage, and just by having that USB standrd degraded the sound very slightly, so I cut out any USB.
hi there , first i love your speaker and i ll purchase them !!! second i love the weiss is fantastic , streamer : auralic ? , ( rose 130), lumin u2 , t3 , i am not sure about the streamer , antipides k22 , thanks !!!
Jeżeli użyjesz aplikacji Auralic oczywiście z ipod to też zmieni brzmienie, Roon ma swój własny głos i w porównaniu z aplikacją Auralic brzmi trochę za ciepło i jakby zaowalowany, gubi trochę detali (w moim systemie, kable również robią dużą różnice) pozdrawiam
Dzięki za porade. Tak chetnie kiedys sprawdzę ale jestem Androidowcem a support jest tylko na IOs ;)
kabelki jak najbardziej zgadzam się. Często w źródłach robią wiecej roboty niż we wzmacniaczach.
Definitly not worth the price difference in my ears! Great job!
would be interesting to put out a compare vid with a nice expensive DAC and the SMSL D-6S as an example and not tell anyone what the cheaper DAC was and see what kind of comments would there be...
I can arrange an smsl dać for the future for sure 😃
Is the Weiss dac still your reference dac? Did you listen to the aqua la scala or and other high end dac ?
Check out the Sonore signature rendu
Why not try the Jcat Xact S1 server? Should be available near you.
maybe aqua lascala dac and innous pulsar , what do you think ? thanks bro !!!
I'm on the fence with the Weiss DAC204 but I don't know if it will clip with my amp. I have a Primaluna amp with a input sensitivity of 870mV. I'm still looking around DACs
not sure about that Weiss has a output level that can be adjusted, but from my experience tube amps can live with high level signals without clipping ;)
wait for a moment I had a very positive encounter with Holo audio spring DAC which I do really like and there will ba a video on that soon ;)
Meitner has a slightly cleaner sound but the Weiss is very very good. Given the price difference the Weiss is a better bang for the buck. IMHO!
Thanks for sharing. Yes for the money Weiss is awesome 😎
My vote goes to the Meitner. More body and density. The Weiss sounds thinner in comparison. My 1 cent.
Please take into account, that the Weiss is in its default version an at least 10k DAC, thus pricewise in the same league as the Meitner!
Weiss is only just so nice to offer this reduced and a bit ugly child variant to make it much more affordable, especially for professional audio environments where nobody sees the components like otherwise in your private halls where every guest is admiring your HiFi setup presented on marble stone with gold edges 😉
A more accurate and clearer source better reveals the problems of sound recordings, amplifiers, rooms.
I am now curious as to what power supply you are using for the Weiss?!?! ;-)
A Simple DIY one with Mundorf caps and volrage regulator set to 8.5V
I think once our are on the 3k range with dacs going 3 x 4 times up can only give you very little nuances and difference. For me for an average decent audiophile system Weiss DAC is more than enough enough or something like denafrips Venus is more than enough
Meitner has less digital glare, probably more engaging and less fatiguing.
Definitely less fatiguing. With engagement that will depend on what each of us enjoy 😉
The 204 is better for me !
I did like it more as well ;) Thanks for sharing :)
I like the Weiss
Thanks for sharing. So do I ;)
Which Aurelic did you buy?
Auralic Aries G2.2
Weiss was way better. Much better lower and mid-bass with better punch and slam.
Thanks for sharing your opinion ,😃👍
The meitner hasn‘t got the fundamental bass .Try to listen at higher peak level and you ‚ll see.
Why would anyone buy a streamer that can't stream Music Videos or Concerts too?
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
I bought one and inept care for vision since I personally don't have tv ;)
@@VirtualHiFi
. "...inept care for vision...". Say what? lol
Sorry autocorrect. "Not care for vision"
@@VirtualHiFi
. Lol, now I see. With HDMI Out, I like to display the Cover Art, Meters or Spectrum analyzer on a large format monitor instead of that tiny 4" screen. But/ to each their own. Peace.
absolutely no difference, and you wouldnt find it with 200$ DAC also :)
i have to disagree. there is so much difference it's not even funny 🤣
yeah, try level matching :) @@VirtualHiFi
I do level match using noise and SLP meter at the same distance for All units
@@VirtualHiFiyou got me ;) Now try blind abx testing ;)