Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming MC200 location

In the next few months I will moving my Meridian system. Currently I have my MC200 very close to the 861/ID41 so have very short cable runs. The MC200 and ID41 are fed from a hard wired netgear FS108 switch.

In the new setup I will able to use the MC200 as a second zone in another room feeding a pair of DSP3100's. The compromise is that this will need to be connected via a pair of netgear home plugs running through the mains electricty supply. On the plus side the noise level would reduce. If at some point I add a QNAP drive, not sure how the traffic will work between the various devices and alter the situation.

My priority is to keep the 7200/861 system running as well as possible and I am therefore concerned that the MC200 being some distance away via a mains network will compromise its performance. The alternative option is presumably to use an Explorer to feed the second zone but this does mean yet more money.

I'm currently looking at the M SpeakerLink debate going on. Is cabling as important between the MC200, network and ID41 as it is between the 861 and the 7200's.

I use a Draytek router which has proved reliable and has good range with the upgraded antenna. The BT master socket is the other end of the house to the music room although there is a hardwired network cable and BT cable running between the two (not sure on quality but only a couple of years old).

Am I better to locate the Draytek away from the master socket and near the ID41 or does it not matter. I use a second homehub set up as a repeater at the other end of the house so range is not over critical. Internet speed is about 4000 Kbps, may be a few years before we get fibre.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Thanks

David

I am just about to do something very similar but will use an MS200 in the main system where you have an ID41. I'll let you know how it goes with the home plugs. I'm sure others are using them already.

I can't really see how you would use an Explorer to add a zone with DSP3100's.

Neil

It all depends on the network protocol Meridian uses.

If this is TCP, you should have not find any differences. If they use UDP, keep the MC200 as close to the source as possible.

UDP does use a checksum, but does not require the package to be resend. In case of a corrupted package it simply gets dropped.

I would keep core and store on the same switch and avoid separating them by a power plug. I had core and store this way for a while and found that I did hear an impact on signal sent to my ID40.

This was potentially because as FLAC was going from store to core through power plug and going back through same powerplug to the ID40 as PCM. To me it was audible and when I moved to core/store co-located (in my case inside the MD600) it was much better.

If you have an end zone only on a switch the this is just one way traffic and is probably not an issue. I don't detect an issue feeding my M80/MS200.

Meridian use UDP for audio but maintain a TCP handshake channel at less granular level that can deal with retransmission of dropped packets.

That said, UDP is pretty robust in a hard wired LAN (as M recommend ) of any length (within spec) especially as M have control over the hardware/software/stack/configuration. Different story when it gets routed or transmitted over wifi when you have more than dropped packets to contend with.

Sounds like DLNA.

I have both my MC200 and my 808v3 connected to my network using Apple Airport Express modems with 1 foot cables. The 808v3 is the end-point for my two channel room. The MC200 is upstairs where it is directly connected to my whole house system. The two Airports Express modems act as extensions to my wireless network (a Apple Time Capsule) which is located in a closet away from the other two.

Dropouts are not a problem and my only issue is that it probably takes some additional time to load new discs since that is done wirelessly too.

My kitchen zone (still being put together) is working on a wireless bridge. I bought a new AirPort Extreme (AC), and moved my old N one into the kitchen. Setting up the bridge was child's play.

My testing so far indicates that it's a solid connection. The rest of my zones are hard wired, and I'm relieved that the one wireless zone seems to be workable.

Of course it's irrelevant that the WLAN equipment is from Apple, from the technical point of view.

Sooloos protocol is more than capable of dealing with and recovering from iirc 6 (or more) seconds of continuous network glitches without audio disruption.

A 2 minute microwave meal would kill Control:Mac audio though

I hate microwave ovens and there has never been one in my home.

Like Nick, I would also keep core/store on the same switch. Also, I would avoid routing network signals through the mains supply for other reasons.

IME both will impact SQ.

When I got my streaming setup, I was trying to avoid running new network cable, but Rick convinced me. It wasn't as hard as I thought, and provides a much more stable connection all round.

I have my MC200 and 818v2 running from a dedicated switch with a cable connection to the Airport Extreme router which is downstairs for uploading to the MC200, etc. Works well and sounds great.

Thanks for all the comments, as always think I will need to experiment and see but the default will be to try and keep the 861 and MC200 running off the same switch.

I'm not sure if a QNAP would make any difference with the MC200 giving up its storage duties as I suspect this just adds further to the signal chain.

Not particularly uptodate with recent products but don't think there is a cheap endpoint that would take a network cable in and give digital out to feed the 3100's. Hope someone can advise otherwise.

thanks to all

David