Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Hardware with Roon Application Roon - just what are we getting?

If you have a smallish collection, or are very satisfied with your current Sooloos system then I would suggest buying a used TwinStore or MD600.

The Roon system is already very good, not even at 1.0 yet (disclaimer: I have already purchased what is hopefully a perpetual license). I was also very happy with the Sooloos (even with the inherent limitations).

Since you are in CT nearish to me perhaps I could offer you a demo of Roon if are ever nearby to Fairfield County (Near the NY border).

I also think Roon probably does Classical digital audio better than any system I have used and blows away Sonos with its metadata richness. I'm intrigued by the Radio (nee Swim) functionality and the ability to automatically play similarish songs that often don't get chosen by myself.

I'm eager to see the Tablet interface released and more streaming sources supported.

Sorry, but I haven't been on the forum much lately, missed the sub-forum to Roon, and just trying to catch up now.

So, Roon sounds quite nice, however, was there ever an answer to a question which popped up a fm few times regarding Sooloos - what happens to the long-promised upgrades (e.g., the dreaded track-level metadata) Enno promised was finally in the works last summer for Sooloos itself?

Also, will Roon be fully MQA compatible?

Apologies if these have been answered already but there are hundreds of posts and many threads, and I couldn't find it on a search!

The Roon guys have been asked about MQA and the answer was, basically, that it's up to Merdian. The stuff Enno has previously mentioned relates now to Roon. Meridian will be doing their own development of Sooloos going forward, per john B's announcement.

You may want to read this to get the history What a journey!

That's a good place to start, Chris

James,

Hope the film is going well.

Good question on track level metadata. Whilst M have a few programmers left on Sooloos the brains behind Sooloos 3.0 have gone IMHO. That's not to say Sooloos won't get track level data, but as far as I can tell this will be further off than when Enno made his posts on this forum.

Given that Roon is committed to bit perfect reproduction there's no reason why Roon can't support MQA. However to do this you will need MQA files, of which the only ones in the wild I know of were only available to attendees of a particular demo in the U.S., anf M kit that allows the decoding of MQA (Explorer2, Prime, etc). It remains to be seen what M kit going forward will allow MQA, and whether Roon can interact with it (I presume it will be able to).

For openness I have just bought a full Roon licence and upgraded an old Mac Mini to run it on. I'm hoping to run other server software (Plex) on the same machine and retire some MS200s for redeployment elsewhere. My Study MS200 (where my Prime sits) is already in the IoW as Roon allows me to use my iMac in Exclusive mode.

I'm sure you know this already, but your MS200 will always sound better than any software running on a Mac in Exclusive Mode??... and especially true if the Mac is also running as a Plex Server.

Just an fyi!!

Thanks guys,

Yes, film ongoing, and a new series in the works, thanks Dominic!

I don't really know how to react until we have word from Meridian as to how much of the functionality Enno & Co promised would be appearing in Sooloos while they were Meridian employees will actually arrive for those not wishing to move to, and pay for, Roon. Evidently, what is in Roon now was fully developed while they were employed by Meridian, so I'd expect all the features to be ready in Sooloos for a release in the near future?

Would it be possible for someone in contact with HQ to please ask for an update on Sooloos in this regard?

Hi 3dit0r

Towards the end of the Meridian MQA website you can see Roon is listed as one of the supporters of MQA along with others.

Cheers

Russ

Thanks Ronnie.

I agree, but going MS200 via analogue into the Prime rather defeats the object of being able to have all that lovely M digital stuff going on in the Prime, particularly as the MS200 route will not (as far as I'm aware) get me any MQA compatibility whereas the iMac into the Prime via USB will.

The Plex and Roon servers are being deliberately running elsewhere.

Had time to do a bit more reading.

I was almost at the stage of thinking I might suck up a Roon subscription simply so I don't have to wait even longer for certain Sooloos features to appear, and because aspects of the Roon interface do exactly what I've been wanting, but then found that I'd have to buy a new computer, and my MC200 would essentially become redundant.

Also no iPad control as yet, and no definite confirmation of full MQA support so, while it looks good in some ways, I'm personally back to waiting on Meridian to come good on Sooloos 3.

I genuinely hope they will, and soon. Firstly I feel they owe it to customers who have been waiting away, and who heavily invested in it. Secondly, it does now seem a little dated interface/feature-wise, or at least the competition has caught up big time. Finally, though, because a huge part of the attraction to me of Sooloos is its standalone, plug'n'play nature - being able to hide away an MC200 and control with an iPad or iPhone, and with little to no setup time (or necessarily networking nouse) is not to be underestimated.

Although it has interface faults still, in its defence, I have found Sooloos to be pretty much rock solid, fast to respond, and 'just work' network-wise, and tablet-wise, once I had the right router setup. That's a big thing for me.

3dit0r

There is no definite confirmation of an MQA release which makes it impossible for anyone to confirm MQA support? Have you tried Roon while you wait for the Sooloos 2.2 update?

Cheers

Russ

If you have a device which decodes MQA in hardware, such as the 818v3 or an Explorer2, any software which feeds it the files bit-perfect will be 100% MQA compatible, and you'll get a full decode. Roon fits this specification, as has been confirmed by Danny.

A lot of messages to read if you've been off the last few months, true!