Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming MS600 Digital or Analogue Output

Fantastic info there! If, like you say, the performance of the MS600 and 808i.3 when using Sooloos is identical ( and it would seem logical) then for someone wanting to add Sooloos to an analogue system the MS600 would seem to be the way to go.

John, have you tried the Sooloos SPDIF direct to the benchmark (unless one of your trials below includes that but I am presuming your SPDIF mentioned below is the SPDIF out from the MS600 itself). Since I have a DAC with SPDIF input already if this performance is also identical (though unlikely) it might mean the MS600 is also not needed.

thanks

howie

Jeff,

please ask Bob if, in an analogue system, one routes a Sooloos via either a MS600 or 808i.3 and then uses the analogue outputs into a preamp, will the quality be comparable??

Thanks

howie

Not sure I understand the question Howie. If you mean SPDIF ex Control:10 then NO, I have not auditioned that and have not been tempted because, the dealer indicated it would not be as good as from the MS600. Now the Control 15 is a different beast and there is most likely no difference between SPFIF from it or from the MS600.

I guess it all boils down to what item is doing the apodising, upsampling etc. If the Control 15 was doing that and the MS200 was merely the conduit for the "purified" digital output then I guess the MS600 would not be needed. But I'm out of my depth here as I'm unsure exactly what the MS200 does. All I can say is that the MS600 is a super item in the system here.

John

Yes that is what I meant, SPDIF direct from C10 to a 3rd party DAC compared to via LAN to the MS600 and then analogue out to a preamp but you sort of answered my question with your dealer's comment.

Thanks,
Howie

I may have missed the follow up posting - but what was the outcome of the breakfast meeting with Bob?

I'm curious regarding the technical quality of the MS600 digital out in relation to the 8xx/ID40 options. Certainly from the internal photos the two alternatives appear to share the same chip architecture.

I've noted that various contributors here have suggested that the ID40 is superior to the MS600. Conversely I've read an independent mainstream review (somewhere) that suggests that, via the digital output, the audio from these units is indistinguishable...

The MS600 casing would appear to have a lot of spare real estate for a highly regulated linear power supply.

+1 I would be interested to know what transpired in that conversation.

Note that since this thread first started I've moved to a NuForce DAC9 which has been shown (by me and others) to have even better transducing properties than the Turbo Mod (Empirical Audio) Benchmark DAC1. The audio from most CDs via FLAC on Sooloos MS600 is superb.

I never thought I'd hear better AQ than I was getting from the modded Benchmark, but have been proven wrong. So what else is out there that would sound even better? Who knows. But I really MUST stop buying these toys. The music via the present set up, using headphones, is enthralling so there seems little point in contemplating any more "upgrades" (which can often be more sideways moves than up).

John