Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 818v3 with Sooloos / Redbook CDs

It is, and also I don't personally intend to use Rune. I do feel Meridian need to make this work properly within their own ecosystem.

I do agree, but, this is about the capabilities of the IDx cards in the flagship 8xx players not really the full Eco-system as such.

HQ posted last year about things to come within Sooloos and I hope they do. It has all been very quiet whilst we all wait for the birth of MQA I expect.

Yes I recall some of this being promised, but it's a very long wait? Does DoP integration in ID41, or other long-awaited Sooloos functionalities, really need to wait on MQA?

Hi 3dit0r,

I though I'd feedback on this, after having my 818v2 upgraded to v3 and the firmware on my 8kSE also updated today.

I have spent most of today revisiting favourite albums I love and know well and also comparing the test bench files from the 2L website.(44.1/16 vs 96/24 vs 192/24 vs Mqa 48/96/352).

First off to answer any concerns, what are the gains using redbook CD files?.....That very much depends upon the quality of the recording in the first place.

I imagine we all have our favourite well produced albums we use as 'go to' for reference, plus albums we love just for the music......some combine both.

All my favourite albums have definitely had a new lease of life put into them.
The ones that are better produced........well........I've had some amazing listening experiences today with redbook c.d. that I've not had for a long time......thats how much difference it can make.

Every note seems like it has had a thin layer removed that was masking the sound, longer lasting decays, more space between notes, more defined placement of instruments, more defined/controlled bass, notes throughout the whole frequency range I'd not heard before on some albums.......truly amazing.

The differences going from c.d. to 96/24 of the same 2L reference tracks, now seems more noticeable than before. Still subtle on some tracks but again, the better the mixing/production, the bigger the difference can be.....some are still quite subtle differences though.

Going from 96/24 to192/24(down sampled to 96Khz). Some tracks I cannot hear a difference going back and forth, others there does seem to be a subtle difference......not really night and day differences though.

Next, going from 96/24 or 192/24 to MQA.

Depending upon the amount of folds within the MQA file the bigger the differences.

The 2L 'North Country II' MQA file is shown as 48Khz/24 but plays as MQA. 96k.

This is definatly better than the c.d version and slightly better than the 96/24 version.....but not a major step in quality.......considering it's a lot smaller file size that's a great achievement.

Most of the other 2L test tracks I have, unfold to 352k.

Going from tracks that are 96 or 192Khz, to tracks that unfold to 352k seem to have another step up in note separation, decay, depth, height, bass control etc.

There is a sense of realism on these tracks that I have never heard before on any other audio equipment. For the first time today, I listened to all the 2L reference tracks all the way through, marvelling at how life like they sounded......most are still not my cup of tea though.

Going from 352k back to anything else seems like all the notes have had that extra coating applied and don't have the same dynamic range.

BUT

After taking some time out , I returned back to my music room with a nice glass(bottle) of wine, to listen to more redbook c.d. and the hi-Res files I have.

This helped put a bit of perspective back on things. I'm now hearing that extra seperation of notes, greater decay, crisper/sharper drums, deeper and better defined bass.....infact....everything I'd heard with the MQA files.

In context to what I was listening to yesterday on an 818v2 vs today on an 818v3.....with the right music, it is still an amazing step up in quality.....truly amazing.

Just frustrating to know there is yet another level achieveable with MQA content but it's just not currently available at the moment.

Ignoring MQA(that's a big ignore) I whole heartedly recommend the upgrade, I don't think anyone who takes the leap will regret it........and give your collection a new lease of life.

I think this is still applicable to any legacy speakers, as long as they are 96/24 bit capable.

I might retry my non-SE SpeakerLink 5200's with the v3 upgrade and feedback on that.

For now I'm going to get back to my wine and lose myself on 'The Dark Side Of The Moon'.

Happy weekend All

Thanks, that's a really useful review!

818v3 is now firmly on my upgrade list, for several reasons, but if the magnitude of improvement is that great on red book and beyond, I'll be very happy I would imagine.

Enjoy your Pink Floyd!

James