Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems I need more digital inputs what should I buy?

Like Smac770, I also use an AA 1177 into my 518 and really like the combo. The one thing I miss is discrete control of input selection via IR. That is now available in this product:

http://www.inday.com/da4x/da4x.htm

Good price as well.

I have had to use optical to resolve a ground loop issue at one point between my HTPC and the rest of the gear. So it is great for that.

I did try some comparisons between optical and coax from DVD/CD players and from the HTPC, and I could not resolve any differences.
And my speakers are particularly unforgiving, so I'm pretty sure if there is a diff, it's minimal. The convenience and the reduction in ground hum are probably bigger wins.

Hi Spencer

I'm not sure if this was just an oversight on your part, but the 562s are switchers only, with no surround processing.

The 518 is a superb unit, but with only one optical input, leaves you a bit stuck without using a switcher as has been suggested. For your immediate needs, a 562v2 would be ideal...I think one was in the restaurant for sale recently (Viruskiller?). As has been mentioned above, the 561 would also cover all of the bases too, and allow experimentation in time with surround processing. To be honest, if you are new to Meridian, I think you'll find that whatever unit you choose, you'll be thrilled with the sound quality.

It may be worth taking a more disciplined approach at this early stage though, and deciding what you absolutely need now, and what you definitely want to aim for in future. Most 500 series Meridian gear is available on the used market, and you are unlikely to have to wait any more than 2-3 months for a particular piece to appear. In light of that, it may not be necessary to go for surround abilities right away(since you can't utilise them yet), but use the budget for the best solution now. When you have more money to play with surround sound, think about adding a processor at that point.

Hope that's of some help.

Cheers

George

Thanks George / Jonathan,

Sorry, another case of being seperated by a common language on my part. I mean't that the 562V2/3 might be too expensive (I dont know what there s/h values are) in the same way that the surround processors probably are. Ambiguous use of the word 'like'.

I have owned my M system (500CD / DSP 5000) since 1999 after ~10 years of constant upgrading Naim CDX / Audiolab 8000CD etc... and have always been more than happy with the sound quality (although I have never auditioned of M's newer CD Rom based transports!)

I agree with your views and I guess the next piece of the puzzle is getting some idea of s/h costs as this will ultimately decide my route.

Can anyone give me some idea of costs for s/h 518 / 562v2 / 561/5/8

I've seen:

562 eBay recently for �157
562V US eBay for $199

And a 562V which keeps reappearing on eBay for �365 but hasn't yet sold at this price level but not much in the way of 562v2/3 prices yet.

Cheers

Spencer

Hi Spencer

Useful to have some idea of your other kit. I now can't help myself from recommending that you buy a 518 and stick it between your 500 (A MkII?) and 5000s, irrespective of anything else you do!

Used prices:

518 ~�350
562v2 ~�450 (the one on eBay is ridiculously overpriced. Original 562Vs ~�250)
561 ~ �600 (I think, but not that common of late)
565 ~ �450
568 ~ �850 (I think, but not that common of late)

Cheers

George

PS If you are using a MkI 500, the MkII is quite a bit better. The difference between them at used prices is about �100, but it would be money well spent.

Hi George,

I've heard the 500 CD MKII mentioned before and never been sure what it was, are there any obvious identifying features?

My 500 CD has the serial number 500 303XXX on the back and a AES/EBU XLR - (Not sure what M kit can receive the XLR as an input?)

While it was back at Huntingdon recently I asked if there were any 'upgrades' that could be made whilst it was under the scalpel and they said not

So I'll be on the look out for a 518 (�350 seems good value for the combination of uses it will have) and maybe a 562v2 if I can find one for �350 - �400 otherwise I might use the AA 1177 as an interim as they seem to be less than �65 s/h

Thanks again

Spencer

596DVD Makes a great CD spiner as well, better than 500 IMHO.
Also �500 mark at the moment.

