Meridian 210 Streamer

[MrUnderhill]

For the past year or so I have been very happily using the Linn Klimax Renew DS/1, some brief thoughts here:

But, I still want to bring my old Audionote DAC back into action. I had liked the dCS Network Bridge tremendously and have been waiting for a 2nd hand one to come up, but they have been like hen's teeth! I then saw Meridian had bought out a streamer and waited for some reviews, and came there none; so I decided to borrow one and listen for myself.

 

The 210 is hand made by Meridian in Cambridge and is a snip compared to the dCS at £800.

 

The Meridian is a utilitarian box with an RJ45 and USB input and it is a roon endpoint. In addition to the Meridian specific outputs it has a spdif out, which is limited to 9624, but then so is my Audionote DAC spdif input. There is a USB interface but I believe this is to connect a HDD, in which case the device also becomes a upnp server.

 

Initial setup is done by Bluetooth. It can then be streamed to via WiFi, LAN or Bluetooth; to achieve this you can pair the box with a Bluetooth device, such as your phone.

 

If you connect a LAN cable then the WiFi is disabled.

 

Two gotchas:

My old Xperia could load up the Meridian app but didn’t find the 210, my daughter’s newer android phone did; and

To use Kazoo I needed to set it up in Bubbleupnp.

 

I think the 210 is excellent. My observations here are comparing to my Linn Klimax DS/1 Renew, for which I have a healthy respect.

 

Trying to compare and contrast is interesting as, inevitably, this almost comes to a Linn DAC vs Audionote DAC. But, the 210 has to let the AN do its thing, and it certainly does!

 

I have been streaming files from my NAS & Qobuz, this maintains the advantage of the NAS over Qobuz when comparing the same master. In broad terms I would say the Linn excels at the frequency extremes, the AN is superb at the mid-range. For example:

 

Chris Botti, When I fall in love
I love this track through the AN. Via the Linn it is somewhat cooler. But the AN excels at wooden instruments, string or wind. There is also a delightful viceral soundfield, whereas the Linn feels a tad more remote.

 

Of course, where the AN scores in a major way is with vocals, for instance, Stacy Kent - Double Rainbow.

 

The Linn excels on other tracks, such as Ted Jansen, Don’t Do Anything. This track has superb cymbal work that I love …through the Linn. The AN not so much.

 

The 210 does a great job of taking 192/24 tracks on Qobuz & the NAS and pushing through 9624. With other streamers that don't do this the AN can throw a thrombie clattering away as it tries to fix on a sample rate. No issues so far, although Meridian did say this aspect is complex and so may not always work.

 

Overall the sound of the AN/210 is bigger. Of course this may well be in part due to Sound Optimisation. SO keeps a firm grip on the lower octaves, and as a result doesn’t crowd out detail high up the frequency range.

 

I am really enjoying this, and looking forward to testing it against the dCS! Hopefully this Thursday if my friend and I stay clear of 'The Symptoms'.

 

M

 

 

[Rexp]

Does it do gapless playback via its own app? Thanks! 

[MrUnderhill]

I am using Linn Kazoo, and yes it does gapless playback.

 

I just used the Meridian app to set up the box, as I have to grab my daughters phone!

 

M

[MrUnderhill]

The dCS comparison didn't occur for obvious reasons. That said, I am enjoying the Meridian 210 so much I have bought it.