News

Meridian introduces Sooloos 2.1 with music discovery, system-configuration, third-party control and interface features (28/1/2010)

Stand 5N78, ISE 2010

Meridian, Britain’s leading specialist manufacturer of high-end audio and video entertainment systems, introduces Meridian Sooloos 2.1. Offering a series of interface enhancements, the award winning Meridian Sooloos Digital Media System is now even easier to use and provides the user with yet more ways to organise their growing digital media collection. Meridian Sooloos 2.1 offers music discovery, system-configuration, third-party control and interface features.

Meridian’s commitment to continual development enables Sooloos 2.1 to build upon the recent updates of Sooloos 2.0, which removed practical limits on the size of a collection and completely changed how information is stored, organised and streamed. Sooloos 2.1 develops these advances with an improved Crestron experience, a dedicated iPhone application, continued interface enhancements, streamlined system configuration options, and zone-link synchronization. In addition, the integration of Internet Radio brings exciting possibilities to improve the user’s experience.

“We dedicated the necessary resources to build upon the superior Sooloos platform, to make the ultimate user experience even better,” Bob Stuart, Meridian’s Chairman and Chief Technical Officer. “Staying true to the brand, it was crucial to incorporate Meridian ingenuity with the Sooloos product offering. While Internet Radio seemed obvious, we needed to ensure the supporting system would maximise the opportunity this feature brings. And in the future, we will continue to refine the platform as new features emerge.”

Crestron Module

The Meridian Sooloos Crestron module builds upon existing capabilities by delivering a faster, more robust protocol. The Crestron update offers improved programmer experiences, including support and distribution by Crestron, allowing programmers to integrate Meridian Sooloos with ease.

Ensemble upgrades

A major software upgrade for the Meridian Sooloos Ensemble means it is no longer limited in its expansion and backup options. It can be configured with its internal drive active and for manual backup, or it can address Meridian Sooloos TwinStores, enabling automatic backup and unlimited expansion. This upgrade streamlines the Meridian Sooloos product line, allowing the Ensemble to serve as a cornerstone in tailored systems that meet many customers’ needs - whole-home listeners, music fans that want the ultimate experience from their music, enthusiasts with huge collections and audiophiles looking for pristine performance. Current Ensemble owners will also be able to take advantage of these upgrades.

Synchronised Zone Linking

Meridian Sooloos Synchronised Zone Linking enables synchronised multi-room audio over a user’s network. Zone Linking Synchronisation between devices enables the creation of networked audio systems over Ethernet, even with multiple Control 10s, without using a complicated audio distribution system to link audio in different rooms.

iPhone Application

The Meridian Sooloos iPhone application gives handheld wireless control of the system from anywhere in the home; users simply need to download the Meridian Sooloos iPhone application from the Apple store and install it on their iPhone or iPod touch.

Interface enhancements

New interface enhancements continue Meridian’s commitment to provide an industry-leading user experience. The Enhanced Browsing mode creates a cleaner, more elegant approach to browsing and displaying the library. New sorting features can organise a user’s view of their collection according to how often they listen to albums, as well as sorting by audio quality.

Internet Radio

Internet Radio on Meridian Sooloos makes discovering the world of music on the internet more manageable. By “curating” the station offering, Meridian Sooloos Internet Radio offers customers the ability to easily explore the enormous opportunities of internet radio.

Meridian Sooloos creates a centralised, shared source of music for everyone in the home with an architecture that takes away the worry and hassle of backup, organisation and access for the entire family. Meridian’s continued effort to evolve and refine the Sooloos interface is simply unrivalled; no other consumer electronics company devotes the ongoing attention and effort to improving the user experience.

Meridian Sooloos 2.1 will be available as a free upgrade to current Meridian Sooloos owners. An entry system with a Control 10 Touchscreen and Ensemble is available for a suggested retail price of £7,000.

www.meridian-audio.com