[Gadget]

No joy from Meridian as yet but still happy to have this at the showroom in Oxford.
I have PureGT guys over as well 3 of them MP4-12C customers so happy to do Monaco and Silverstone

[hei819]

thanks guys . ! i'm giving up about the sound system ! no matter how I try to set up with my iTune and setting on the system , the sound quality still bad compare to most of car sound system!

[bruce]

Originally Posted by hei819

thanks guys . ! i'm giving up about the sound system ! no matter how I try to set up with my iTune and setting on the system , the sound quality still bad compare to most of car sound system!

I think sound system is poor. I have an Evoque with Meridian though and it's great

[notascooby]

Hi All,
My first posting so forgive any waffling.

Just got my 12C, all stealthy black and am loving the car but noted the Meridian was initially disappointing. I have investigated this with the help of Alastair in London and a local Meridian showroom he recommended, Lounge Lizards in Kings Road.

Between them they explained what some of you already have found out!
IT's THE SOURCE NOT THE SPEAKERS!

Ipod's compress the music soooo darn much to get more on them that it is only a tenth of what is really downloaded or rip'd from your CD. Windows Media player on my laptop have set the system to rip at full rate and then tried the same two songs in the car from a big capacity but portable hard drive. The first was ipod capacity, then the full rate from CD. The difference is staggering and the Meridian actually sounds like you would imagine - Awesome

Helps alot to also tweak the Meridian equaliser to higher on the bass (+9), lower on the treble (-7/8) and a lot of rear biase (-7) so that it really does have a perfect surround sound.

Pretty sure that McLaren will sort out the internal Doris harddrive so when that comes we can all download uncompressed music and get the best out of the dear 'ol bird.....

I am now going to for a blast whilst deafining myself with the volume set to 90!!!

Hope this helps with any who are having any similar concerns.

[gallardo62]

dorris will be ready for june
last news...

[Moncho]

June 2012??? We should be more specific, at this rate. At least I got my 30% discount!

[trax]

I think the sound quality from the iPod is good

My only issue is that I think the FM reception could be a lot better

[zippycar]

Originally Posted by notascooby

Ipod's compress the music soooo darn much to get more on them that it is only a tenth of what is really downloaded or rip'd from your CD.

It is not the Ipod that compresses the music, its how its ripped from the original source.

If you use Apple Lossless then it will be, near as dammit, identical to original.

All my recordings are ripped this was and I have to say, the Meridian system is underwhelming, to say the least.

[zippycar]

Originally Posted by notascooby

Helps alot to also tweak the Meridian equaliser to higher on the bass (+9), lower on the treble (-7/8) and a lot of rear biase (-7) so that it really does have a perfect surround sound.

This certainly helps a little, particularly the rear bias, but I have found that this differs from track to track. On one it needed 8 rear bias, the next only 3. Not very good if you have to set the system up for each track, particularly when its the driving you want to concentrate on.

Hopefully there will be tweaks to the system, as I am sure it is software, rather than the hardware that needs a good kick up the preverbial.

[AugustWest]

So - am I the only one who listens with the volume set at 90+!?

...you can't do +8 bass up there! ...you have to keep it pretty flat (OK - totally flat - or even -1/2/3 on the bass end). But it's pretty killer at the same time.

[trax]

Originally Posted by zippycar

It is not the Ipod that compresses the music, its how its ripped from the original source.

If you use Apple Lossless then it will be, near as dammit, identical to original.

All my recordings are ripped this was and I have to say, the Meridian system is underwhelming, to say the least.

Cant you avoid this problem by using iTunes Match to get a better quality rip?

[6th element]

Originally Posted by trax

Cant you avoid this problem by using iTunes Match to get a better quality rip?

I'm setting up iTunes Match right now to give this a try the next time I am in the car. Apple's documentation says the files will play back at 256-Kbps AAC (still a lossy format, as I understand), regardless of the format of your original song file. However, it will stream over your cellular 3G connection while you are on the move, so I am skeptical to say the least! Will report back.

I did an experiment using an SD card connected via USB, with some electronic songs that I made myself in Ableton Live, since I could control the format (fully uncompressed .WAV, avg file size 70-100Mb). The sound of the Meridian was impeccable in that scenario. So, yes, my conclusion thus far is that the system does not handle compression well, at all. Sadly, that is not much use in this iPod age - perhaps they need some sort of expander feature that will flesh out a lossy format to simulate a richer sound. Not sure how it is done in other systems, but must be some sort of oversight in the head unit design.

The reception of the radio antenna is a different issue altogether. Not sure how this can be fixed, as it is integrated into the windshield??

[6th element]

Okay, the iTunes match had some limited success. The problem is that the head unit (over USB) doesn't recognize any of your songs in iCloud, unless they are already downloaded to your iPod/iPhone. If you have already downloaded the song from iCloud, you will get the relatively high quality AAC format, which sounds decent but far from excellent on the Meridian. I guess one way around it would be to plug in the audio cable line in, instead of using the iPhone USB cable, then you could download any of the iCloud tracks while on the move. Sound quality would probably not improve, however. At first try, I couldn't get the head unit to recognize the line in, so not sure if that is even functional yet? Has anybody else managed to use the line in (i.e. the input underneath the USB input in the center armrest console) and get sound?

Tomorrow I am going to try various .WAV file formats that I converted from CD and see if they will play from my iPhone and also an SD card over USB. Bit of a pain in the ass, all this fiddling, but hopefully I can find a relatively easy solution for you guys to get some nice audio while you wait for the DORIS upgrade!

[Chrisb]

All these issues are ridiculous, this is a 21st century car with all the latest technology that doesn't work in the real world that we all live in.

Most of us have iPods, but it appears that we are going to need a degree in electronics to get the system to work at a level that other cars can deliver. The cost of this so called essential option just doesn't make sense and we all need sat nav but at £5k I could hire a guide !!!!!

If modern technology didn't work, I guess on old fashioned cd auto changer is out of e question due to weight considerations........

[6th element]

Originally Posted by Chrisb

All these issues are ridiculous, this is a 21st century car with all the latest technology that doesn't work in the real world that we all live in.

Most of us have iPods, but it appears that we are going to need a degree in electronics to get the system to work at a level that other cars can deliver. The cost of this so called essential option just doesn't make sense and we all need sat nav but at £5k I could hire a guide !!!!!

If modern technology didn't work, I guess on old fashioned cd auto changer is out of e question due to weight considerations........

To be clear Chris, I am trying to troubleshoot and come up with a reasonable solution in the interim only. My dealer says the sound quality will be addressed along with IRIS. If so I fully expect a great sounding system that is also plug and play. If not I will be making some demands from my dealer.