Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Apodising Firmware Update (Unofficial)

Had a chance to do some extended listening to my newly apodized 800 last night. Previously I had been largely indifferent between 'CD via the aux output (44k1) apodized in the 861' and 'CD upsampled in the 800' - sometimes I thought the former was better, other times the latter. Although it will take me some time to appreciate fully, my initial impression is that apodizing whilst upsampling in the 800 is notably superior. I'd not say the differences are dramatic, but they are material.

One thing I am starting to find is that the 800/861v6 combination (I'd imagine even more so with the 808) is now getting so good that it reveals flaws in recordings that I was pleaseantly oblivious to before. Sowing the seeds of my own discontent, I suppose.

I hope for many reasons that Meridian themselves are trying out Evdberg's new software.

Nick

Sorry for being dim, but others may also be curious: Does this only offer improvement for DSP solutions, or would I benefit from my G91 / G68J & all analogue speakers?

Very Very Impressive Erwin. Thank you. I'm going to check how this would work in my setup but even if its not applicable, I want to say thank you. This is what makes the Meridian community great and- a suggestion to Meridian- you should try to preserve this community. I believe you can go the direction you want to while still supporting the hobbyists out there.

You would surely benefit from it. I recommend you start with your G68J, that is the easiest update and already verified. You also might want to update your G91, which should improve CD playback even further because apodizing happens earlier in the chain than with the G68. However, you must check the firmware version of your G91 first, because I know there are newer ones in units (v2.76) than the version on the Meridian website (v2.47). Also nobody has verified it yet.

Erwin, thank you very much for this software. It has made an enormous improvement to the quality of the sound for my G68. Thank you kindly.

Erwin,

Thank you so much - you're my hero!

I can confirm success with a G68ADV. I didn't find an updated file for the G98DH though - is that correct?

Thanks again!

Cheers, Ian

Which product's apodizing firmware is being used to update the other non-apodizing firmware? It looks like it could only come from the HD621 or the DSP5200, as the other products with apodizing don't have their firmware available for download.

The reason I ask is that I seem to recall Meridian telling me that the apodizing filter was optimized for each product, i.e., the apodizing filter in the 861v6 was not the same as the apodizing filter in the DSP5200. Something about different processing power.

Of course I could be mis-remembering.

Comments?

Wow- Thank you very much. It is time to get dust off my 861v4 and see it in action

Cheers,
Kishore

Ok not 100% sure of what I did with my "bad code combination" error but I :
- reflashed with official 425.mfP file
- flashed with 425a.mfU file
and it got rid of the error.

Will listen to improvements soon

I asked a similar question earlier in the thread but then assumed given the lack of answer and instruction to download "all firmware" the answer may not be given.

I suspect only one product fw is used as the donor.

Avi

You are correct Frank. The source is the 5200 firmware as there is a 'before' and 'after' to which to locate and therefore extract the apodising code. I was a DEC Alpha programmer not a DSP programmer so architecturally things are quite different, but when I heard about this I was somewhat sceptical, but it obviously works and kudos to Erwin for getting it to work.

However, whether it is optimal, is another matter. The 5200 apodising firmware was not well received for whatever reason, too late in the processing chain or a sub optimal filter I do not know. Meridian have stated that there is more than one way (set of filters?) to implement apodising and that their listening tests, they found that the one requiring the most resources was the one that sounded best. I was there the day that apodising was formally announced to the mass public in the form of the 7200, 808.2 and G08.2 - worth reading the launch thread as hindsight is a wonderful thing but important to understand that priorities do change with time and management. I asked (1:1 with people right at the top that should know) about apodising, not at the time realising quite what a killer app it was going to be, and was told that at that particular point in time, apodising on the G08.2 was not quite there yet as it was currently being 'squeezed in' as the G08.2 was not as resource rich as the 808.2. Is the 5200 variant a compromise over what can be achieved, again, I can only say was what I remember from being directly communicated to me that day with my limited knowledge of apodising.

I do hope that this does not prevent Meridian from releasing an official version. It may well be the case that a version optimised for each piece of kit will provide even better performance.