Having switched to Roon (and liking it), I asked Meridian support about how to update my ID40 in the future if I would do away with my mc200 (kind of a waste to keep it just for firmware updates).
Message to Meridian:
“I’ve jumped on the Roon bandwagon, allowing me to access my library across multiple systems and enjoying a great UI.
However, still very very content with my 861v6 and ID40 as well as my G68.
I am looking to part with my mc200, converting it to extra Meridian end points in the house.
It would mean that i would no longer have a Meridian core. Would that mean I can no longer do updates on my Meridian end points?
It seems a little overkill to maintain a mc200 purely for the sake of upgrades.
Thanks for the insights in advance.”
The answer I got was:
“A Sooloos system requires a ‘Core’ product in the system to be able to operate and not just for upgrades. Without one of these in place, the system just will not work, so for now it would be best to leave the MC200 connected if you still wish to use Sooloos.”
Curious whether there are any insights Roon can share on this…
I presented this same question to the highest authority at Meridian just two days ago, but about the MS200, not the ID40.
I was greeted with this positive answer:
I agree that we didn’t anticipate broker-less systems but I expect a small mod to the Sooloos Manager utility can deal with that.
No one could have imagined this situation when the system was originally designed, so props to them for having a plan and desire to fix it. I don’t know when it will get released, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Hurray! I’ve been broker-less for a few weeks now – and it feels perfectly fine.
I may have stepped out of Sooloos, but that does not mean I love my Meridian endpoints any less – sound quality and ease of use with Roon integration are equally excellent. Knowing future firmware updates will be possible does offer some peace of mind though.
I got the formal, current state, Meridian support answer, which is correct at this moment.
Totally agree that the meridian streaming architecture did not envision this at the start, so awesome to hear that there is light at the end of the tunnel, with all the small print caveats that go with that. Goes to show again how awesome all this stuff is.
Just wanted to share some great insights shared by Meridian Support guru Des in an email conversation (with permission):
"As you’ve correctly identified, there is scope to load firmware via the Maintenance port and, as you’d expect, the advent of Roon has prompted us to consider this as an option. Nothing to report as yet, but as you may know, you’re not alone in your request!
In the meantime, I can tell you that we will soon have an update method which does not require the presence of a Sooloos product. We will be introducing support for QNAP to run Sooloos core. This will feature the
ability to update end-points. I appreciate that this would involve a fair bit of IT reconfiguration to carry out the update (and you need to have a QNAP!), but at least it offers the option of updating without a Sooloos product in the system."
The latest version of the Meridian Sooloos Configuration program (V28) now allows updating of Meridian endpoints without a Sooloos Core in the system. I have a MS200 and upon launching the config program it auto-updated from build 163 to build 164 - I have no Sooloos core.