Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The Quasi-Official Meridian CEDIA Q+A Topic.

The Client does not neccessarily need to request the data. No IR, No Display Sort of like a Duet Controller or even an airport express is pretty much exactly that. Stuff is just pushed at it. The requesting Client is really the SqueezeCenter and pushes music to the Ethernet-SPDIF bridge.

The difference really is one acts as a true Sound Card (i.e. USB) device (any Player works) the other needs proprietary software to drive it.

An interesting solution would be a True SoundCard device that transmits over ethernet. I wonder if a plugin for squeezebox exists for that.

The transmission medium is seperate from what the device looks like to the PC.

Ok then. How about a USB-to-ethernet converter attached to the PC which communicates with one or more ethernet-to-SPDIF converters? Ensure you can multi-cast to any number of the ethernet-to-SPDIF converters and you have a very nice system indeed.

Control of the player on the PC can be left up to the user.

I'm unclear why anyone would want to put a PC so close to their audio equipment when Ethernet or WiFi is so simple to use, fast and packet based (doesn't contribute to jitter or other sonic degradation). Sonos, Squeezebox, Airport Express... all the way up to the Linn network players - each of these is a reasonable solution that avoids the inherent noise (physical and electrical) of a local PC.

I'm also not clear why people want to buy server-based products for big $$ (Sooloos, McIntosh, etc.) when big hard-drives and NAS storage are so cheap now. If I am going to invest in anything, it will be in player technology (WiFi to SPDIF or MHR), not a server. I don't believe that a dedicated server will store my data any better or deliver it faster/more reliably than off-the-shelf computer gear.

I envision a day when all Meridian Processors have an Ethernet/WiFi interface built-in. The only question then will be, what is the UI/Remote control involved.

I used to be very adamant about this as well until I hooked a pair of DSP speakers to my computer (at work ). Man am I enjoying these.

I agree though in general that the best thing Meridian could do is integrate squeezebox type functionality into their processors or offer their own seperate music server (like a squeezebox or the thing like a sonos).

But there are applications for straight computer to processor and/or DSP speakers too. Which is usually a different application.

Many new computers are getting extremely quiet and many quieter than many DVR's which do sit in the audio rack. And quieter than a PS3 (1st Gen).

I don't think this will ever happen. The bit-rates of ethernet could put it in the same category of putting an HDMI input in the box. So if built-in ethernet/wifi happens, I think it will be in separate boxes.

I think the HDMI breakout box for today makes sense. But in the long run, I agree it has to be Ethernet/Wifi direct into the processor.

Thanks to all involved in providing an informative thread

Cheers, Ian

I have been giving Meridian's responses a good deal of thought and have come to the conclusion that Meridian is doing us a huge favor in producing the HDMI Box. The HDMI Box in essence allows Meridian's users to use third party disc spinners (CD, SACD, DVD-A, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray) with its surround sound processors using a purely digital path. One strategy they could have pursued would have been to simply introduce 8XX and G9X Blu-ray players with MHR digital and analog outputs. If you wanted the lossless codecs without going through an extra D/A - A/D stage (i.e, the best), you would just have to pony up for a Meridian Blu-ray player. Given that Meridian's view expressed in its comments is that Blu-ray is going to make it as a commercially viable optical disc format, Meridian Blu-ray players are all but inevitable. Perhaps they will introduce them at CEDIA and accomplish their goal "to end 2008 in the same spectacular fashion that it started (when it released 808.2 and the DSP7200 loudspeaker).” Meridian, my hat is off to you.

Frank,

I presently run my digital out from my BR player to digital in on my G68. Is this not a "purely digital path"? Would this HDMI box do something more for me.

The digital output of your Blu-ray player only carries the standard lossy Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks. It cannot carry the new lossless codecs - Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master soundtracks which are carried digitally only over HDMI. Currently the only way to avail yourself of the lossless codecs is to connect the multi-channel analog outputs from your Blu-ray player (if it has them) to the multi-channel analog inputs on your G68. This involves extra digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversions which can be detrimental to the sound. In addition, you are at the mercy of the the analog stage of your Blu-ray player, the quality of which is problematic. The HDMI Box converts the digital lossless codecs from the HDMI output to MHR so that you can input them directly into the multi-channel digital inputs of your G68, eliminating the analog section of your Blu-ray player and the extra D/A - A/D steps, the result of which is better sound. That is why everyone is excited about the HDMI Box.

That sounds more like bitstreaming. My understanding is that the player decodes the lossless to pcm and transmits that over the HDMI connection to this new box. Considering the box has multiple HDMI inputs, it's going to be used for more than a blu-ray player. What would be nice is if this box decoded legacy dd/dts and forwarded multichannel pcm to the processor. That would allow upsampling (and in the future the adopizing filter) in the processor. It would add more value to this box to support upsampling of cable/sat, the old DVD player, whatever else.

You mean the packets that can arrive out of order, out of sequence and significantly seperated in time?

What was jitter's definition anyway?