Meridian Audio has announced Explorer2 a portable, compact and rugged USB including compatibility with MQA ‘Master Quality Authenticated’ lossless audio files.

Building on the original Explorer – the Cambridgeshire-based company’s debut portable DAC – the new model features a significantly more powerful DSP capability than its predecessor, enabling Explorer2 to decode and render the MQA format, delivering authenticated master-quality replay.

Designed and hand made in the UK, Explorer2 has an all-metal enclosure housing a 6-layer circuit board and the compact unit – it weighs 50 g – up-samples all input signal to 176.4/192kHz and includes Meridian’s proprietary apodising filter. The up-sampling and apodising technologies are inherited from Meridian’s Reference 800 Series and they “correct errors in the original digital recordings while helping improve the quality of standard recordings”.

It connects to virtually any computer with a USB port – drivers are provided Linux, Macintosh, and Windows operating systems – and a trio of LED indicators show the status of the unit, confirming the current sample rate.

Commenting on the launch of Explorer2, Rayner Sheridan, Director of Marketing at Meridian Audio said “Its effect on audio performance is entirely at odds with its compact dimensions, and its ability to unlock MQA lossless audio makes it the go-to USB DAC.”

Meridian Explorer2 DAC – Suggested UK Retail Price: £199.00