Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming MC200 tweaks to get the best sound

Hi Folks,

I wanted to start a thread where we can share tips and tweaks for getting the best sound out of our Sooloos equipment. I have an MC200 and use the digital output to a DAC. So far have found a few things that seem to make a difference in terms of the sound:

1. Placement of the Sooloos. When I moved the Sooloos off of the shelf above my amp to the hardwood floor beside my audio stand I got an improvement in sound - better dynamics and articulation. I think proximity to high powered amps is a real issue, as the manual does state!

2. Power source. I have all my audio equipment (DAC, pre amp and amp) plugged into a Nordost QB8 power bar. In doing so, and following Nordost's instructions on the order of sockets in the powerbar in which to plug these units to take advantage of the star earth grounding system, I got an improvement in sound over plugging the units into the wall or into my power conditioner. However, when I plugged my Sooloos into the powerbar the sound through the Sooloos was kind of muted and noticably lacking in high frequency extension. When I plugged the Sooloos into the wall instead, the sound was much improved. Strange!

3. Digital cables. I've started a discussion on digital cables in another thread as I'd like to get other's opinions on cables that pair well with the Sooloos. Suffice to say ( and I know some find this controversial and even "hogwash"), my experience has been that digital cables influence the sound I get out of the Sooloos. I was hoping that digital cables would be more immune to this phenomenon than analogue cables, but his has not been my experience. So far I have been unable to find a digital cable that pairs with the Sooloos to create the same sound I get from CD with my Simaudio 650D transport/DAC, which is frustrating because both are using the same DAC!

4. File type. I find I get the best sound out of wave files. I'd love for the FLAC files ripped from CD using Contol PC to sound as good as wave files to save space on the hard drive but alas, although it is close, they are not quite as good. I still use FLAC for most of my music on the Sooloos but i use wave for my best sounding audiophile albums. AIFF files sound significantly worse than wave and FLAC on my system - who knows why but they sound so thick and muted that I can't listen to them! I won't get into ripping software but I think I've heard differences there too - I use Exact Audio Copy (EAC) for wave files. I understand Sooloos also uses EAC as its native ripping software for FLAC.

Looking forward to hearing tweaks from others and helping each other get the most out of our Sooloos equipment!

Given that the digital output on a MC200 is processed by the onboard DSP (and Meridian do a lot of processing even on a two channel device) the chances of you getting the same sound from a MC200 as from a CD in another manufacturers player are pretty low.

I'm also pretty certain there's a thread here where one of our more 'conscientious' members setup a random playlist on his Sooloos system and ABX'd between FLAC and WAV, with predictable results - a 50% success rate in guessing which was which.

TBH, your flogging a dead horse spending any money on the MC200 trying to improve sound.

Obviously stick with placement and file formats that pleases your hearing, but hot rodding with cables, conditioners etc should only be considered once one of the higher quality units is used, ie MS600, ID40 in 861v6/808.3 or ID41 in 818.

FWIW, it has been proven elsewhere that output of WAV and FLAC produce identical digital output after being decoded. I posted a link to this recently. Yet people still prefer WAV. The only difference can only be contamination in the audio device by the PC components. Move to non PC bases Sooloos product as listed above will remove the only variable part of the equation - once audio is out of the core ie MC200' it's in the same format irrespective of whether it started life as WAV, FLAC etc.

get an F/ M 80' they are cheap enough now........... Are you using the digital output upsampled and apodised or is it the 1x sample rate? Get a 96 kHz DAC if you don't already have one. Glad your enjoying it all, Cheers, Chris

How to improve the MC200?

Put an MS600 between it and your DAC. And, even bypass the DAC and see what the MS600 can do direct into whatever amp you use.

You will find dozens of posts on this board regarding the SQ of this unit.

As your original post says, you are playing with computer audio with an MC200 as the end point. Using an MS600 elevates that to a streamed device which makes so much more impact than tweaking cables or conditioners will on the MC200.

One example for you to consider.....there are no noisy HDD inside the MS600. Compare that to the MC200.

I'm using the factory settings which I believe uses the up sampling apsodising. There is a setting to force 1X sampling to turn that off but I haven't tried that setting yet.

I do have a pretty high end Simaudio DAC that handles up to 192/24 I believe.

Thanks for your advice!

What's an F / M 80?

I assume either an F80 or an M80.

Oh. I should say that I am already using the MC200 as the source for a full size two channel stereo system, so the M80 doesn't really make sense for my application. Looks cool though!

Well worth an audition Kerry, it will surprise you and makes a great clock radio lol Chris

I'm sure it leaves the likes of Bose in the dust!

+1
Tips and tweaks can make only a marginal difference, at best. The MS600 raises the sound quality to a whole new level.