Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music MQA Firmare Release Date Confirmed

Wait, tweeter announcement says now February 2nd...

@Jerome
I think that's probably confusion with UK & USA date formats....the picture on the tweet says 04th Feb.

Hi Rolski,

It's not going to just be firmware, I think that the 861 will need the same hardware upgrade treatment we've seen happen with 818 and 808 to enable MQA.

Only the latest hardware versions of 818 and 808 (818v3 and 808v6) can handle MQA after this firmware release. In the same way (let's call it) 861v9 hardware will be required for MQA.

As the 861 has inherently more complexity with multichannel outputs it is taking longer for Meridian to develop this hardware upgrade.

I have no information as to when we'll see 861v9, but I expect months rather than weeks or years.

Rick

Robert,

I understand your frustration, but you haven't considered that M have to prioritize their firmware releases, and their premium products will most certainly be first. Last year they spoke about the 861 firmware coming later than the 2 channel (makes sense, MCh MQA is most certainly more complex than 2Ch). I upgraded to SE speakers, but don't have anything to drive them with MQA yet, and I can't afford an 818 or 808 at the moment. I have faith that M will provide a solution. I understand their need to attend to the highest end customers with the newest equipment first.

John

Meridian Website has been updated with the firmware announcement.

That's really helpful Rick, thanks. It's clear then that there will be an upgrade for the 861 and that it will be fully compatible with MQA.

Is there any news on whether MQA will be compatible with the 861's room correction function?

Best,

Rick,

Please advise if the Director (Direct) DAC will also receive a firmware upgrade to decode MQA.

Thanks

Would you read (from Meridian Twitter) That all other Meridian products are not MQA-compatible without some sort of hardware upgrade?

Cheers
Tom

I've never seen the Director mentioned as MQA capable. If it was, surely they would have said so by now?

How about C15? Some PDF's say that it's MQA ready. Is it?
Maybe Sooloos equipment will get a later update. Hope so.

As it has been used in all of the demos I would hope the next Sooloos update will include it.

T

But what has it been used for? All I've seen done with it is selecting music from the screen so that the MQA files can be sent to an 818 for decoding.

I suspect M will not feel it cost effective to provide a replacement motherboard for the C10/15 to enable decoding of MQA within the unit itself.

[Edit]When you look at the latest C15 data sheet it says that the C15 is "MQA Ready" on the basis that it stores music losslessly. In a sidebar titled "Audio Processing" it states that the C15 is also "MQA Ready". I think this statement is likely to be extremely misleading as too what the C15 can actually do with MQA files.[/Edit]