This is a review and detailed measurements of the Meier Corda Aria DAC and headphone amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member. It is an older product, introduced around 2005 I think. Not sure how much it cost then.
The Aria gives the impression of a "high-end" product:
As you see, it is a German design:
Owner bought this used and sent it to the company to reverse some "head-fi mods" someone had done to it which the designer thought was ill advised.
Meier Corda Aria Measurements
Let's start with analog input:
I was very impressed with the inaudible distortion products at -115 dB. Only in the last two years we have seen headphone amplifiers routinely match this level of performance. Interesting that it existed some 16 years ago! Noise level though while good, is not competitive with today's products:
Switching to digital input shows very disappointing performance:
So from here on, I decided to only test the analog input. Frequency response is very good:
Power into 300 ohm and 32 ohm are respectable:
But as noted before, noise floor is not what you can get from modern budget headphone amplifiers today.
Company talks fair about about their cross-feed circuit. I tested crosstalk with and without that mode engaged:
Seems to be doing what the company says (extended crossfeed to higher frequencies).
Finally, channel matching in the sample I received is very good:
Conclusions
It is impressive to see a designer care about reducing distortion so much back then. I have tested many products like this that even ship today but with non-competitive performance. The DAC option is a "checklist" item unfortunately and shows its age as well. I suggested using an external DAC to see if it results in improved performance.
Doesn't make sense to give any kind of recommendation on this product so I won't. You know my feeling above.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The Aria gives the impression of a "high-end" product:
As you see, it is a German design:
Owner bought this used and sent it to the company to reverse some "head-fi mods" someone had done to it which the designer thought was ill advised.
Meier Corda Aria Measurements
Let's start with analog input:
I was very impressed with the inaudible distortion products at -115 dB. Only in the last two years we have seen headphone amplifiers routinely match this level of performance. Interesting that it existed some 16 years ago! Noise level though while good, is not competitive with today's products:
Switching to digital input shows very disappointing performance:
So from here on, I decided to only test the analog input. Frequency response is very good:
Power into 300 ohm and 32 ohm are respectable:
But as noted before, noise floor is not what you can get from modern budget headphone amplifiers today.
Company talks fair about about their cross-feed circuit. I tested crosstalk with and without that mode engaged:
Seems to be doing what the company says (extended crossfeed to higher frequencies).
Finally, channel matching in the sample I received is very good:
Conclusions
It is impressive to see a designer care about reducing distortion so much back then. I have tested many products like this that even ship today but with non-competitive performance. The DAC option is a "checklist" item unfortunately and shows its age as well. I suggested using an external DAC to see if it results in improved performance.
Doesn't make sense to give any kind of recommendation on this product so I won't. You know my feeling above.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
so understandably, the DAC was a checklist item.
