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Control-Mac 2026 – Meridian & Sooloos control for modern Macs

Current build: 1.1a001meridian
Apple Silicon ARM64 + Intel x86_64 – Universal 2
No Rosetta, no Wine and no 32-bit x86 runtime

DOWNLOAD CONTROL-MAC 2026 1.1a001meridian DMG

GitHub project / source / full technical notes

If the project is useful to you: Buy me a coffee


What is Control-Mac 2026?

Control-Mac 2026 started as an attempt to make Meridian/Sooloos systems properly usable again on current Macs.

It has grown rather beyond that.

The application now combines Sooloos library management, Meridian playback and zone control, equipment discovery, optical-disc import/export, MiniDisc support and a new native replacement path for Meridian's old MConfig / WinFUP processor configuration software.

The original Meridian software was written for a very different era of Windows and Mac hardware. The aim here is not to wrap those old executables in Wine or an x86 emulator, but to reproduce the useful functionality natively using modern 64-bit code.

The current macOS build supports:

• Apple Silicon Macs – ARM64
• 64-bit Intel Macs – x86_64
• macOS 13 and later target
• One Universal 2 application
• No Homebrew installation required for normal use
• No Rosetta requirement
• No Wine requirement
• No 32-bit i386 code

Current Meridian / Sooloos capability

Sooloos library

Control-Mac can connect directly to a Meridian Sooloos Core and provide a usable modern library interface.

Current functions include:

• Fast cached library browsing
• Artist and album browsing
• Track listing
• Search
• Duplicate-album indication
• Album metadata editing
• Track-title editing
• Artwork replacement
• Online artwork lookup
• Album metadata revalidation
• Guarded album deletion
• Fresh Core re-read before destructive actions
• Import to Sooloos
• Export from Sooloos
• Whole-library backup support

Meridian playback and zones

Playback control is built directly into Control-Mac.

Current functions include:

• Discover Sooloos playback units / zones
• Select individual playback units
• Play albums
• Play tracks
• Queue tracks
• Previous / next
• Play / pause
• Volume control
• Mute
• Live queue display
• Playback-state refresh
• Meridian source selection

One useful real-hardware discovery during development was that selecting the Meridian source index corresponding to LP/Aux/SLS successfully wakes connected Meridian speakers, whereas simply issuing the generic PowerOn remote command does not necessarily do so.

That behaviour is now accounted for in the Control-Mac playback path.


Meridian equipment discovery

There is a dedicated Meridian Equipment section which scans the local network for Meridian/Sooloos hardware.

It can identify recognised systems and separates equipment discovery from processor configuration.

The current Settings layout is intentionally split into:

• Meridian Equipment – discovery only
• Sooloos Config – Core/network/registration-related configuration
• Processor Config Program – direct G Series / 8 Series processor configuration

Sooloos configuration

The Sooloos configuration side communicates with Meridian equipment through the original network protocols rather than simply opening the obsolete browser configuration pages.

Current working functions include:

• Live Sooloos Core information
• Live Meridian device information
• Native IPNP discovery
• ControlFifteen network configuration read
• DHCP state
• Current IP address
• Static IP configuration
• Subnet mask
• Gateway
• DNS
• DHCP/static editor
• IPv4 validation
• Netmask validation
• Guarded Apply confirmation
• Sooloos registration data read
• Registration editor
• Dealer information read/display where available
• Firmware catalogue inspection from the Sooloos Core

The firmware catalogue reader can see Meridian package trees including:

• live
• live.old
• staging
• staging.old

Upgrade/downgrade installation itself is deliberately still disabled until the complete Meridian IFTP transfer/update/reboot path has been physically tested on hardware.


NEW – Processor Config Program

This is the part likely to interest G Series and 8 Series owners.

Control-Mac now contains the start of a completely native modern replacement for Meridian MConfig / WinFUP.

This is NOT the Sooloos configuration interface.

It talks directly to processors over RS232 / USB and is intended for equipment such as G Series and 8 Series processors.

The original Meridian MConfig and WinFUP programs were analysed to recover the underlying communication protocol and data structures.

The new implementation is written as portable C++20 and is compiled natively for both ARM64 and x86_64.


Recovered Meridian processor protocol

The original applications use Meridian's internal CIPM protocol.

