Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Meridian Audio transfers software apps business to Roon Labs

I agree. We need a clear statement from Meridian explaining the implications of the independent launch of Roon. That is not the same as asking for a road map.

Previously, Roon staff and HP Connected were part of the Meridian family. People bought Sooloos for the Sooloos experience, not for the Meridian sound which they could access separately. Sooloos was supposed to offer the best experience. That will no longer be the case. The top streaming experience will now be through Roon and via other brands if desired.

Meridian has fractured and key personnel and developments have left. Meridian feels diminished. Some words offering clarification and reassurance from a senior figure are now urgently needed please.

-1

The unhappy HH'ers seem to have the upper hand in postings.

Cheers!

+1

On an MQA support discussion on the Roon site, Danny was kind enough to remind me that MQA decoding can happen in multiple places. It can happing inside Roon as a software decode, if/when Meridian allow Roon to do so.
However, you can also decode it further downstream. At this moment three devices should do that:
- Explorer2
- SE speakers
- Prime

And it is announced to be part of the 808 & 818v3 which are due 'in the Spring' and 861 later in the year ( ).

As we don't have a roadmap or clear technical implementation documentation it is unclear how the final setup will be, but my understanding is that MQA decoding could theoretically take place at the streaming source, at the controller/preamp or at the speaker.
Which will create lots of opportunities to have an MQA capable setup.

It leaves me pretty confident that one way or the other my set will be MQA capable (without buying SE speakers ).

Based upon what facts? Heresay or personal experience?

Granted some of the Sooloos UI is dated and in desperate need of making up for 3+ years of sitting on the backburner, but it's not so far off that a concerted effort by Meridian to sort enough to please many. We just need the excitement at base to become an official announcement that this will happen to make peoples uncertainties go away especially those with existing stake in existing core, control or legacy hardware or a need for a turnkey solution.

I endorse the many people asking for a clear statement from M on the latest fragmentation of their business and what it means for the future of Sooloos. Many of us have invested heavily on the promise of the ongoing development of that system as the industry standard streaming interface solution, and clearly we worried that we may end up disappointed � in one way or another.

And should the folks at M just see these posts as typical moaning from HHs, which can easily be dismissed with the standard mantra �M does not discuss future plans�, then perhaps they should consider this:-

Since relations between M and the HH forum improved dramatically several months ago, our excellent Mods have been wholly consistent in defending M and valiantly trying to quell any discontent in the (HH) ranks � whatever the issue of the day.

I�m sure that their stance didn�t always make sense to forum users who weren�t part of the inner circle, but it was clear the Mods had been given exclusive access to some of M�s plans, or even their products (such as MQA) � lucky folk! This meant they were defending M from a position of knowledge, albeit knowledge they couldn�t reveal either due to NDAs or just because the Mothership had told them things in confidence.

Contrast this with the last few days, where even the Mods have gone off-message(!), questioning M�s stance on this issue and calling for some sort of meaningful engagement with the �faithful�. (Thank you for that, Mods).

A small detail, I admit, but to my mind a very telling one!

Neil

I am one of the many who have invested heavily in Sooloos (MD600, 818v3, DSP7200v2). However, I have deliberately avoiding ripping any further disks or playing any audio track through Sooloos for more than a year. There were too many ongoing issues with Meridian�s related software. Very, very disappointing.

My hope was that the software would soon improve but that did not happen. Now we know that Meridian�s efforts was not the step-by-step patching of software but on something new that is now apparently going to be Sooloos V3.

What helps me going forward and still with considerable hope in Meridian is the following.

Meridian�s MQA massive breakthrough means that it is not now just for Meridian owners by for the world-wide audio industry. It�s a �them and us� situation that is very relevant to how the listener with hear MQA. That division also helps to understand the ongoing confusion about the MQA outcome.

Meridian will provide for me hardware for decoding MQA, such as in 818v3. That�s a certainty creating a lot of hope. There is no MQA without Meridian�s ability to produce that hardware. Further, is it not the case that hardware MQA decoding is the best?

Then I need the related software, not to decode MQA but to navigate to find, select, stream/buy, and play tracks. It�s not really a concern for me whether that software, Sooloos V3 or other, comes from Meridian or Roon (or from Roon back to Meridian).

Seems that for the huge majority, the owners of non-Meridian products, Roon will play a more important role. That will include software decoding of MQA. Apparently much of the audio industry will now need a way for those owners and so does Meridian for industry-wide adoption of MQA. Roon and Tidal appear to especially play key roles here. Meridian alone could never be expected to provide that solution to their MQA implementation.

For me the Meridian owner I expect Meridian with Tidal or other streaming source and with or without Roon will succeed later in 2015. The sound of MQA should be a substantial improvement. The new Sooloos V3 or whatever? Will have to wait and see how well that will perform.

Regardless, it�s been a difficult time for many Meridian owners, too difficult. Meridian should note that. Nevertheless I expect to stay with Meridian and wait and see how good the software will be.

No issues here with ripping or playing. So I wonder what problems you are having. You should be able to get them sorted here.

I am puzzled as to why you wouldn't Rip or play music through Sooloos?

You can rip with dBpoweramp if you want to avoid the Sooloos way and playing music through Sooloos has always been easy.

No ripping is wasted if you already own the music, you just stream what you don't own in the future, although that is not without it's problems at the moment.

The new 'Roon' service will use your current rips very easily if that is the path you wish to follow.
All in all, it's a win win situation on that level.

Roon Intigration into Meridian equipment is the a only concern just now and I am confidant Meridian will have some solutions.

Thoughts, Chris

I think you already know the answer to that question. The evidence is in this thread and in related Roon posts.

We seem to be asking for the same thing so I am not sure what point you are making here.

The new Roon system seems very exciting. Especially the relation oriented structure of the metadata. In the past we have build such systems for representing and browsing medical knowledge.
I can't imagine that Meridian will not have Roon in their Sooloos upgrade path. We have to see how the release of Roon and the release of Sooloos v3 upgrade are synchronised.
So far I am very happy with the clear statements of the Roon people.

Pieter