[mordicai]

Wow, if thats true it,s a bad start for Meridian. Ive downloaded 2L MQA albums; Ordered a mini to rca adapter from Bluejeans; and just placed an order for an Explorer 2. When I read your post that my ability to use this stuff  is months away, I'm pretty angry. I've been conned and mislead by Meridian. What a dumb way to introduce this technology, by misinforming your customers.  It would be nice if Meridian cared enough about their customers to monitor this web site and respond to this

 

[AitchKay]

I bought mine almost a year ago and have been waiting to hear this magical MQA stuff, another couple of months won't kill me. On the up side I have had an absolutely brilliant DAC to play with ( just a shame it needs more power than my poor ol' HTC M8 can give it ). MQA or no MQA it has earned a place in my living room system purely on the quality of its sound with currently available formats - the power issue as a portable device is a bit of a disappointment tho and I'm not one for carrying a man-bag full of cables, batteries, phone etc so will prob pick-up a HA-2 for out-and-about.
I must admit to being a bit narked when I downloaded an MQA file and found ( as others ) that things didn't go smoothly - hence the call to Meridian. I understand your view entirely - maybe an email to Meridian might help "focus" their attention on the required update aye - It'll all work out in the end.

 

[LeeInLeith]

I purchased the Explorer2 as soon as I saw that 2L was selling MQA tracks. I bought one album in MQA format and was eager to hear this revolution in sound. Like others I have experienced the "no green or blue light" on the Explorer2 and this morning in a telephone conversation with Meridian was indeed informed that since they have devolved MQA into a separate company, Meridian is now in the same position as other companies and needs to implement a security key to enable MQA authentication. I was told they hoped it to take a matter of weeks before the firmware was going to be available. This seems to be a long time to me, considering that I was also told the keys were provided to Meridian at Christmas time. They are, in fact, the company that developed MQA and should, you would think, be prepared to implement the technology without any delay. I also pointed out that their own website still advertises the Explorer2 with "This product is MQA-ready" written at the the top of the description of the Explorer2. Clearly it is not. I was told they were in discussion about what to do about that. Luckily, I have purchased this through Amazon and they have a one month return policy, so I'm going to hang on the the Explorer2 for a couple weeks to see if Meridian can get their act together. 

 

[mordicai]

I wrote directly to 2L  and expressed my bit of displeasure at 2L and Meridian for falsely claiming that the Explorer was ready to go for MQA. I have many 2L albums and think 2L is by far the best engineered stuff around. Morton got back to me, which I thought was very kind and said he is trying to get an answer.I have no problem waiting for how ever long it talks. I do however have a big problem with being lied to about MQA availability. What an incredibly stupid way to introduce a new product!

 

[mordicai]

What I don't need is another Dac. What I need, and want  I thought I bought is an  MQA decoder. I also bought music files that I can't play, Its quite a mess now. It would seem there are forces at play preventing the release of this technology. I can't really see myself spending $ 25.00 again on a non MQA album. An ominous silence from MQA and Meridian ???

 

[mordicai]

FYI..... Ive been told at least two more weeks

 

[Winterwolf]

Here is the mail I got from 2L:
 
"Hi WW! Your Meridian would need a firmware update for the MQA to light up on the Explorer. "
 
- I hope you are right with two weeks....
 
--WW

 

[Winterwolf]

...and now from Meridian Product support:
 
Hello WW:
 
We’re busy working on it. We have recently be given the full release of the MQA decoding libraries. Our Engineering team is currently working on integrating these libraries into our software for testing in advance of full production release in the coming months.
 
As you can imagine, we are keen to provide customers in your position access to the MQA tracks which are now appearing. We’ll keep this enquiry on record so we can inform of relevant developments.
 
Regards,

 

[AitchKay]

"in advance of full production release in the coming months."     Ooooer, looks like another couple of months wait then. I must admit that I was more than a little ...... well lets just politely say very very cross when I received the following condescending piece of "fob me off like an idiot" :
 
 
Thanks for taking the time to get in touch with us.
 
We hope that you have been enjoying your Explorer 2, it gives a great insight into the music, we are proud of its very high level of performance on all content.
 
The hardware in our Explorer 2 is indeed MQA ready and will be able to decode the full production released MQA files.
 
MQA have recently released the full production libraries to its licensees (one of which being Meridian) which allows us to create a free of charge firmware update that will allow you to enjoy these files on your Explorer 2.
 
The wording ‘ready’ is used by many manufacturers when talking about an as yet unavailable format, to inform their customers that the product will support the future format. Remember the ‘HD Ready’ logo on HD televisions that were available before any HD video content became available? It is the same with 4K televisions, many of which will require a firmware update when Sky Television and 4k Blu Ray content become available
 
Until the final specification of MQA was locked down, it has been impossible for any manufacturer to offer this firmware update, as it was dependant on receiving the MQA libraries so that the code could be written. Rest assured, the Explorer 2 is fully MQA ready, there will be details available of the firmware update as soon as the firmware has been fully tested and released by our engineering team.
 
