Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 861v8 USB input

Hi Folks,

A bit of a coincidence, but I also have had numerous problems getting the 861v8 ID29 USB recognised by my 2011 17" MacBook Pro, which is setup with BootCamp to run both MacOS High Sierra and Windows 10. A Google search led me to this thread and since I stumbled upon a solution with this thread recently updated, I thought I had better share my experience today which resulted in a solution for my circumstances.

In the Mac mode, my Meridian Prime Amplifier is instantly recognised upon plugging in its USB cord but nothing happens when I plugged in the USB cord from the 861v8 ID29 card. This was still the case when power cycling the 861 as suggested by Gparrington. Note that my source is correctly set up as Tidal and assigned to the USB input in the 861.

For Windows 10, the Meridian USB Control Panel (v3.34.1) was installed with the computer rebooted and again the Meridian Prime was instantly recognised when plugged in but nothing happened when the 861 was plugged in, even after a power cycle of the 861.

I then got my better half's 2011 11" MacBook Air also running MacOS High Sierra, and tried both the Meridian Prime and the 861 with the same results. The Prime was recognised but there was no recognition of the 861's ID29, even after a power cycle.

At this point, I thought I would go fetch my Explorer v1 to test its discoverability. I first tried the 11" MacBook Air with the Explorer recognised instantly and it was the same result on the 17" MacBook Pro in Mac mode. Now this is where things then changed in my favour.

When I rebooted the 17" Macbook Pro into Windows 10 mode and plugged in the Explorer, a message popped up that it was loading a USB driver. Once it was loaded, the Explorer appeared in the Meridian USB Control Panel. After unplugging the Explorer, I then plugged in the 861 USB cable into my 17" MacBook Pro then lo and behold the ID29 was instantly recognised as "Meridian ID29 USB Audio (0000)".

Whilst I still cannot see the ID29 in Mac mode on either of the two 2011 Macbooks with MacOS High Sierra, I am now able to play Tidal via the Windows 10 BootCamp mode, which is a much better position I was in a few hours ago.

Hope this helps anyone using Windows 10 and having the same 861 ID29 recognition problem.

Cheers,
Steve M

Bee,

Have you been into your Tidal Settings yet as previously suggested to select your desired sound quality and sound output preference via Tidal Settings/Streaming ?

You should be basically bypassing the computer's soundcard and sending the Tidal Stream (MQA decoded if you have the HiFi subscription and the Tidal Programme loaded on your computer) via the USB to the 861's ID29.

In the PC Sound settings for ID29 output you should also select Properties / Advanced and tick the two boxes under exclusive mode.

The fact that you have the ID29 recognised by your computer and it is seen in Meridian USB Control Panel but you cannot even hear the computer test tones via your 861, would seem to point to a problem with the setting up of the ID29 USB input as a legitimate source in MConfig.

Happy to look at your Config file. Email it to the email address in my profile.

Cheers,
Steve M

Hi Steve. I’ve not really had a look at it since, and I’m getting a new PC in the next few days. Once I have that up and running, I’ll give it another go and see if I can make any more progress. Will let you know if I need any help.

All the best then Bee. Let us know how you get on.

I'm having the same problem and wondered if anyone could offer any suggestions?

I've configured USB on the 861 using the Configuration Program. My laptop runs Windows 10. The Playback device shows up as Meridian ID29 USB Audio. I have selected that and raised the volume to 100. I've selected USB on my control - the 861 and 5200's shows VCR2. I'm definitely playing music . I don't hear any sound from the 5200's. Ive increased the volume to 80 just to check.