Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Qsonix new iPad Remote - Please Meridian, give us something like this!

If you folks haven't seen this yet, it is worth a look:

http://www.qsonix.com/Public/v5/QsonixI2QsonixRemoteProForIpad.aspx

I know that Qsonix and Sooloos differ in how they present the library UI, but Qsonix has brought nearly the exact same interface to the iPad that they offer on their hardware touchscreen. IMO, Sooloos is in desperate need of an equivalent version of their iPad app especially in light of the newer components like the Media Core 200. I inquired to Qsonix about the differences between the app and their touchscreen UI and was told that the iPad version doesn't support drag and drop and currently does not support functions like ripping control (though the latter they are working on to bring to the app by year's end).

We so need Sooloos' own version of this...

Jeff

With the speed of the Sooloos iPad GUI release, many expect the same level of control on iPad as on the bulkier C station minus the ripping of course.

This is what other manufacturers and customers wants to see and we inevitably will wind up with. But does Meridian want to lead or follow in music control/management. I expect they want to lead if so then they need to execute.

This is an interesting snippet from the Qsonix page detailing how they get around the cover art challenge:

"Cover Art Cache Management � Remote Pro uses an intelligent caching mechanism to store a copy of each of the album covers in your music library. These files are stored in the iPad�s internal memory/disk system (like photos, music or videos) and dramatically increase the speed and performance of the application. The app will automatically cache (store) these images as necessary as you use the app, however you can use the �Populate Covers Cache� feature in the system menu to be sure that 100% of your albums are cached on the iPad. Depending upon library size and network conditions, this can take several minutes. Pressing the �Clear Cover Cache� will likewise delete all of the locally stored (cached) images. This can be useful if you need to free up storage space or re-cache your cover art."

No real magic there and a pretty straightforward solution that certainly could be used by the Sooloos team. Seemingly, if art is stored locally, that should dramatically reduce the amount of data being sent back and forth regularly between the system and the iPad. That should allow it to function much quicker and with far less lag. It may not be the ideal solution, but it seems pretty reasonable.

Jeff

Ofcourse you use a local image cache on the iPad, that's the beauty of having SSD/Flash based storage at you fingertips, it will be VERY fast if implemented properly on the iPad.

And now with the iPad 2, dualcore near 1GHz CPU plus even faster GFX processor, then you have a Sooloos solution that could eclipse even what we see on the Control platform. Especially the smooth hardware assisted fullscreen scrolling of the iPad would do wonders for coverart. Away with the pages and instead a seamless scroll or "jump" if you need to. Ahh, getting carried away here.. Would I buy the Sooloos? - Hell Yeah!

There's something else cool about the Qsonix implementation. Like Sooloos, you advance pages of cover art on their touchscreen via the slider at the bottom or by forward and back arrows. It appears that since Qsonix couldn't properly integrate their drag and drop functionality on the iPad app, they decided instead to use horizontal smooth scrolling. So, to navigate forward and back on the cover art view, you just slide your finger across the screen and in doing so is very consistent with how some other apps operate.

All in all, I think Qsonix did a pretty darn good job on the face of it. If anyone out there gets a chance to play with it, I'd love to hear how well it works in real world testing.

Jeff