Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 808 vs 808.2

My 808i.2 arrived yesterday. I was wondering if anyone knew how much of a burn in to expect with it?

That is a bit of a religious debate round here. IMHO very little to none.

The only thing that needs break in are speaker drivers and your brain

Oh and congrats on your purchase, hope you enjoy it and share you thoughts here.

Not quite a new speaker will probably sound a bit different so as your brain get used to it, it will be breaking in as well. So it's a very hard thing to compare. And you can't exactly A/B with what changed in how you percieve or broken in vs unbroken in. You'd really need two new sets to truely test it. But it makes perfect sense that drivers do losen up a bit over time and would change their sound a bit.

I've been working with a $20,000.00 .25ns A/D converter at work. We plug in and just start using it. No break in, and few minutes to warm up. It does do it's own self calibration. Good electronics shouldn't need break in.

I agree with George to a great extent. There 'may' be some change in electronics performance over time (snake oil vendors tell you this everytime when telling you to get used to their cables, for example), but, I think the biggest change that occurs is in your head.

We've covered here the effect of spl on the performance of your ear and the perceptions of sound. We've also regularly seen the (for example) B&W user switch to DSP and initially think there is less detail, but over a short space of time the detail is all there...just not in bright lights shouting at you. Did the equipment change to do that or the brain ??

My experience of demo's and various pieces of kit and upgrades etc is that it takes time to truly digest what you are hearing. Sure, first impressions count, but, so does time of day and level of mental and/or auditary fatigue.....an whether your sat with a glass in your hand

So, there may be burn-in but the other factors for me are much more influencial. I'd suggest not worrying about burn-in with the new toy...just be excited and play lots and lots of music !!!

Thanks. I have been trying to get everything set up and so far have only been able to get this to work with my DSP5200s. I am having trouble getting any sound out of the balanced outs into my RSA Apache headphone amplifier. I have it set to Type 3, which is the variable out as a preamplifier. I think I will try the type 2, which changes it to the fixed output.

Also does anyone know how you can turn on the 808 without turning on the DSP5200?

Why not? Apodizing upsampling and low jitter straight into the 5200s. Right? I'm sure it will sound sublime.

Changing to Type 2 fixed my output issue. Sometimes there are just too many options.

The extensions are very good. I have been impressed with the sound quality from the 5200s and now I doubt they could get any better. Maybe some day I will consider the 7200 but they are such a jump in price, that I can't even think about them at this point.

Can anyone answer this question

In having a 861V4 and 808i I send the signal with a digital cable from the 808i and use the 808i as a transport and use the 861's DAC.

Is there any reason that any other suitable transport could do the same. Is there an advantage to using the 808i as a transport

This is another topic of hot religous debate.

My answer is that as a digital CD transport into the 861v4, I doubt much difference, if any, would be heard over, say a Meridian 596. The key technologies involved in this scenario are: Multiple re-reading of the disc (596: check, 808: check); FIFO dejittering in the 861v4; and upsampling (there won't be much difference between upsampling in the 808 and in the 861v4).

This answer assumes that the 861v4 FIFO de-jittering reduces the sonic effects of both the 808 jitter and the higher jitter 596 to below human audibility. I think this is likely.

Note 1: The 808i.2 is a different kettle of fish as it has the apodizing filter which the 861v4 does not have (yet). So, all other things being equal, the 808i.2 has better upsampling than the 861v4.

Note 2: Direct to DSP speakers, the 808i is probably the best CD transport you can get, except the 808i.2. In this scenario, the significant technology (apart from multiple re-reads from the disc) is low jitter from the transport to the DSP speakers, as the de-jittering in the DSP speakers is almost certainly not nearly as effective as in the 861v4 (by design).

Others' mileage will almost certainly vary...

So what would one do if he had an 808.2i and an 861V4. He would send the signal analog out to the 861 or try to bypass the 861 completely. Then its a whole other can of worms.

I'd send the 88.2/24 upsampled digital input to the 861 in all cases.

- You get the benefit of the apodizing upsampling filter in the 808i.2.

- You get the benefit of the very effective FIFO de-jittering in the 861v4. Remember that the output of the 808.2 is around 90ps of jitter, which is presumably the jitter at the input of the 808.2 internal DACs. Chances are that the 861v4 will de-jitter to zero or exceptionally low levels. From there, you have lower jitter at the 861v4 DACs (vs. the jitter at the 808.2 DACs), or low jitter MHR transfer to DSP speakers and low jitter at the DSP speaker DACs.

Personally, I can't see the point of using the "i" 808.2 variant with an 861v4.

For the time being, *if* you have an 861v4, the 808.2 is the best CD transport out there, but only for its apodizing feature. But I have to believe that the 861v5 will have the apodizing upsampling technology. Why? Because you cannot apodize non-Meridian sources and then process at high resolution (e.g. for Trifield, MRC, etc.) unless you do it in the 861. Upsampling in the speaker would mean processing in the 861 at low res.