We hope that this helps to answer your questions, if there is anything else we can assist with please let us know.
 
Kind regards,
 
Barry Sheldrick
Director of Sales
Meridian Audio Ltd

 

[peterinvan]

"in advance of full production release in the coming months."     Ooooer, looks like another couple of months wait then. I must admit that I was more than a little ...... well lets just politely say very very cross when I received the following condescending piece of "fob me off like an idiot" :


[COLOR=1F497D]Thanks for taking the time to get in touch with us.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]We hope that you have been enjoying your Explorer 2, it gives a great insight into the music, we are proud of its very high level of performance on all content.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]The hardware in our Explorer 2 is indeed MQA ready and will be able to decode the full production released MQA files.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]MQA have recently released the full production libraries to its licensees (one of which being Meridian) which allows us to create a free of charge firmware update that will allow you to enjoy these files on your Explorer 2.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]The wording ‘ready’ is used by many manufacturers when talking about an as yet unavailable format, to inform their customers that the product will support the future format. Remember the ‘HD Ready’ logo on HD televisions that were available before any HD video content became available? It is the same with 4K televisions, many of which will require a firmware update when Sky Television and 4k Blu Ray content become available[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]Until the final specification of MQA was locked down, it has been impossible for any manufacturer to offer this firmware update, as it was dependant on receiving the MQA libraries so that the code could be written. Rest assured, the Explorer 2 is fully MQA ready, there will be details available of the firmware update as soon as the firmware has been fully tested and released by our engineering team.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]We hope that this helps to answer your questions, if there is anything else we can assist with please let us know.[/color]


[COLOR=1F497D] [/color]


[COLOR=1F497D]Kind regards,[/color]


 


Barry Sheldrick

Director of Sales

Meridian Audio Ltd

If Meridian has a working MQA decoder for these demos, why all the talk of "only recently receiving the necessary software" to update the firmware in the Explorer2 and other DACs?

Anyone else curious why it is taking so long?

Are the other players in the game holding up the release?

E.G. other DAC manufacturers wanting to play level with MQA capable release dates, record lables still reluctant to hand over master tapes?

 

[LeeInLeith]

It does smell of something fishy. A week or two max would make some sense, but months to implement software that just gives enabling permission to hardware that is still being advertised as "READY," does sound like they are not really being very forthcoming with the truth. It sounds like something else is holding this up, especially since it's over a year since this technology was demonstrated at CES 2015.  I bought this specifically for the MQA as I already have two other DACs that do, in fact, sound better with standard Redbook files. MQA really better sound A LOT better, or Meridian will have a lot of egg on its face.

 

[mordicai]

Ive cancelled by Explorer 2 order. If the first thing a company does with a product release is run a con on prospective buyers, they lost me.  What is it about Sales Product Managers that their mother never taught them to tell the truth? I'm sure there will be lots of hardware released with MQA aboard, but I won't be buying Meridian.

 

[Click]

 
Ive cancelled by Explorer 2 order. If the first thing a company does with a product release is run a con on prospective buyers, they lost me.  What is it about Sales Product Managers that their mother never taught them to tell the truth? I'm sure there will be lots of hardware released with MQA aboard, but I won't be buying Meridian.

LOL what? First off, how is Meridian Explorer² a con? Everyone knew that MQA is a brand new technology and wasn't ready yet. It will be ready soon, by this year, and will be available for Explorer². If you're not patient enough for MQA's release, that's your own fault.
 
Secondly, Explorer² is a great portable DAC and amp. I bought it mainly for the small form factor and the quality of the DAC. MQA is just icing on the cake. 
 
Some of you people are really dramatic and getting up in arms about a non-issue. Go out and buy another MQA DAC right now if you're mad that Meridian² doesn't have the drivers for it yet... oh wait, you can't.

 

[yangian]

  LOL what? First off, how is Meridian Explorer² a con? Everyone knew that MQA is a brand new technology and wasn't ready yet. It will be ready soon, by this year, and will be available for Explorer². If you're not patient enough for MQA's release, that's your own fault.
 
Secondly, Explorer² is a great portable DAC and amp. I bought it mainly for the small form factor and the quality of the DAC. MQA is just icing on the cake. 
 
Some of you people are really dramatic and getting up in arms about a non-issue. Go out and buy another MQA DAC right now if you're mad that Meridian² doesn't have the drivers for it yet... oh wait, you can't.

Well said

 

[mordicai]

I bought  MQA albums, ordered cables and order an explorer2 becasure I read on their web site that the Explorer 2 was MQA Ready. When I found out that was not true I felt like I had been conned so that Meridian could have a big day at CES. Sorry your so upset that I don't see things your way.