€10k - best Roon “player”

It plays perfectly with Roon, I use both every day :wink:

Lack of EQ with MQA content is an MQA issue, not a Meridian drawback. No DAC can preserve MQA and EQ currently.

SQ is reference level. There’s a comparative review here next to some fairly esoteric kit: http://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/meridian-818v3-mc200-dsp-5200-se/ about halfway down the page the review focuses on the 818 in a non-Meridian context.

Not quite right. Roon solves the problem of MQA and DSP EQ.
But the 818v3, like much Meridian gear, cannot do the second-stage rendering of pre-unfolded MQA, in spite of being fully capable of unfolding+rendering — it doesn’t recognize the rendering signals. There are rumors that Meridian is working on a fix.

Nonetheless, I use it with DSP room correction all the time, and when MQA content shows up, Roon unfolds it and I am content.

It has great strengths, and some limitations, and a high price.

I always finds reviews interesting, personally I use my own ears. It sounds very good. It doesn’t sound as good as my T+A Dac 8 in my system and I understand the Holospring to be a step further.

Hi James, have a re-read of the Roon 1.5 release notes. Our treatment of MQA enables precisely this: first decode (in Roon) + DSP (in Roon) + further unfold/rendering (in an MQA DAC).

Oh so do I, but equally I don’t have access to every piece of gear on the planet for extended home demo, which is where reviews can come in handy, as long as you have similar ears to the reviewer. Christiaan’s findings generally seem to match my tastes, on the equipment we’ve had in common, so I find his views interesting on gear I’ve not heard.

Of course, for me it’s slightly different as I mainly use Meridian DSPs, so most DACs are redundant in that setup. Nonetheless, I’ve used the 818 in an analogue system and had the chance to compare it directly to some fairly stiff competition. The only D/A I’ve yet heard which equalled it (although different, not better) was the DCS Rossini player.

I’ve not had the pleasure of the T+A, did you compare it directly to the 818v3?

Joel, Anders, thanks. I read the release notes the other day but didn’t know for sure if that’s what was implied. Excellent, I guess we just wait for Meridian to fix the flag issue. Perhaps they will finally put MRC in too :wink:

I’ve had the T+A since 2016, and had each iteration of the 818. Christiaan does seem to like Meridian kit, maybe it’s the house sound. I’m using the 818 analogue out (although I have DSPs as well, where I find it also very good but some of the budget SPDIF players are also very good). Have fun.

Lumin announces the new X1 Flagship Roon Ready Network Player:

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That’s really interesting, thanks. I will have to try and hear a T+A for my analogue setup, I’m always open to listening to new gear. How would you say the sound differs from the 818?

It’s hard to replace the 818 into 7200s with non-Meridian network spdif sources, as e.g., EBA would be lost, which I find very valuable in terms of SQ, but again, I’m always open to new ideas.

Christiaan always expresses a like for Meridian gear, but generally seems to revert to Wadia or Jeff Rowland for digital. The interesting thing about the above review is how close he finds the 818 to the Wadia, which replaced the JR.

18 posts were split to a new topic: EBA. Can you hear it?

Since there is a lot of Meridian discussion here, let me expand:

I chose the DSP8000SE speakers after extensive listening. And the 818v3 is a natural adjunct as a controller for the speakers. I always think speakers are dominant — people discuss whether this or that electronics or format change is audible, I have never heard anybody question speaker differences.

But that said, if I didn’t have the speakers, I wouldn’t get the 818. It is expensive and has specific limitations that fit the speakers’ but are annoying in other cases (e.g. headphones).

Joel, I suspect you are in a good position to compare Holospring and 818v3 as DACs. Any comments or is that contrary to your role at Roon?

I have had the 818v3 with DSP8000SE’s and whilst I enjoyed them I never loved them, I now have a Holo Spring Level 3 dac and in my opinion it is every bit the equal of the 818v3 if not better! I have also compared a 218 to an 818v3 on MQA and surprisingly I could not hear any difference, now Roon does the MQA first unfold I personally can think of no reason to get an 818v3.
I sold the DSP8000SE’s and now have a Copland power amp and Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolution speakers. :heart_eyes:

Through which system could you not hear any difference between a 218 and 818v3?

A post was merged into an existing topic: EBA. Can you hear it?

Just come across this -

Seems like it might tick all the OP’s boxes, haven’t heard one myself, though.

[edit- this now appears to be ‘Roon Ready’]

Is this Cary player Roon Ready? I didn’t see that mentioned in the review.

Personally I’d look at a bottom of the range dCS DAC.

It is not just Roon Ready. It is a Roon Ready Streamer, plus DAC

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Mods have shifted the Meridian EBA discussion into its own thread:

It is Roon Ready now, yes.

However, I agree. If sound quality is paramount, I would take a very serious look at (or rather a serious listen to) dCS also. Really superb.

Would the entry level dCS currently be the Debussy + Bridge for the OP’s purposes?