This is a little difficult to explain as I am helping a colleague who has just purchased a 218 and is running Roon/Tidal into a fully Meridian system. In this case directly from the 218 into 7000 speakers
Unfortunately I do not have the 218 in front of me at the moment and my colleague lives in a rural location.
OK the problem: As I said the 218 is connected via Roon/Tidal and will play MQA tracks for a few seconds and then stops/drops out. This seems almost certainly down to poor connection speeds. He is able to maintain streaming of MQA tracks through his Explorer 2 by increasing the allotted buffer size to its maximum. However the menu system behaves/displays differently for the 218 to the Explorer 2 device setup menu
the 218 settings->device setup menu (in Roon) does not display the same as any other device on either his or my system - It does not show the General/Playback/Zone Grouping header tabs - and the options it does show are different and seem more restricted) - no buffer delay at all -is this to be expected - or is something strange going on here?
All help appreciated.
I’m having a similar problem with my 218 streaming Hifi & Mqa files. In my case, I don’t think it’s the connection speed as I’m on fibre 100Mbps and don’t have a problem streaming Roon/Tidal to other Meridian devices - MS200, ID41 & Explorer 2.
I’ve reported this to my dealer and waiting for a solution or the problem exists within the 218.
Very Interesting… please let me know if your dealer has a solution, Could you please confirm the device menu (playback) differs between the Explorer and the 218? Do you have any means of setting a buffer size for the 218?
Many thanks
I installed my 218 today, no issues with local MQA or streaming from Tidal, I have an 500Mbps fibre internet connection in my home. My best guess would be maybe you guys are using shitty ethernet switches in your networks ? I use a Ubiquiti Unifi Switch and even with my TV playing 4K IP-TV and the kids TV 1080p IP-TV at the same time the playback with the 218 is fine.
Hmmm… Thats’s possible but my colleague is on very slow connection speeds (3-5 Mb/sec) as he is in a rural location. He is using a Netgear switch. His 218 worked fine at my house but I have a >200Mb/s connection. What is confusing is that he can get flawless playback with an Explorer 2, using a large buffer size - which seems to be unavailable on the 218 setup in Roon. I also note that Foz gets flawless playback with his MS200, ID40 and Explorer 2 - but not with his 218 which would lead me to believe that the switch is not an issue.
The device menu doesn’t differ btw 218 & Explorer 2. I’m using Netgear switches. I’m going to borrow another switch to rule out if there is a problem with Netgear.
Stranger and stranger… I’ll see if I can get my friend to get screen captures of the menus. Can you set a buffer for your 218 - and does it make a difference?
Well…switches ain’t switches. Swapped out the Netgear for a TP Link switch and 218 is working perfectly. Liam, all I can suggest is having your mate do the same. I’m not sure how to set buffer on 218. If he can stream MQA to Explorer then I can’t see why he can’t stream MQA to 218.
An option might be to set IGMP snooping to on on the switch he uses (you need a manageable switch) . As Foz said, switches aint’t switches, there is a lot of crap
Foz - That’s good news - do you have a model number?
He can stream to the Explorer2 with a large buffer - but can’t set buffer size for the 218.
Foz, Rene - Thanks for the advice on switches. We’ll change the switch and then see where we stand.
Thanks so much for all your help, it is really appreciated!
The replacement switch is a TP-Link Model No. TL-SG108. I must have lucked out when selecting it. It’s plug and play but includes IGMP Snooping which I new nothing about until Rene mentioned it in earlier post.
