Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Meridian 218 Zone Controller Announced!

Tom/John/Lars

I'll answer your questions, then tell you of a spanner in the works.

1. On my Sooloos app the volume control works fine (actually don't think I've ever previously used it, I just by habit used the MSR!)

So If I'm listening in MQA mode, the 218 NET light is on(showing the music is being streamed in via the network port) as is the blue MQA light. The Sooloos app volume controls work and the speakers keep in sync. If I switch to say Radio using the MSR the 218 NET and MQA lights go off, the 218 SL light goes on to show that the radio is being sourced via SL from the 861. At the same time the Sooloos app of course stops the current track and a nice feature is that the app volume controls still work. At all stages the MSR volume controls can be used interchangeably with the Sooloos app, everything keeps beautifully in sync.

2. the 861 is the controller, on the 218 setup app I've had (by default) the "IR mode" radial selected, which means by definition the two radials "Controller" and "Not Controller" are not selected. Having said that the radial "IR receiver is currently:" shows OFF (again the default). So my take is that the 861 processor is in charge of everything but keeping the 218 synced correctly, be it volume or the lights showing Audio input.

3. I never typed the speakers at any point, so they are presumably set as recommended for an installation involving a processor (can't remember what that would be).

NOW HERE'S THE BAD NEWS

When I 'proved' earlier that when switching from MQA to another source like TV brought all the other speakers into operation (because of the legacy comms cable), exactly as I had wanted, what I didn't twig was that the unfortunately in MQA mode these speakers are also active when they should not be i.e. the 861 is blissfully unaware of the presence of the 218 and the SL outputs from for the centre, rears etc get fed with whatever signals the 861 deems appropriate.

In effect I've got the SE master speaker showing MQA 192K whatever while surround style signals are also prevailing elsewhere.

I'll do some more experimenting tomorrow with the controller options on the 218 (e.g. making it master as well as the 861?) to see if that makes any difference.

Watch this space

I would suggest that you program the 861 to go to an empty digital input when SLS is selected so the rear speakers have no signal. I believe that should do the trick

John

Yes or just change the mode to stereo.
Cheers
Tom

Thanks for your testing and results ! It's sounds like you are just about there !

My 218 arrived today and was installed into my 5200SE system with minimal fuss.

MQA sounds fantastic, as I expected it would.

Unfortunately, I confirmed my long-held suspicion that the 218 does not pass-through 192k (in some form à la 818) to the SEs via its coaxial input, which is a downer for 4x PCM and converted DSD, streamed from Roon. Not a deal-breaker for me as I was mainly looking to add MQA decoding to my existing 96k MS200 streaming functionality as well as consolidate some input switching, but disappointing nonetheless. It is astounding though that in 2017 the 8x8 is the only way of getting >96k into SE loudspeakers. I guess that the purchasers of custom Meridian installations won't own "audiophile" material.

@Joel
Question - but the 218 accepts 192 through the network-in (streamed from Roon), correct ?

I'm very confused:

- What is the MQA source?
- Do I need to connect my MC200 output to the 218 network input?
- Does the 218 have its own Sooloos software on board?

I dont have a Meridian dealer.

Having a 218 assumes that you are going to or already have Sooloos or Roon running and the 218 will be a streaming endpoint.

I have a MC200 on same network. Just switched both 218 and MC200 on and ran Control:PC.

It sees them both and just went through 3 cycles of updating software and the Control:PC program itself.

Of course not.

Edit: Well, Roon sees it as only 96/24-capable.

Joel,

And the only way the 8x8 pushes >96 out to SE speakers is with SL out using MQA, correct?

Ken

That's probably the case Ken, but I don't know how. I've not tried coax out into the SEs though, but I doubt that will work (for reasons I can't go into)!