Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems New Music Server

Alternatively I've had great service from ripcaster both pre-sales support wheere at least they have a human on the end of the phone who can answer questions unlike the manufacturers of much of the equipment they sell.

I've bought several times from them and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

The AVA unit I believe is effectively a Tranquil PC, I'm using a Tranquil SQA-5H server bought from ripcaster, with 4Tb of HDD for my main music and video source. Very nice unit, very quite, and expandable.

Ripcaster also have some nice 'how to' guides on their site, very helpful in getting SqueezeCenter to run on WHS (Windows Home Server).

For every customer who has bad service there are usually hundreds of 'silent' customers who would have no complaint at all (except I'm not silent!!)

Mr Perceptive

If you were treated by Ripcaster in the same way as I was I'll wager you would be making more noise that you're doing so at present!

I also have had good service from Ripcaster in setting up my squeezebox network. I run 2 SB3's from a QNAP TS 201, running dual disc under raid 1 for security of data, without problems. The QNAP is running embedded slimserver under linux ubuntu which was installed prior to purchase by John Nelson of Ripcaster and as already stated they do give excellent instructions for installing updates that come along from time to time

Rod

Hi Joel,

Thanks, yes the conclusion is WAIT. Even if I have gone a touch backwards in sound quality - and I intentionally haven't done an A - B comparison, the fun, convenience and incentive to use my system 10 times more is adequate compensation at this time.

Hi VK,

Glory Halleluiah! Thanks to my education at HH2 I understood what you said. It now comes down to me to keep reading the forum and figuring out what I want and WAIT for Meridian to give me an option. Thanks.

Hi Andy,

I am not able to give you any technical advice, but I can assure you, like all those who have gone before me, that once you go down this path you will be delighted. Good luck.

Aloha,

EXACTLY !!

George,

Yes, i just caught up to what you have been saying for some time now so excuse me if I in my exuberance repeat. ALSO the tantalizing prospect that in 6 months I might be able to take a giant step forward, well past my G91 and approach the quality of an 808.2 is like going back to my first Christmas!

Andy,

I will add one more thing. Others more knowledgable than I may suggest a better route, but in order to keep my first step as cheap and simple as possible I bought just a Sonos ZP90 and run it from my computer using BDPoweramp to rip to FLAC. Even I was able to get this set up and I am playing with my toy as I take my time to research NAS drives etc. If at any time I find that I should have done something differently I have kept my cost so low that I would have no qualms about changing.

I hope that may help.

Aloha,

Dolf,

If you are not already aware, the Sonos app for the iPhone will give you a "free" remote which is kept handy in your pocket.


Cheers,


Steve

I have a SB3 into Radiance into HD621 and on into G68J. I have a Boom in my bedroom combined with an old KEF 30B sub which work remarkably well together combined with a sprinkling of SB3s and receivers in other rooms.

I use a combination of Squeezebox remotes, iPhones with iPeng (I'm a beta tester for 1.2 which will be a vast improvement over 1.1), and web browsers on various platforms to control the various players.

If you are happy to run a PC rather than NAS, anything capable of running Windows XP will suffice, and be easy to manage or upgrade. You could either recycle an old PC that is due for retirement or pick up end of line components or a PC.

Tim

Thanks Dolf et al. Much appreciated!

Tim: just seen your comment. Thanks for your tips. Recycling a PC sounds like a good idea - I happen to have a quite old Tranquil which I might upgrade to the equivalent of an AVA RS3. I will be sure to go for a fast processor to run SqueezeCenter.

Hi Steve,

Thanks, when I looked at your signature I recalled my camping trip through the Flinders with my ute about 40 years ago with all the gorgeous sheilas.

I was aware of the iPhone, but have been somewhat overwhelmed with the possibilities with this new road. At the moment I still have lots of work ahead of me to get the metadata right, download the classical portion of my CD collection and then sort out the playlists. What at the moment is keeping me busy is that I need FLAC for my Sonos and WMA lossless for my MP3, as the only MP3 that I could find with enough capacity in lossless would not take FLAC.

Anyway I thought that it might be easier at this stage to use my computer to get everything set up, but my future tentative plan to eliminate my computer from my home system is firstly a NAS drive into my Sonos and then your suggested iPhone route. Is it truly that simple, cheap and good? But it may be a bit of time before I am ready to tackle that.

I am not complaining, these are not problems, they are fantastic opportunities, but it does have a learning curve and time requirement for me.

Sorry if I sound a bit scattered, that is my reality now and it is kind of fun.

Aloha,

What Sonos unit are you running through the HD621? What kind of connection between the two?

Sounds really interesting.

Roger