The following command numbers have been recovered directly from the Meridian binaries:

• 0x02 – Identify yourself
• 0x03 – Change baud rate
• 0x04 – Enter persistent mode
• 0x05 – Leave persistent mode
• 0x06 – Confirm alive
• 0x07 – Erase memory
• 0x08 – Read memory
• 0x09 – Write memory

The normal command packet format has also been recovered:


The native implementation also reproduces:

• Meridian two-byte challenge/response handshake
• ACK / NAK handling
• Command echo validation
• Final ACK / OK completion
• 38,400 baud legacy default
• Timeout-aware serial reads

The challenge/response and Identify protocol have automated tests on both ARM64 and x86_64.

There is also a simulated Meridian processor test using a pseudo-terminal which exercises the complete conversation without risking real hardware.


Processor Config Program currently provides

• Native serial / USB port discovery
• Direct RS232 / USB Meridian connection path
• Passive processor startup detection
• Native CIPM Identify
• Processor identity diagnostics
• MSL configuration-definition inspection
• Meridian firmware-package inspection
• MFP file support
• MFU file support
• MFQ file support
• ARM64 native helper
• x86_64 native helper

MSL files

One of the more useful discoveries is that much of Meridian MConfig's product knowledge is stored externally in readable MSL definition files rather than being hard-coded entirely into the application.

These contain items such as:

• Product configuration fields
• Memory-word addresses
• Bit offsets
• Bit lengths
• Source definitions
• Communication address
• Card/options information
• Preset definitions
• Player definitions
• Soft-button definitions

That means the new native configuration engine can use an owner's legitimate Meridian MSL files instead of having to manually recreate every Meridian product definition.

Meridian proprietary files are NOT distributed in the public GitHub repository.


Processor write functions – intentionally locked

Although the original command numbers for Write Memory and Erase Memory have been recovered, those controls are deliberately disabled.

I am not interested in discovering that one byte was wrong by turning an 861 into a very expensive 50 kg doorstop.

The current hardware-test sequence is:

1. Connect processor by RS232 / USB
2. Confirm passive startup/challenge reception
3. Test native Identify
4. Validate identity response
5. Validate Read Memory framing
6. Implement/read configuration blocks
7. Compare native output against known MConfig behaviour
8. Only then enable Store Configuration
9. Erase / firmware-flash operations remain last

The software is currently frozen at a hardware-test baseline while we physically get a suitable processor onto the test bench.


Firmware / WinFUP work

The Meridian WinFUP installer was also analysed.

Interestingly, WinFUP and MConfig use the same basic Meridian communication engine.

The native replacement can currently inspect Meridian firmware files including:

• .mfp
• .mfu
• .mfq

It can report available package/product/version information.

Actual processor firmware flashing is NOT enabled yet.

That will only be exposed after:

• the serial transport has been verified against real hardware,
• read operations have been proven,
• the complete firmware transaction has been reproduced,
• retry/checksum/ACK/NAK behaviour has been physically tested,
• safe failure/recovery behaviour has been established.

Optical disc support

Control-Mac also contains a fairly substantial optical-media layer.

Current capabilities include:

• Audio-CD ripping
• Accurate track extraction
• CD-A BIN/CUE creation
• Blu-ray detection
• Blu-ray audio-stream scanning
• MakeMKV / LibreDrive support for protected commercial Blu-rays
• Audio-only stream presentation
• Native LPCM preference where appropriate
• Lossless multichannel stream selection
• 24-bit / 96 kHz LPCM extraction
• DVD VIDEO_TS scanning
• Blu-ray BDMV scanning
• ISO import
• BIN import
• Raw optical-disc ISO backup
• Protected Blu-ray decrypted backup
• Native UDF 2.50 ISO generation on macOS
• Backup verification
• Cancellation / partial-file cleanup

Control-Mac does not automatically downmix, normalize or resample high-resolution material.

If a disc contains separate stereo, quad, 5.1 or 7.1 lossless streams, those can be retained as separate layouts.


Physically tested hi-res examples

Development testing has included material such as:

• Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing
• Queen – A Night at the Opera Pure Audio Blu-ray
• Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon multichannel material

24/96 LPCM extraction and Sooloos import have been physically tested.

