Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems transporter or 808??

guys- It is time to upgrade my CD player- Do I go with a high end player(used 808 or remeiyo ) or a server like the transporter - I am not up to speed on any of the servers and would like unbiased opinions- thanks so much- tom

There are many ways to do streaming og digital music in your home. The simplest way is to put a PC or a Mac (choose a model that makes the least possible noise) in your listening room, as I have done (Mac mini with 500 GB LaCie external hard drive). Or you can go for Squeezebox, Sonous, Logitech or Roku - there are several more brands in this market. If you use DSP and digital out, it's doesn't really matter what you choose. If you go analog, the Transporter is way to go - best DAC around so far in music network solutions.
In my opinion, the sound from a dedicated transport like the 808 (or from a G91, which I use myself) still has the edge. But the gap is closing fast, and there are no technical reasons why a CD/DVD transport should sound better than a PC/server as long as the signal out is digital.
To put the really big money in a transport (the 808 is not cheap) would probably be unwise.
Hope this helps.

Putting a computer in the listening room I would not call "easiest". There are so many issues with this. As you mentioned noise. You generally want a wired network to it. Controlling it with an IR remote becomes a project. And verifying your really getting the raw bits to your preamp can be a project (picking right sound cards, drivers etc.). You want it to be easy to use too. Some people hook up the video of the PC to their TV/Projector to operate it. But I prefer not require the TV/Projector on each time I listen to music. If you already have a HTPC type setup then yes it would be fairly easy.

The simplest is probably the Sonos. A complete system. Server and handheld color control screen. Plug in the base. Plug in the extension and start ripping. No noise, nice remote.

The next easiest and cheap is probably the squeezebox. The computer can be remote eliminating the noise. It can be almost any size any model. It is fairly easy to setup. It takes a while learning all the ins and outs. I've had mine 6 months and I'm still learning stuff that it can do. It is extremely powerful and flexible what it can do. Display on squeezebox is somewhat limited.

Transporter is a delux squeezebox. It has twice the display size. It will auto scroll less and can show a little more. The bulk of the transporter cost is it's analog DAC electronics. If your using a external DAC or Digital preamp your not getting much more than good looks and bragging rights. It can handle 24/96 where the SqueezeBox is limited to 24/48. However there is a huge flaw in my opinion in that it cannot handle 88Khz (upsampled CD's). Transporter is supposed to have lower jitter. Read the the slimdevices.com forums. But keep in mind that most folks their own analog amp/speakers.

It's really a religous debate of music server vs high-end CD. Some folks own both and enjoy the merits of each. Some have ditched high-end transports and others would never listen to anything less than a 800/808/G08 etc.

Highest I went was a 598 and it's replaced by a squeezebox. One thing I notice is I have no idea what music I'm in the mood for day to day. The amount of music I scan through before my toe starts tapping would take and hour of flipping CD's. On the squeezebox it takes me minutes. So I listen to music I enjoy more and have more time to listen. I might think I'm in the mood for Rock but it turns out I'm in the mood for classical. I might hate a song monday but on tuesday love it.

That suggests that there is no objectivity out there, which is clearly not the case. You just have to choose your preachers carefully.

Mark

Let's start by asking what your present equipment is, including CD player and preamp/receiver/surround sound processor.

I think that the apparant religious nature of player vs server debate is not quite like all other debates.

With digital vs analogue, DSP vs passive speaker, etc etc you normally see folks defending the corner they've spent a whole heap of cash on.

With server music, it is interesting that all of the converts, as far as I can see on this forum, do currently (or have) owned and used at least one 5xx/Gxx/8xx/other branded very good/hi-end transport. That in itself should pre-dispose the owner to protect the credibility of their player as they have spend a lot of money on it.

The server solutions, in general, cost a fraction of what a player costs and as such shouldn't really command the same purchase/brand/ego/bragg-factor loyalty. Let's face it, there's not a lot of bragg factor to a �200 Logitech device is there?

Choosing 'preachers' is a very valid point though. As server users tend to own both methods of playback, I think they are in a very good position to comment objectively. And, with very few exceptions, server playback is found to be at least very very good, if not equal to, and sometimes better than disc player performance.

So, should you buy an 808 right now?

YES...if you want one. They are very very good players...some say the best. Will it become redundant? Not really if CD's continue to dominate for a while yet and that's your choice of playback for the foreseeable future.

If you ever went for server playback and found, as some here have done, that it might just be as good as the 808, then you may find the 808 redundant.

If you never go with server playback then it won't be redundant.

Of course this must be an issue for Meridian sales. I still find it quite surprising that they are not offering something in this space by now. Especially as they nearly stole a march on the whole server industry with the 880.

There are two camps though....those that have moved to server playback and those that haven't or won't. Of those that won't (yet) it's not actually the sound quality that makes them not. It's the effort required to rip or sometimes the above mentioned desire to protect the existing investment from such a cheap intruder . That's where it's not particularly objective in my view if the main objective is hi-end music reproduction.

Anyway, that's my 2p for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I have tried both the Transporter and the 808 for months now and have concluded in my system, the 808 sounds noticeably better. So what I do is for casual listening I use the Transporter and for critical listening I use the 808.

My system is a Meridian G68, ARC3 for 2 Ch, B&W 800Ds, Meridian 808, and LAMM 1.2 Amps

Viper

Digital or analogue out from the Transporter?

Mark

Looks like analogue from the kit, in which case I would expect the 808 to comfortably beat the transporter.

I think the 808 is an extraordinary player, while I don't own one, I have deepest respect for it's audio qualities.

I hope that one day, my networked Audio/Video server (perhaps Meridian(?)) will sound as good as the 808.

I know there are some other server solutions out there, but have not had the opportunity to test them against something like the 808.

Mark_H, VirusKiller is correct analogue. I like the ARC Ref3 for 2Ch analouge over the G68 so I go analogue out from both the 808 and Transporter. I actually haven't listened to digital out on both for long enough to say what I like better.

Viper, the crucial point with servers is that they *must* be all-digital. I don't think anybody disputes that high-end players should always sound better if the analogue route is taken; it's the digital route that levels the playing field.

Cheers,

Mark