Yes 565Z3 should be �450 ish. Sound for pound fantastic.

As someone said earlier, you wont be dissappointed whatever you choose.

I took 10 years to get my stuff together on a shoe string budget. (Needs Must) and I enjoyed the process. It allows me to Ignore all the latest 'must haves' untill they settle down.

DSP's will be next I think, when I have earned them.

Cheers, Chris

Excellent! That's the later MkII which you have, and from personal experience, it sounds a bit better again than the 2xx MkIIs (I've had all three runs of the 500, and I prefer the 3xx model to the older ones, and also to the 596 and G98). Yes, put a 518 between it and the 5000s. It can take either the SPDIF or the AES/EBU from the 500.

Cheers

George

@ Spencer:

My problem - the need for more digital inputs on my M processor - is of course related to your question here. But as I didn't want to hijack your thread, I started another one.

But it seems like you want to add another M box as a solution, while i am looking for a switch box or something like that.

Please join the other thread if you're interested;-)

Hi again,

A question to the guys here regarding the AA 1154 and AA 1177 'automatic' digital input switching type devices or anyone with experience of similar devices:

I am not sure what these devices use as protocol for their switching criteria but are they 'robust' in their operation? I imagine the protocol is simply along the lines of whether a digital signal is present in one of the inputs or not? and then switching to that input.

Which leads me to ask: If I have a CD player in say socket 1 and I stop the CD from playing using the stop button does the digital signal stop completely and therefore the switching device now believe there is no source connected to socket 1 any longer or does the CD need to be in standby or switched off for this off 'state' to be satisified.

Or do they simply switch to the last valid digital input which was 'switched on'? Or do have to sometimes have to switch a source on and off to make it clear to the switching device that this is the input you want use?

I ask the question because Jonathan mentioned missing a discrete switching device even though he has one of the auto switching devices

Cheers

Spencer

Spencer,

The autoswtiching is indeed a priority scheme that depends on the presence or absence of a digital stream.

Some CD players will stop the stream when stop or even pause is selected. Some will only stop the stream when stopped or powered down.

The worst offenders are certain satellite based DVR`s, which keep the digital stream ‘on` regardless of standby status or whatever. Some DVD players do this as well. The fix for those is to put them at the lowest priority slot (input for on the AA), then use the remaining slots in decreasing order of popularity (i.e. the most used ones to the highest numbers).

So it really depends on your devices and what their behavior is. You can always override the ‘auto` part with a front panel toggle on the AA 1177, not a problem if you are already in front of the gear putting in a disc or something. Less convenient if switching amongst DVR`s or other streaming or storage devices.

I`d still recommend the one with discrete modes instead.

Just a quick question before I take the plunge and buy a 518 my DSP 5000's are 24/96 - does this effect the usefulness of the 518?

Also I have read some comments about the 518 causing clicking or popping noises when switching between sources? Is it dependent on the equipment they are used with? Are there any work arounds, how bad is it - is it just a soft digital click or is it repeated louder sound?

My system is:

Sources: 500 MKII CD, Sky HD stb, Macbook (Itunes)via Airport express, Pioneer 5100 DVD HDD

Spkrs: DSP 5000 24/96

Does anyone have specific experience of a 518 in this type of system and hence comment on the likelyhood of the clicking problem in my intended application.

Cheers

Spencer

I used to get a pretty savage click on my 518, but I had a very different setup to you, in my case it was feeding a Musical Fidelity DAC. I think it was probably a poor muting circuit in the DAC. I'd be really suprised if you experienced it with DSP speakers.

The only possible effect on your speakers is that the 518 won't pass any sample frequency over 48kHz. You could add a bypass around the 518 to the D2 input of your DSPs from your DVD player, which is capable of generating that rate. It was never a problem for me, I don't have any DVDs that run at high sample rates.

You'll also want to make sure the s/w version is recent enough to pass Dolby Digital.

Cheers,
Mark.