Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Why has the Meridian Music Server die?

Hi Nick, was my name taken in vain there.........lol

If Meridian Do it, of course I will buy............maybe?

I want another F80 first, Happy saving.

Cheers, Chris

With the speed things are progressing, what would I like in a Audio Video client?

* Blu-Ray from external HDD/NAS
* HD-DVD from external HDD/NAS
* DVD from external HDD/NAS
* CD from external HDD/NAS

optional:
* DVB-T h.264 play/record external HDD/NAS
* DVB-C h.264 play/record external HDD/NAS
* DVB-S2 h.264 play/record external HDD/NAS

What would this client cost us and how many would like it?

well- how about M and K do a license deal where M builds a K player- but this time its a Meridian K Player... it'll never happen but it won't stop the cosmic order.

best regards,
Jerry

I'm not interested in a video client. YMMV.

Any PC/Mac will do what here is described as a "Meridian Music Server". For noise reasons you'll need a dedicated network system like Airport Express, Sonos or SB. Plus a 500GB USB drive or three, for lossless files.

What Meridian would be able to contribute here is beyond my understanding.

These things are Chinese built and dirt cheap, and there are no provable sound differences from one to the other (as long as the DA conversion is handled by Meridian).

If Meridian still launched such a device for megabucks I would feel truly cheated. This is a company that consistently have rejected all claims from the analog loony camp. CD is vastly superior to LP, MP3 can be okay if bitrate is high enough etc. I expect them to stick to science and not join the snake oil sellers out there.

You know Im not going to just let this go- don't you .

My point is that so many people already provide such good music servers that if Meridian wanted to do it, they have to offer something that is truly compelling, and I do not think that means they can do a low price point product.

At the same time it makes very little sense for them to invent an interface if someone already has one and it works so well. Since Kaleidescape is known to us enthusiasts but probably still not that well known to many of the high end installs, if a deal could be made, it would make a lot of sense IMHO. Kaleidescape has the interface and storage ability. Meridian has the ability to built the transport/player. And Kaleidescape will introduce a software update in a few weeks that allows for itunes integration....

My point being- this is the best way to do it rather than reinventing the wheel and spending needlessly to do so and thereby pushing up the final price that much more. Maybe its not Kaleidescape, there are other audio products out there- but IMHO for big dollars you've got to do both audio and video.

best regards,
Jerry

Guynextdoor, I don't really agree there. There are 3 streaming clients that you can chose from. Why would Meridian want/need to make one ? There are hundreds, possibly thousands of CD players out there too, but, Meridian still made quite a few upto and including the 808. If it was all about just getting M do the D-A, then according to your point, they wouldn't have done it.

I believe that M could make a client device that handled the 1's and 0's better than the cheap Chinese devices mentioned.

Nick- I believe you are right and I would add in the recent interview that was linked to in another thread I think Bob Stuart either said or implied that while of course the digital end is very important (with things like data integrity (eg jitter reduction)- that it was their understanding of analog that is also critical to their early products and it still is today. After all, at some point the sound begins as analog and ends as analog. (my apologies if my paraphrasing is incorrect). So yes, its true there are tons of cheap o sources out there but I believe Meridian can still bring something to the table. Whether its worth it to play back the latest Britney MP3 is another story.

best regards,
Jerry

If we take what you say at face value, Meridian wasted their time making the G06, G07, G08, 808 and any source they came up with to date or basically deceived us all into buying these instead of getting some low cost source with a DAC.

We could have gotten a Squeeze box or even a Flush Card or just hook our PC/Mac with its ripped CDs to a 568 or G68 or 861 or some other decent DAC like Benchmark and get the same or better results.

Is that the really the case?

If it is than we need to feel pity for ourselves and the whole audiophile community for having to stress over finding the perfect digital source.

I am not negating what you wrote until I had a chance to compare a dirt cheap digital source into a decent DAC to my existing 596 but find it hard to beleive that dream machines like G08, 800 and 808/808i were sold based on hype/marketing alone and in general if you are right I cannot understand why digital spinners exist at all?

Are we all blind and deaf?

And if digital sources will cease to exist in the near future what will M do?
Sell F80, DSP, Wall speakers and Processors only?

Regards,

Doron

Isn't the key difference that a CD player is having to deal with reading the CD and doing playback in real-time whilst a PC/Mac based solution can take its time so long as what it ends up with is exactly what was on the original CD?

Once you get into the whole computer based music thing some of the arguments get a bit weird IMO.

If you can take computer data, let's say a text file, and shift it from one place to another over the network nobody would suggest it's more likely to arrive intact if you use an expensive network lead or a certain mains lead etc.

I'm currently using iTunes on a Macbook Pro via Apple TV digitally hooked up to my 568 with everything in Apple Lossless and I think it sounds great. I still like putting disks into the G91 and I think this is because I don't have to switch on the TV to navigate (and only one remote). This is also the only way I can listen to the few DVD-A discs I have.

For my needs I think this is almost complete. If I could have a small display on the ATV or have information coming through to the DVD player or processor to allow me to navigate without using my screen all the time, it would be perfect.

Apart from this (and aesthetics) I'm not sure what else Meridian could add at the front end for me to want one. The interface would have to be pretty slick to better the ATV. Maybe they could ensure the disk was ripped perfectly (if it's not already - but it sounds pretty good to me) but I'd also want any solution to be iPod compatable too. I don't want the situation where I have a Meridian server and an iTunes set-up too.

Cheers,

Ed.

You got me right, doronor. Nobody has so far been able to prove that there are differences in the digital realm - given the objective parameters are the same (no missing bits).

The need for disc spinners will simply not be there in the very near future. Maybe audiophiles like us will continue playing CDs, just like some of us will continue playing LPs.

But most music will be delivered online - simply because it's cheaper for the record companies and more convenient for the customer. Let's just hope that we don't have to be stuck with iTunes-like 128 kbps MP3s/AACs/WMAs. I would think not, since bandwith is less and less an issue.

My ears are 51 years old. But I've played CDs and hard drive/network music to 25 year old friends through my M. system - and they are not able to spot the difference either. If indeed some people are able to tell, they must have supernatural hearing...

A few years ago I testet several CD transports with a couple of good DACs. There was significant differences. But I believe (although I have no evidence) that these differences can be explained by the DAC acting differently to faults in the drives.

This is hardly an issue today. With the introduction of the DVD player reading became far more exact. And buffering and re-clocking solved the (alleged) jitter issue. Nobody really talks about tranports any more, and they are hardly found in the high end market at all. Even Meridian has stopped producing them, The 500 was the last non-DAC model, and it went out of production in the late nineties. All M. players have (excellent) analogue stages - if you want a standalone transport you might as well buy a $200 DVD player down at Crutchfields.

Differences can still be heard in the analogue realm (but expensive products does not always sound better than cheap ones, in my experience). Anybody who tells you that there are sound differences in the digital domain (again given that the source are identical, not fx MP3 against FLAC) is just trying to make you part with your money in a very nasty way.

I have used such futile money myself. No more. Ever.