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

Thanks John & Meridian!

Yes, though I'd prefer Firewire (or Firewire+USB) to SPDIF. I'm thinking something along the lines of:

Mac Mini -> Firewire -> M Processer -> M DSP Speaker
PC -> USB -> M Processer -> M DSP Speaker

I (like many others) have essentially switched over to using network servers/players now, rather than spinners. And studio master and similar downloads are beginning to look promising: my bookmarks list now has Linn, Reference Recordings, 2L, Gimmell, HDtracks, iTrax, Pristine Classical and numerous others...

The problem comes in getting the best D-D transfer from the network player to M DSP speakers, supporting the HD formats and with low jitter.

I've got an SB3 (like many others), but that is limited to 44.1 & 48k. A Transporter provides 88.2 & 96, but then you're paying a lot more, a fair proportion of which goes on analogue output stages that are not needed for DSP speakers.

Also, I'd prefer not to be locked into using Slim (or competitors) and their chosen UI, but to have the flexibility to use whatever server/player combination I chose - or that M build Currently, a Mac Mini or AppleTV and iTunes looks inviting.



As I understand it, USB limits us to 44.1/16 (though some manufacturers are claiming to be able to do 96k). Whereas Firewire appears to be able to happily handle the HD formats, and is standard on all Macs (and many PCs) nowadays.

Currently, in terms of Firewire to SPDIF bridges, there are a bunch of semi/pro-audio Firewire interfaces from the likes of RME, usually ugly as sin, and including analogue I/O (mic inputs etc!) that I don't want. However Weiss Audio currently/shortly have some very promising products:
Vesta - audiophile, D-D only
DAC2 - pro audio, D-D and D-A
AF1 - pro audio, D-D only

Things I'm concerned about:
1. Not paying for unnecessary analogue I/O
2. The best digital audio transfer (jitter etc)
3. Where/how any sample rate conversion is performed?

Regarding 3, lets say I have a variety of media in 44.1, 44, 88.2 and 96k (I already do). Is it possible to do a USB/Firewire->SPDIF bridge that transfers these untouched to a DSP speaker, so that any conversion is done in M's DSP (that I trust)?

Or does the USB/Firewire side have to be configured to a chosen mode (e.g. 96/24 to match a DSP speaker), in which case upsampling for lower formats occurs in the host device e.g. Apple's Core Audio in a Mac Mini? And that I don't trust...

Caveat: I'm an eBay/second-hand buyer, as most M kit is out my price league. But I'd happily pay 1k or so for the ultimate D-D sound card, compatible with Mac and Windows

Cheers,
Simon

Very well, M annouces HDMI solution in December, we do group buy in and collect it at the factory at de HH-2 meeting in Februar

The speakerlink is hardware but all else is software. An "old" DSP8000 without the speakerlink but with all the latest hardware goodies should get between 75-80% of the performance of the latest rev DSP8000s + an 808.2 is my understanding.

I appreciate the thanks that everyone sends my way, but in all honesty the credit deserves to be given to M. They did some serious work on the preample and HDMI section and turned it around quite quickly.

If you think about it, about 10 days ago we were asking the questions, now we're reading the answers

Best,

Simon,

Interesting links to the Weiss products. Frustratingly, no multi-channel products though.

Also, none of the Firewire pro-audio solutions I've seen from RME or others support SPDIF - they're all AES/EBU or ADAT or MIDI.

Yeah I'll so second that one. Many of the high-end HT geeks (like me!!!) are bass-heads and run multiple subs spaced about our rooms (Floyd T's Harman sub placement paper anyone...) to achieve the smoothest and most authoritative low frequencies possible. Achieving the requisite phase angles at crossover and differing delays requires multiple additional boxes (2x Velo SMS-1s in my case...) to achieve what should be achievable with our high-end pre-pro alone.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

There are two papers, one by Todd Welti, and the other by Floyd Toole. In both papers the discussion is about a mono signal being distributed among N number of transducers. So whether you use a splitter or you have outputs from the processor is largely irrelevant as the output still needs to be a mono signal.

It's a very important point. As soon as you start dealing with signals that are no longer mono it is a different ball game.

Cheers,

Whether the low-passed bass signal being distributed to different parts of the room is mono or not, We still need to ensure that both phase and delay's are set properly for bass sources at differing distances to ensure the subs work with each other rather than against. FWIW, I'm running one pair of symmetrically placed subs at the front of the room and am really wrestling with integrating identical subs at the rear of the room.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

Thanks JK and M! Very interesting to be hearing your insights in the HDMI/BD business. I will try and get up a separate topic for the USB/Firewire->SPDIF M back question with some sort of poll.

I'm currently evalutating the Weiss Minerva Firewire SPDIF interface and DAC. So I hope to give some insight what some of the most avid computer audio geeks appreciate.

John and Meridian team- thank you for your hard work and thoughtful replies. I can't believe anyone who is paying attention would think Meridian as uncaring. The HDMI discussion is particularly useful, I think many of us see it as just another connector so why cannot Meridian just offer the interface. The discussion explains why not- (short version- there is much going on behind the scenes that we do not know or understand).

In the ~10 years I have been a Meridian customer I have seen first hand that Meridian keeps its customers' medium-long term interests at heart. When I purchased 7 digital speakers (8000s and 7000s- not a light investment) I knew I was not just purchasing the latest and greatest of the day but also of the future. So far, over 5 years into it with the speakers, this has been true. Of course no one can expect a 5 year old purchase to remain the latest and greatest- yet the product road map does not make one feel a case of buyers remorse.

The most important thing I can say about Meridian the company is I trust its judgement. How many companies do we here really trust? This is what makes Meridian special in my opinion.

best regards,
Jerry

Sure it is one way of getting non-spinner content to a M processor - but that could mean long (not wife friendly) cables. Now, since more of us are storing music on home servers these days, instead of a

USB->SPDIF bridge

wouldn't a

Ethernet->SPDIF bridge

or even a

Wi-Fi->SPDIF bridge

Be better?

Possibilities would be mind blowing.

That's a music client like a Squeezebox. The trouble is that it could no longer be a dumb bridge. There has to be client-server communication with the client requesting data (a music file) and the server sending it to the client.