Decoded-PCM round-trip comparison has also been used to verify sample-accurate splitting.


MiniDisc support

Yes, MiniDisc somehow ended up in here as well.

Current support includes:

• NetMD detection
• SP transfer
• LP2
• LP4
• ATRAC encoding
• Safe disc erase/release handling
• Track import/export workflow
• Experimental Hi-MD work

The aim is to keep legacy audio hardware useful rather than forcing everything through modern streaming services.


Architecture / packaging

The current Mac build is a Universal 2 application containing:

• ARM64 native Control-Mac executable
• x86_64 native Control-Mac executable
• ARM64 Meridian processor helpers
• x86_64 Meridian processor helpers
• Architecture-specific Node runtime
• FFmpeg / FFprobe
• FLAC / metaflac
• ATRAC tools
• Mono runtime for the remaining recovered Sooloos interface layer

The long-term direction is to continue replacing old recovered/runtime dependencies with native components where sensible.


Things that are NOT finished yet

The project is very usable, but it is still development software.

Current unfinished / deliberately gated areas are:

• Processor Read Memory needs physical G/8 hardware validation
• Full Fetch Configuration is not yet enabled
• Store Configuration is not yet enabled
• Erase Memory is locked
• Processor firmware flashing is locked
• WinFUP replacement still needs real-hardware flash validation
• Complete Meridian IFTP upgrade/downgrade validation is still pending
• Sooloos firmware install/downgrade button remains disabled
• Network write/reconnect cycle still needs further physical testing
• Dealer-information editing is not implemented
• Intel Mac hardware testing is still pending, although the x86_64 code builds and tests correctly
• Fully proven Meridian Surround Core multichannel playback control remains ongoing work
• One-click Pure Audio Blu-ray authoring is not yet in the production UI
• True DVD-Audio AUDIO_TS authoring is not yet complete
• True DVD-Audio import is not yet complete
• SACD / DSD support is not implemented
• Hi-MD support remains experimental

Safety philosophy

Read operations come first.

Anything capable of changing processor memory or firmware stays disabled until the corresponding protocol has been verified against real Meridian hardware.

That is why some apparently known functions are visible but unavailable.

This is deliberate rather than unfinished UI.


Current hardware-test baseline

The current frozen baseline is:


The project has now reached the stage where further processor development requires a real G/8 Series processor on the bench.

Unfortunately Meridian processors appear to have been designed using depleted uranium as chassis material, so the next development task involves moving approximately 50 kg of audio equipment before writing any more code. :-)


Download / source

Mac DMG:
Download Control-Mac 2026 1.1a001meridian

GitHub:
Control-Mac 2026 source and documentation

Release notes:
1.1a001meridian hardware-test release


A quick note about Meridian software

The public repository does not redistribute Meridian proprietary binaries, recovered Meridian assemblies, MConfig, WinFUP, MSL definitions, firmware files or private system data.

Where an original Meridian file is required, the user supplies their own legitimate copy.

This is an independent enthusiast/community project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meridian Audio.


Why am I doing this?

There is an enormous amount of excellent Meridian equipment still in service.

A lot of it is mechanically and sonically nowhere near the end of its useful life; the problem is increasingly the old control/configuration software surrounding it.

If a modern Mac can keep a Sooloos system, an 861, a G68, a pile of DSP speakers, a MiniDisc deck and a ridiculous optical-disc collection useful for another decade or two, that seems considerably more sensible than throwing perfectly good hardware away.

Feedback, hardware reports and brave volunteers with interesting Meridian equipment are very welcome.

And if Control-Mac saves you some time or keeps an old system alive:

☕ Buy me a coffee – Chris Swain

Chris

Hi, the download links don't seem to be working, I am getting a 404 error at GitHub?

Yes, agreed. I’m having similar issues, although I was able to download one of the earlier versions.

Brian

i wiill put up a https://github.com/lurcheous73/meridian-controlmac2026

sorry

Hi all,

I thought it was probably time I wrote something about a project I've been working on for quite a while now, as it has grown rather beyond what I originally intended.

It started with **Meridian Control**.

Like quite a few Meridian owners, I still have a lot of Meridian equipment that I genuinely like and have absolutely no intention of throwing away just because the surrounding software ecosystem has moved on.

