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Meridian 880 Reference Music Server features MLP
providing exquisite imaging, detail and depth. Meridian's 800 Series has
Meridian Lossless Packing is to be used in the 880 Reference Music
Server, one of the recent announcements by Cambridge-based Meridian
Audio. MLP is the los s-less compression technology used by DVD-Audio,
but its flexibility allows any audio source to be stored in compressed
form with out compromise, unlik e MP3 , the standard los sy f ormat used
by the ma jority of musi c servers.
The 880 will not be for the financially faint of heart, Meridian have
suggested the retail price will be somewhere between $17,000 and
$20,000 when the product makes its debut in January 2003.
The following is the preliminary data supplied by Meridian, but all
specifications and features remain subject to change.
Meridian 800 Series
Meridian’s 800 Series is the benchmark reference by which the highest
quality disc playback is judged. The 800 CD/DVD player has tak en the
highest honours for its Class A+ playback of CD, DVD and DVD-Audio. It
is no accident that Meridian’s 800 is often found in studios where
superior discs originate. Generally regarded as the ultimate system for
music listening, the 800 Ser ies uses advanced digital-audio techniques
to extract every last nuance from the disc. Features like multiple FIFO
buffering and upsampling reduce jitter to vanishingly low levels,
a card-based architecture: each machine can be individually specified to
match your system and cards can be changed to keep each system at
the leading edge as technology advances.
Meridian 880 Reference Music Server
First, i magine owning a CD player th at provides the finest attainable
sound qu ali ty… Now imagin e that this play e r c ould store you r en tire
music collection at this perfect sound quality. Interested? Now, imagine
instant access to any song, any album, or to a genre or one of many
play-lists at the touch of a button. Imagine a searchable database that
catalogues your collection automatically; no more searching through
piles of discs for that particular performance! Every music lover can
grasp how wonderful this possibility would be, but when combined with
Meridian’s legen da ry sound quali ty the prospect is truly compelling.
Finally, imagine that this player could play up to four different songs
simultaneously and send the music to separate rooms.... Meridian’s 880
Reference Music Server does all this and more!
Inside the Meridian 880
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Meridian’s 800 Series architecture bridges the worlds of computers and
back, the Meridian 880 uses classic 800 Series techniques to provide the
scales the audio
The primary source for music stored in the 880 Music Server will be CDs
much gre a te r ( up to 4,000 hours) . You can opt t o store s ome albums,
high-quality audio. The 880 exploits this through the addition of three
hard drives and specialized processing hardware and software.
A select ed high-quality CD-ROM reader is use d to copy tracks from your
CDs to the h ard drives. Providing the Music Server is c onnected to a
suitable network, detailed information such as album, artist and track
names are automatically fetched from Internet databases. Each CD
album (or individual songs) can then be accessed by name, genre,
artis t , or adde d to one of many cus tom play-lists.
Importantly, the copy which is made of the CD is bit-for-bit accurate; a
100% precise copy of the digital data archived in the 880. When playing
very be st sound; no fewe r th a n 4 FIF O buffers smooth out all possible
jitter, w hi l e proprieta ry resolution -enhancement DSP upto 88.2kHz/24bits. Audio comes out on one or more of the standa rd 800
Serie s out p ut cards. Each ca rd has two or four in dependent outputs and
you can spe cify output s to sui t each of four zones a s digital or analogue,
balanced or unbalance d.
MLP: the Magic Ingredient
Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) was developed by us to be the ‘gold
standard’ for lossless compression of audio. Put simply, MLP compresses
music data files so that they use less space on a disc. MLP provides
significant robustness for the audio it stores and is unique in provi din g a
real-time bit-for-bit check as the audio is played back. MLP is so good
that it was selected as the mandatory lossless compression standard for
the DVD-Audio format.
The Meridian 880 Music Server includes an MLP encoder and four
decoders. By using MLP we increase the storage capacity of the Music
Server to around 750 hours at maximum, legendary sound quality.
Music Server
from you r c ollection. Th e g oal i s to significa n tl y add value to y our music
libra ry by p roviding simpler and improve d a c cess to the cont ent. 880
can also s t ore any other au dio fed to one of its stereo inputs. The
standard chassis provides digital inputs. Optionally you can fit analogue
inputs and even a phono card for turntabl es. So, if you wish , th e 880
can be used to archive radio broadcasts, LP records or even precious
78s! The 880 als o offers MP3 los sy c ompre ss ion. Obviously with lossy
compression the sound quality is lower, but the capacity of the Server is
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songs or radio broadcasts in MP3 whilst maintaining the maximum
alone system. An ideal combination
interfaces allow music selection by
qualit y of MLP for the bulk of s t ored audio. Wi th a ne twork conne ction to
a PC, you c an mov e M P3 files or downl oads to the Music Server. The
same connection can be used to manage the server and to backup its
content.
System possibilities
The Meridian 880 can be used to feed up to four independent systems
using analogue or digital connections. It can also be combined with
other com ponents as part of a standwoul d include a Meridian 800 (to play back DVD and DVD-Audio) and an
861 to provide surround capability. Alternatively any zone can use a
preamplifier or surrou nd control l er or simply a pair of Meridian DSP
Loudspeakers.
User Interface Options
The Meridian 880 provides a number of interface choices. It can be
operated from the front panel or with a Meri dian System Re mote
(provided). In this mode the 880 behaves just like a CD player except it
displays additional information such as song name on the front display.
A more advanced graphic interface is also available if you connect either
an SVGA display (e .g. a fl at-pa nel monitor) or a TV s creen. Optional
software is available for Palm-based PDAs. These devices can
synchronise with the 880 and provide hand-held access to the database
and cont rol of the server. All th e useralbum, artist, genre or individual play-list. In addition the 880 is also
compatible with a number of leading multi-room controllers using XiVALink protocol over RS2 32.
Product Highlights
• Bit-accurate Meridian Lossless Packing data format delivers music-
server speed, power, and convenience with Meridian sonic
excellence.
• Pro-grade CD-ROM-reader for disc archiving; CD playback.
• Meridian Reference Series 800 digital-audio quality with
proprietary multiple “FIFO” buf fers, up-sampling 88.2/24-bit data
format.
• Interf a ce with Meridi a n pre a mp or controller, or drive Me ridian
DSP speakers directly.
• Multiple-output (analogue and/or digital) op tions can se rve music
to up to four rooms/zones simultane ou sly.
• Card-based architecture empowers individual configuring and
prevents any possibility of obsolescence.
•
3 HDD’s yield 750 hours full-quality MLP playback w/ instant
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access, and full searchability and virtually limitless play-list
Automatic internet retrieval of artist, album, track data w/ flexible
options.
•
stored-database sortin g, access features.
• Analogue inputs (a phono input card is optional) for arc hiving any
audio sources.
• Includes Meridian System Remote tabletop wireless controller;
advanced on-screen command available with SVGA or videooutput monitor connected.
• Optional software available to enable Palm PDA, Philips Pronto to
function as hand -held controller/database-access device.
• Full control, media-system integra tion via RS-232.
• Ethernet connection for network/database access.
Taken from High Fidelity Review.com
09/10/02
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