Ian
My interpretation of Apodize as early possible" is that Meridian strongly suggest getting the Data Stream into a 24/88 (for Redbook) state as early as possible in the System chain

Meridian have had this stance for many years (well before Apodizing, which is just a more evolved way of Upsampling / RE to 24/88)

IMHO, this recommendation stems from their opinion that high speed data at 88khz and Encrypted into MHR is less susceptible to Jitter at the various Input and Output Interfaces between the Components in a typical system

So in the real world, they suggest that when using a Source that does not have the ability to output a High Speed Stream (Sooloos, Non-Meridian CD Player or SB3 / Sonos) then it is "best practice" to get this into a High Speed and MHR Format as early as possible using either the 808.2i or the HD621. Using an HD621 would obviously require converting to HDMI, which may have its own Jitter implications

None of the above has anything to do with possible differences in Apodizing Implementations between various Meridian components

My guess at what Meridian are saying would boil down to this, when using a "normal" source which can output 16/44 (including a Sooloos)

a) Get the Data Stream into High Speed (24/88) and MHR as soon as possible after that Source

b) Use the 808.2i rather than the HD621 because it has a more evolved or "fine tuned by listening tests" version of Apodizing

As I said at the outset, that is my INTERPRETATION of what they are saying. In no way am I saying that I have verified their opinions

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