Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Kraftwerk box - CD vs. server

I just got "The Catalogue" box set by Kraftwerk - all their eight studio albums remastered. Habitually I ripped them all to my hard drive and played them via my Sonos. The Sonos box is plugged into my G91 digitally via coax, and the g91 drives a pair of DSP7000s.
It sounded okay - quite an improvement from the old CD editions of the 80s and 90s.

Today I took the box out of my archive (which more and more resembles a museum with unused objects in it) and played all the CDs in the G91 drive - old style.

Know what? It sounded MUCH better! No alcohol, new model-like girlfriend or chemical substance involved. Clearly more distinct bass, more details, broader stereo og more lifelike voices and instruments.

I have several times together with a friend performed AB (but not blind) tests with other records. Same results. We both agree G91 sounds better.

This makes M.'s new claim that the Sooloos sound better than CD kinda strange, doesn't it?

Am I crazy? Well, I don't care, as long as I have a good time... AND: Should I start saving up for a 808.3?

That's pretty much what a Meridian dealer I know said to me when iIspoke to him about Meridian CD players v Sooloos.

Rob

You seem to be assuming that all server/computer SPDIF outputs are equally good, which is clearly not true. Stereophile measured the iPod/Wadia dock as having very bad jitter, and I believe a normal Mac optical output is also very jittery (from what I've read). On the other hand a Sooloos output is I am sure going to be very low jitter indeed.

Where the Sonos stands in all this I don't know. Has it been measured?

Anyway your ears are just telling you that the Sonos has a poor digital output, as far as I can see. Don't let that influence what you assume to be the characteristics of other devices of the same type.

It would be very interesting if a 518 between your Sonos and 7000s would improve things.

Thanks, Nic. I suspected something like that. From what I've read, the Sonos boxes are not bad at all.

The notable John Atkinson wrote in his Stereophile Test:

"The calculated jitter level was 388 picoseconds peak-peak, which is low, especially considering how much processing is performed within the ZP80 and Sonosnet."

That being said, jitter shouldn't be an issue with my kit, as everything is re-clocked in G91, and re-clocked once again in DSP7000. Technically, everything digital should sound identical, given a common file source.

I'm not a believer, and I respect scientific fact. But my ears (and brain?) tell me otherwise...

I use a 518 between my G68 and my Squeezebox and it makes a BIG difference. I have it in bypass mode so the difference must be due to lower jitter vs adding more dithering. I agree that there is still a lot of jitter in all but a very few digital interfaces and none are free from the problem.

When I compared the SB3->518 vs my G98 spinner into my G68 the G98 sounded much better than the SB3 until I added the 518 at which point the difference was very slight.

I once had a 518, but sadly parted with it for a ridiculously low price. Someone's smiling broadly out there...

me too but there are out there on eBay for a small fee as the new owners also sell them on for not much!

I am using a 518 between a Sonos ZP80 and my DSP7000s and found it to make a positive difference.

My M. dealer's got a lot of second hand kit. I'm definitely going to check if he's got a dusty 518 lying around.

But shouldn't G91 do the same thing, only better?

Sooloos is different as sonos....
Sooloos is much more pricey as other, but you find at least one reason for that...

Its the same argument as a transport is a transport....

Out of interest how do you rip ?