Originally Posted by Ronnie
Originally Posted by DaveyC
How does adding a GISO at the source end of an Ethernet run produce such a big improvement in sound for four contributors on this thread? Ralf told me that nearly all the gain is down to filtering out RF noise, so I�m wondering how a reduction in noise can help when TCP/IP is doing its thing. Not challenging here � just wondering where and why the gain is made. Could it be that the noise otherwise gets beyond the ID4x card, causing other damage to sound downline?
I'll do my best to answer your question within the context of the Sooloos and Meridian world

Consider the MC200, which acts as a Core, Store and Endpoint in a Sooloos system

For reasons similar to that already explained, you can rest assured that the Music data from the disc is retrieved from the hard disk and sent along the various interfaces where the data arrives Identical and Intact at e.g. a point prior to the Digital output

That data then needs to be converted into LPCM Data, before being output over Speakerlink

So, the Data arriving at the Digital output 'card' is identical to that on the drive.......but it is known and acknowledged by Meridian that INTERNAL RFI / EMI within the MC200 causes the conversion to PCM to be adversely affected

And this results in basically higher Jitter on the Digital output which results in Audio that some / many users can determine as being good but maybe could be improved upon

Where does the RFI / EMI within the MC200 come from??.......typically from the 2.5" Magnetic object spinning at 5,400 to 7,200 rpm in close proximity to the Digital output card.......but also from the other components within the MC200 that are PC based and emit certain amounts of EMI

Hence the existence of the MS200 and MS600.......these have very simple interiors, all with the aim of dramatically reducing internal EMI compared to using the MC200 alone......and the result is that many here feel that their systems sound better as a result of disassociating the Data Storage from the conversion to LPCM


In a very similar manner, if you asked Meridian to summarize the differences between the 861v4, 861v6 and 861v8, they would simply say that they have 'engineered and developed' the internals of the 861 to have less and less internal RFI......thereby ensuring the LPCM output from the 861 is exhibiting lower and lower levels of Jitter.......and again, most here can hear those benefits

Brilliant - thanks Ronnie. That really gives some useful background. So, to ask a slightly dumb question, what do you think is the best Meridian setup for best possible streaming sound? Am I carrying any kind of compromise in that area with my MD600 into 808v5?

808v5, MD600 & DSP7200.1
Dedicated audio mains supply