Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP Speakers - New Firmware - MQA rendering refinements

So you use Roon convolution for music and MRC for movies/multichannel?

Excellent question. Because I really like the sound that Thierry’s filters give me for stereo or Trifield in the theater, I’ve been doing without room correction for multi-channel.

Is there a way to easily switch MRC on and off with a C61R rather than have it disabled altogether?

EDIT: I could just listen to stereo through my 218 (bypassing the surround unit) with MRC always enabled if l want Trifield or Multi.

You could design a DSP mode, say CINEMA MRC, CINEMA 250MS or CINEMA 300MS in Mconfig by copy the original CINEMA mode and rename, then you could use MRC+ to switch DSP mode.

Hi all!
If anyone has the firmware available I would love to get my hands on it and give it i go on my 5200SEs.

Regards
/Richard

He can design filters for Trifield? That's interesting - how is he incorporating the centre/surrounds in Roon before they are processed by Trifield?

iirc, wasn't part of his selling point that he attempted to compensate for the phantom centre image in some way? Which is what Trifield does with a physical centre.

No, he processed my left and right channel measurements to provide two kinds of stereo filters. One of those is a crosstalk version, which I don’t use, and, as you say, is meant to enhance a phantom center. Trifield works fine with the plain version.

Now I’ve gone M218 direct to stereo SE speakers with his regular filter or C61R without HAF for Trifield and surround. This only became viable for me once M finally gave us the firmware update allowing DSP between the initial MQA unfold and final rendering.

Got it now, thanks for explaining!

Sounds like a great setup.

OldDogCan,

Just for clarity, what Firmware Update did you get from Meridian and for what unit was it was applied to allow DSP between the initial MQA unfold and final rendering at the SE speakers?

Cheers,
Steve M

v3.16 for SE speakers, obtained from my dealer, and the latest version for 218 automatically applied when I ran their configuration program while on the network:

OldDogCan,

Very much appreciate your quick response and detailed answer.

Cheers,
Steve M

This thread has been a good read. Most of us are aware of the SpeakerLink 24/96kHz limitations. Having read this thread, I found the following review in Duncan's Meridian Info filed under DSP8000 Special Edition (SE) under DSP Speakers. This was in Issue 1 in 2018.

Audio Esoterica DSP8000SE Review

I have copied in some relevant bits of information that have been queried in this thread.


With Tidal being among the first to make MQA files available for streaming, it’s no surprise to find that Sooloos and the Special Edition DSP8000s will be delighted to perform the full double-unfold required to re-weave these streams to as high as 24-bit/192kHz when available. We gather that the first unfold (decoded MQA Core) occurs in the end- point, then the secure MHR digital transport system (over SpeakerLink) transmits the MQA Core data digitally to the DSP speaker which then renders the signal, performing the second unfold and also optimising the data for the speaker’s DACs.

Above CD quality the Sooloos system can handle FLAC, WAV, Ogg and AIFF up to 24-bit/192kHz, remembering that SpeakerLink itself is limited to 96kHz, so that higher sampling rates will be downsampled before transmission to the speakers — other than the final unfolding of high-res MQA files. A yellow light on the display is a ‘High Speed’ indicator showing a sampling rate of 88.2 kHz or higher.

The 96kHz limit of SpeakerLink seemed surprising, so we took the opportunity to ask Meridian Audio’s Matt Holland about it. “On paper it may seem like a limitation,” he told us, “but I often use the analogy of the importance of camera lens versus the pixel count on the sensor on the final image quality. Our digital transport design allows us to achieve amazing resolution at the analogue output stage. We measure resolution in terms of noise, jitter, time smear, not just bit-depth and high frequency extension. We also do not believe there is any technical argument to support operating at bit-depths higher than 24-bit, as a correctly dithered 24-bit signal, when correctly converted to analogue, has no quantisation noise and more dynamic range than any recording microphone or studio preamp can capture. Bob [Stuart] has written and published some excellent technical papers on the subject over the years."

“Our ambition in the future is to increase the maximum sampling rate of our SpeakerLink transport. The current Meridian state-of-the-art is 24/96 for DACs. Our front-end processors, like 818v3 and UltraDAC, can handle much higher sampling rates at their inputs, so in terms of file compatibility we handle practically everything available.”


My original take on the above was that despite the higher resolutions of MQA files available, Meridian's standpoint is that there are diminishing returns trying to cater to "numbers", when it is beyond the capability of most of us to determine a "difference".

And then I read this quote, which I found in the comments underneath the DSP8000SE review of its release in Los Angeles on April 8th 2014. The quote is from Michael Silver on July 20th, 2014, the proprietor of the biggest Meridian dealer in the US, and by default, probably in the world at the time;

Another DSP8000SE Review 24/04/2014


"SpeakerLink is basically a balanced digital signal (plus some additional capabilities), so it is not limited to 24/96. In the past Meridian limited the transmittal to 24/96 because they found that the amount of jitter at higher resolutions worsened the sound rather than allowing more resolution, which is what you want. Meridian has now found a way to transmit high-resolution audio without these problems. You will hear more about the high-resolution capabilities of these new speakers later this year, but for now that's all I can say, so stay tuned."

There was also a comment 10 days after the launch that stated "Michael Silver is working on an officially sanctioned, 100% accurate response. Please stay tuned..."

Well we have all stayed tuned for over 7 years and nothing has changed !

What is frustrating for me is that I have an 861v8 and a pair of upgraded DSP8000SE's and I still need to spend money to bypass my 861v8 in order to get authenticated MQA music playing on my system. As documented in this thread, it is another unfulfilled announcement not delivered by MHQ.

If they can't do a firmware upgrade to "technically" allow the 861v8 to play MQA files to pass through my ID41 end point using ROON to decode and the SE's to render, then just come out and tell us that.

MHQ is often their own worst enemy with their lack of communication, especially for this Forum, their most dedicated customers. I have no doubt that most 861v8 owners would gladly buy a suitable MQA card to allow us to play MQA music, if a firmware solution is not possible. Just be honest with us.

If I need to buy a 218 or 210, because there is no other solution, just tell me.

Bruce & Rick, you are more than welcome to solicit a response from MHQ to defend these unfulfilled statements of the past.


Cheers,


Steve M

Thank you for the challenge 😁