[plakat]

Considering the hassles involved together with loosing the nice outer shell of the explorer -- I think, I'll stay with my Leckerton
 
I suespect the battery won't solve all connection problems with the iPad as I got different error messages when connecting directly vs. connecting through a powered hub: the latter would have satisfied the Explorers demand for current but the iPad did not accept it nevertheless.

 

[crooner]

Got the replacement Meridian Explorer in the mail today, via UPS 3 day Select. Came in large bubble wrap envelope in a factory sealed box. Need to break it in a bit for the next couple days. I will try it in my main rig on Thursday.
 

 

[fatwok]

why are they releasing a new product with mini usb instead of micro usb?
 

 

[vikingboy]

First Ive heard of micro usb being used on an explorer!? Where did you hear/see this?

 

[mock-up]

----
thanks

 

[jhwalker]

Quote:

First Ive heard of micro usb being used on an explorer!? Where did you hear/see this?

I think he was just commenting on the trend toward micro USB in the portable industry, in general, not that the ME had switched; IOW, why are they still using mini instead of micro in this day and age?

 

[PhilW]

Firmware update and windows driver update now available for explorer users!
 
http://meridian-audio.com/en/collections/products/explorer-1000/4/support/
 

 

[wfranklin]

Just finished running the driver and firmware updates (PC, Win 7).  Smooth sailing, although you'll have to repeat the Sounds setup routine to get the configuration back if you're running hi-rez files.  I still haven't figured out why all lights are illuminated 100% of the time when 192/24 is selected, even if the source material is at a lower rez.

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Is the update for the new version or the old?  I should have the new one soon.

 

[Aerocraft67]

Quote:

I still haven't figured out why all lights are illuminated 100% of the time when 192/24 is selected, even if the source material is at a lower rez.

 
This is what I get when I set the Apple MIDI to 192 kHz and play from iTunes without using BitPerfect. When I use BitPerfect, Explorer emits the correct light signals for different resolutions. 

 

[jhwalker]

Quote:

 
This is what I get when I set the Apple MIDI to 192 kHz and play from iTunes without using BitPerfect. When I use BitPerfect, Explorer emits the correct light signals for different resolutions. 

That's correct - in OS X + iTunes, whatever is set in Audio MIDI is used 100% of the time, regardless of the source material; IOW, iTunes + OS X will resample all your music to whatever is set in Audio MIDI for output.

One of the purported advantages to some of the add-in players is to give the end user (via the add-in player) the option to set the sample rate to follow the source or resample to whatever rate you want, using whatever resampling options are provided via the player, etc. - i.e., bypassing the built-in OS X / Audio MIDI limitations.

 

[Aerocraft67]

Add-in players generate their own contribution to audio quality, but the main concern for me is just to get automatic output of the source's native sample rate, which is why I went with a basic player like BitPerfect. The Explorer instructions specify going into Audio MIDI to specify sample rate at initial set-up, but the add-on players take care of that automatically. Without an add-on player, using a fixed setting for a music file collection of uniform sample rate seems reasonable, but having the computer operating system resample to the highest common denominator in a collection containing different sample rates seems like an unfavorable step in delivering the bits to an outboard DAC. It's a bit confusing, but I guess you don't want to lard up the DAC set-up instructions with lots of contingencies. 

 

[GoSUV]

Quote from Meridian's website on what the firmware update does:
 
"Explorer Firmware v1349 offers a performance improvement for all operating systems – Macintosh, Linux and Windows. It improves control sensitivity at low volumes, and increases the maximum volume available from the Explorer, allowing increased signal levels when the Explorer is used with less sensitive headphones. The other outputs are not affected. The update also changes the way that the volume control is reported to the host computer, removing confusing channel controls and leaving only the master control."

 

[bobeau]

Just a FWIW, I updated my v2 ME with this and am not finding low volume sensitivity improved.  With my crazy sensitive 334s just 4-8 microclicks (1 or 2 full bars in OSX) can still get into too loud territory depending on the material.

 

[RonnieBr]

The low volume sensitivity change is working well for me with a V2 ME and Denon AH-D5000 headphones.  Before the update the max usable volume I could listen to was around 14 (out of 100) and now it's around 50.
 
After I did the update I disconnected/reconnected the ME and then used the update tool to scan the ME to check the version had been upgraded.