Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Explorer 2 locks up on MQA 48KHz, 24bit 96KHz

My Explorer 2 keep on locking up on MQA 48KHz, 24bit 96KHz tracks.
It just refuses to play those type of tracks but if I switch to something else it plays fine.
The LEDs on the unit indicates correctly but no sound is coming out of it.
If I pull it out of the USB port and reinsert it plays all types of tracks correctly again for a while.

Any ideas on how to overcome this?

It sounds distorted when it works. At first I thought it had an issue driving my headphones (Sennheiser HD800) but when I switch to a normal CD quality song it sounds good.
It seems MQA sometimes is not handled correctly.

Remove the Meridian USB drivers and reinstall them. Use M's USB Control Panel software. Check Settings.

I did that and seem to have corrected it.
The Sound Setting "Default Format" was set to something not default, 16 bit, 96000 Hz.
With it set to default DVD quality it now seems to work fine.

I am not sure but I think you may have altered the settings in your computer's own sound electronics as opposed to the Explorer2. Perhaps this has resolved some sort of conflict, but have you looked at the status and other information that Meridian's own USB Control app (for windows) provides? Amongst other things this allows you to adjust the buffering affecting the Explorer which could certainly affect your problem.

USB streaming mode is set to reliable.
ASIO buffer is set to auto.

How would this affect it?

If the data stream reaching the Explorer arrives faster than it can cope with then things will not work correctly, or if there are unintended interruptions to the data flow similarly there will be problems. The settings aim to control the data rate or have fleeting stores (buffers) to cover brief interruptions so that the Explorer experiences a continuous stream - neither too much nor too little. The settings you are seeing are the same as for my Explorer2, which works pefectly, so it seems more likely that what you have done with the computer's sound card has done the trick, or, also likely, reloading the Meridian USB driver, so well done!

Magnus,

I just moved my Explorer 2 to a different PC and had to remind myself how to set it up after not having touched the config for several years. It went from one Windows 10/64bit PC to another.

I took notes of the steps I took for ease of reference in case they're of any use to you or other E2 owners.
Most of you familiar with Windows 10 settings can skip all this and read other posts. But it may be helpful for those less familiar with it.

FOR WINDOWS 10

>Attach Explorer to PC via USB cord provided.
>Open "Control Panel"
>Open "Device Manager"
>Check to see whether the Meridian USB2 drivers are installed. UNINSTALL THEM. DO NOT REINSTALL THEM. You don't need them in Windows 10. Reboot the PC: and Windows will do a plug and play (pnp) reinstall of the correct driver automatically.

Open "Control Panel" again
>Open "Sound"
>Select "Explorer2 USB DAC," and you'll be in the "Properties" window for that device.
At this point - in the "General" pulldown, you can customize the icon and the label. I chose the "headphones" icon and labeled it "Explorer2/Grados."
>Select "Apply"

From the same "Properties" window:
>Select the "Advanced" pulldown.
Here you will see a "Default Format" and a pulldown below where you can select any of the various resolutions supported by your sound card. I suggest you choose the highest available up to "24bit, 192hz (Studio Quality)".
If your card goes higher, note that the Explorer2 does not.
This should ensure that your PC/soundcard is not a bottlenexk for data getting to your E2.

Close all the apps and test your Explorer2's sound and lights with examples of different formats of music from you library/sources.

As I completed this for my reinstall, all three white lights came on for the 'Stones Gimme' Shelter from the 50th Anniversary edition of Let It Bleed in 24bit, 192hz on my Roon Nucleus+. I got the expected Blue/White/Off for a couple of "FLAC 48khz 24bit, MQA 96khz" tracks from my Tidal library via Roon.

Hope this was useful if you read this far.

Richard

Interestingly enough setting the Default Format" to "24bit, 192hz (Studio Quality)" did not work for me. I had to leave it at default for it not to lock up.
The Explorer always indicates MQA format correctly with the LEDs and the Explorer driver shows correct bit rate but no sound came out.

Magnus,
That's a mystery (to me). I'm happily listening right now with the configuration approach I described. Over to smarter minds.
Richard

Same here I was surprised, I remembered seeing exactly what you describe as being the correct way of setting things up.