Originally Posted by Ian
I think a very large part of the market for Meridian are owners who want a turnkey system with an M badge on it and are prepared to pay a premium for the privilege.

This is obviously quite different to the market prepared to do the research and go out an buy their own kit, install different pieces of software on it, and keep it running over the years.

Compare that to the number of software and anti malware updates needed to keep a regular computer system on the go, you can see why many people just want to turn the thing on and play the music. And for that, they have already paid their premium for.
IMHO, Sooloos is quite far from meeting the criteria necessary to be called a "Turnkey System"... Why??

1) All Sooloos Backups and Restores [which are essential even with the Raid 1 array in some of the Stores] to an External USB or NAS Drive are all carried out via Control:PC or Mac... and obviously these Devices are not supplied by Meridian, as part of their "Turnkey System"... and these PC's need the same level of "software and anti-malware updates" as you describe above

2) For a variety of reasons, most people use dBpa or XLD or similar to perform the CD RIpping... and then use the same computer and CPC / CMac to perform the subsequent Album Import into Sooloos... again, this computer is not part of the "turnkey" system from Meridian... and needs the same TLC as you describe above

3) That a Mac user needs a Windows PC in order to run the Sooloos Configure program... which many times is essential for Sooloos setup and maintenance and trouble-shooting... as well as turning the Core functionality on or off as required

4) Many here are demanding an iPad app before they even consider looking at Roon... which obviously means that many people use it as their Sooloos UI... and again this device is not part of any turnkey system from Meridian... and as such needs to be maintained by the same software and anti-malware updates as you describe above... again Maintained by the User, without any assistance from Meridian

5) even a casual perusal of the HH Forum will show that most of the User's Sooloos problems are posted and solved here by HH Members... and NOT by Meridian or their PP's... again, how can that meet the criteria for a Turnkey system??

So, we've established that a Sooloos User needs a non-Meridian device for

* Backup & Restore [essential process, regularly required]
* Ripping and File Import [again an essential and frequently required process]
* iPad for UI and Music selection etc
* PC to get support to sort out problems

Let's not kid ourselves that the Sooloos User doesn't need the same level of PC hardware & software expertise that a Roon user might require... with the added advantage that the Roon user has DIRECT access to Roon personnel and their Answers thru the Roon forum... something not available from Meridian

Let's not conveniently forget all the pieces of kit, that we all use to keep our Sooloos systems up-to-date and running smoothly... as well as adding new music on a weekly or more frequent basis

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