The original aim was therefore fairly modest: get Meridian Control working properly again, fix some of the annoyances, and make it practical to continue using a Sooloos/Meridian system with modern computers.

That was the beginning of the rabbit hole.

### From fixing Control to building Core

Once I started pulling it apart, it became obvious that simply keeping an old control application alive wasn't really the answer.

I wanted something that could manage my music properly, retain the things that were good about Sooloos, and work with both Meridian equipment and everything else that has appeared in the house since.

The obvious commercial answer is Roon.

Roon is an impressive product, but personally I didn't want another ongoing subscription simply to use and manage a music collection I already own. More importantly, my requirements were beginning to go beyond what I wanted from a conventional two-channel music server.

So the project changed direction.

**Brimstone Core** was born.

The idea is a self-hosted music and media core which you own and run yourself, with **Control** applications acting as the user interface.

There's no intention to replace the character of Meridian/Sooloos with a generic media player. A lot of what made Sooloos pleasant to use is precisely the sort of thinking I'm trying to retain.

But I also don't want the system frozen in 2010.

### More than stereo

One of the big reasons for building this rather than simply moving to another music server is that I want to go considerably further than two-channel playback.

Core is being developed with things such as:

- Meridian/Sooloos playback and control
- Sonos and other network audio devices
- local CoreAudio/Windows/Linux audio endpoints
- high-resolution PCM
- DSD
- multichannel audio
- DVD-Audio and Blu-ray Audio extraction/playback
- optical disc ripping
- Spotify integration and playlist access
- Bandcamp purchases
- internet radio and podcasts
- audiobooks with resume/progress
- multiple editions and copies of albums
- proper metadata and artwork management

Multichannel is particularly important to me.

There is a huge amount of interesting surround material sitting on SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-ray and other formats, and I'd like Core to treat that material as a first-class part of a music collection rather than assuming that music automatically means two speakers.

I'm also using Meridian hardware in the development and testing, including HDMI into a Meridian HD621, alongside more conventional USB and digital audio interfaces.

### Where it is now

What started as an attempt to repair Meridian Control has now become a complete server and control platform.

The current Core library and playback system is working, the new Control interface is taking shape, and we're now at the stage where most development is about fixing edge cases, improving usability and making installation sensible for people who don't particularly want to become Linux administrators just to listen to an album.

The user interface has also moved considerably beyond the original Meridian Control application.

The aim is a modern dark hi-fi interface, while retaining the simple idea that your music collection is the centre of the system rather than burying it underneath endless configuration screens.

This is still very much an enthusiast project and **it is not finished software**.

There will be bugs.

There will almost certainly be some magnificent bugs.

But it has reached the point where I'd like some other Meridian users to start abusing it and finding the things I've missed.

### Beta

I'm aiming to release the first public **Beta of Brimstone Core and Control within the next few weeks**.

The project will be at:

**core-audio.uk**

I'm particularly interested in testers who already have Meridian/Sooloos equipment, because testing against a wider variety of real Meridian systems is going to be far more useful than me repeatedly testing against the same collection of boxes.

I'd also be interested in people with unusual music libraries, multichannel material, high-resolution audio or mixed systems involving Meridian plus Sonos/USB/network players.

If you'd like to help test it, please email me directly:

**Chris.swain@brimstonecottage.uk**

At this stage I'm not looking for people to simply say whether they like the colour of a button. I'm looking for people willing to actually use it, break it, tell me what doesn't work and help make it better.

It has been a slightly ridiculous journey from **"can I fix Meridian Control?"** to **"apparently I'm building an entire music platform"**, but that's where we are.

And, if nothing else, it means some very good Meridian hardware gets to carry on doing what it was built to do.

Chris

If Meridian had any common sense, they would be knocking on your door to thank you.

thanks for that please give me feedback issues ect

by next week,

MacOS
Windows
IOS
Andriod

Debian 13 trixie for core (roon type bit)

and soon XBOX one X for core music from optical or HD621/721 whilst you play COD or fortnight

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

I can't do any proper testing yet as I'm in the middle of a house move and everything is in storage, but hopefully can follow up in a couple of months.

Thanks just play with it and tell me issues, it’s gone live @ core-audio.uk today via macOS testflight.

https://testflight.apple.com/join/q5cjHCd9

this is now a public beta