[oceandream1]

hi i have a technical question about sample rates. when setting up the meridian explorer i was asked to select desired sample rate from
 
control panel >> hardware and sound >> sound >> double click meridian audio >> advanced option :

Here i have option from cd quality 16 bit (44.1 K) to highest tier of studio quality (24 bit 192 K). there are several tiers of studio quality. now which version is the correct version to use. i listen to music from youtube, spotify, mp3s and tidal hifi which is cd quality. so do i stick to cd quality or choose the highest studio quality and does it even make a difference? and do i need to change this if i somehow play higher quality?

 

[sheldaze]

  hi i have a technical question about sample rates. when setting up the meridian explorer i was asked to select desired sample rate from
 
control panel >> hardware and sound >> sound >> double click meridian audio >> advanced option :

Here i have option from cd quality 16 bit (44.1 K) to highest tier of studio quality (24 bit 192 K). there are several tiers of studio quality. now which version is the correct version to use. i listen to music from youtube, spotify, mp3s and tidal hifi which is cd quality. so do i stick to cd quality or choose the highest studio quality and does it even make a difference? and do i need to change this if i somehow play higher quality?

It makes a difference. You want to input 16 bit (44.1 K) because you don't want your computer to pre-process the music. Let the Explorer do all the work, and use its processor to best adjust the audio.
 
However because you're on Windows, you're on your own with how to use Foobar. Take a look in the Head-Fi Wiki for information on how to playback audio on Windows.

 

[oceandream1]

hey  man thanks a lot i will do that. also can you tell me about the usb power you were mentioning. i am in uk i am thinking of buying this:
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-4-Port-USB-3-0-Plug/dp/B00E0NH7DQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462060704&sr=8-1&keywords=AmazonBasics+4+Port+USB+3.0+Hub+with+5V%2F2.5A+power+adapter
 
its a 4 port usb 3.0 plug will this give me better sound. i think explorer is 2.0 so i should get 2.0 instead will this unit have all i need to connect my laptop to my headphones via the xplorer?

 

[sheldaze]

  hey  man thanks a lot i will do that. also can you tell me about the usb power you were mentioning. i am in uk i am thinking of buying this:
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-4-Port-USB-3-0-Plug/dp/B00E0NH7DQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462060704&sr=8-1&keywords=AmazonBasics+4+Port+USB+3.0+Hub+with+5V%2F2.5A+power+adapter
 
its a 4 port usb 3.0 plug will this give me better sound. i think explorer is 2.0 so i should get 2.0 instead will this unit have all i need to connect my laptop to my headphones via the xplorer?

Yes - that's that one! It's the same thing as I have, but with the UK plug.
 
Best to start with something small, in case it does not make a significant difference. In my case, I immediately heard differences between sending straight from my laptop and through the powered USB hub.
 
You're fine just getting the one you linked. It's mainly about the power.

 

[oceandream1]

ok thanks man i will try it. i am just trying to research how to get the best sound out of the explorer. so hope this helps. also i do feel i noticed some difference when selecting lower sample rate. however only the one light lights up in the explorer the one furthest away from the headphone jack. 
 
whereas before all 3 lights were lighting up. also is mqa like a future thing. can you get all music in mqa format as of now. or maybe things might come out in  a year or two. thanks

 

[sheldaze]

  ok thanks man i will try it. i am just trying to research how to get the best sound out of the explorer. so hope this helps. also i do feel i noticed some difference when selecting lower sample rate. however only the one light lights up in the explorer the one furthest away from the headphone jack. 
 
whereas before all 3 lights were lighting up. also is mqa like a future thing. can you get all music in mqa format as of now. or maybe things might come out in  a year or two. thanks

One light is correct.
You're right about that - MQA is not really available much today. But the future of MQA - who knows?

 

[oceandream1]

ok thank you

 

[g4747]

Hello fellow meridians.
I'm reposting from the lcd thread just in case you can shed some light into a problem I'm facing.
My portable chain is laptop - meridian explorer 2 - objective 2 amp - Audeze Lcd-2.
From which one should adjust the volume?
Foobar, laptop's volume (it's has common volume level with meridian as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.
Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

My reservation comes from the fact that I THINK that I hear noise  when I'm having everything maxed out and just adjusting the objective amp. On the other hand having the volume adjusted at 3/4 on my objective permanently, the foobar one at full volume and playing with the meridians (and also windows) volume corrects that.
I don't know if that makes any sense or it's just my ears.

I have set the sound quality of the meridian from its options to studio quality (24 bit 192 K). As I understand this is not correct, so it might be that. I will have time to check again with this change but do you have any idea why this might happen and what else should I try to change?
 
My best  files are flacs of 24 bits/ 44.1 kHz.

 

[yage]

 
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.

 
Are you using the line level output (with the circle / arrow symbol next to it) from the Explorer2 to your O2 amp?

 

[g4747]

Ehm....no, I'm using the headphone one.
Wrong one?

 

[sheldaze]

  Ehm....no, I'm using the headphone one.
Wrong one?

Need to use the output @yage said above:
 

In the picture above, it is the one without the headphone symbol - the one on the left.
 
It's not just that the volume will not be changed by your computer, the output impedance settings are optimized for output into an external amplifier. This is one of the benefits of the Explorer, having an output specifically adjusted for external amplification.

 

[g4747]

Thank you for your help, that must solve the problem, I will check in a few days when I'll have time to listen to some music again.
I had meridian explorer 1 and the one next to the headphone was useless to me so it never crossed to me to think that now that they changed it, I have to use that as a line in.

 

[Avatar86]

Please help me out here... (I’ve got an ME2)

 
1.    I get the impression that the sound becomes better with lower buffer size (I’m using JRiver), under 10 ms is to be recommended. Is this about right?
2.    This then requires quite a strong computer so the sound does not glitch. It is the CPU or Memory that determines how well the computer performs in this matter?

3.    (alternative question) – I listen to mainly to Dubstep, Glitch Hop and Beat Music. In my impression the native soundcard of the computer is “faster” then an USB DAC (it’s a “shorter” way for the sound via the internal soundcard?). This gives me the feeling that the tightness/ attack in the music comes more easily this way, then via and USB DAC. Might this be true? 

 

[oceandream1]

the me2 sucks man. i bought this a few days ago. for the asking price 200 pounds 300 dollars, you can get  half decent all in one hifi system in that price. i am going to be returning this. i am looking into ifi nano, hrt music streamer 3 and dragon fly red to see if they are any good. i have given it time to impress me but the music just sounds so dull/bland or sterile with this

 

[peterinvan]

  the me2 sucks man. i bought this a few days ago. for the asking price 200 pounds 300 dollars, you can get  half decent all in one hifi system in that price. i am going to be returning this. i am looking into ifi nano, hrt music streamer 3 and dragon fly red to see if they are any good. i have given it time to impress me but the music just sounds so dull/bland or sterile with this

You haven't told us what other equipment you are using, so hard to guess what the problem might be.