Meridian Audio 808I Manuale Utente

INTRODUCTION

The 808 Signature Reference CD Player takes Compact Disc playback to an 

entirely new level, with a heritage that includes the multiple award 

winning 508 and 800, and two dozen optical disc players from 1984 to the 

present day. The 808 is specifi cally designed as a CD-optimised machine, 

able to play virtually any CD, from conventional pressings to CD-R, CD-R/W, 

and discs of MP3 fi les (64–256kbps). It also plays the CD layer of an SACD 

disc. 

At the heart of the 808 are fully-integrated electronics and a computer-

style CD/DVD-ROM drive. The drive normally operates at standard CD 

speed, but is capable of much faster reading, using multiple high-speed 

re-reads to ensure accurate recovery of data from even the most diffi cult 

disc. This capability alone provides over ten times the error correction of a 

conventional CD player.

Once the digital data stream has been recovered from the disc, powerful 

on-board digital signal processing (DSP) with a capability of an impressive 

150 MIPS (million instructions per second) up-samples the digital 

information from the 16-bit, 44.1kHz signal of conventional CD to a 24-bit 

signal with a sample rate of 176.4kHz. This signal is fed to the latest DVD-

Audio quality delta-sigma digital to analogue converters to drive the 

analogue outputs, while a digital signal at an 88.2kHz sample rate is 

supplied to the digital outputs. Upsampling in this way enables fi ltering to 

take place far beyond the range of human hearing, as well as offering 

other audible benefi ts, right across the audio band, for ultimate 

transparency from a CD source. 

The 808 employs a triple buffering system to minimise jitter, and therefore 

maximise HF transparency and stereo image precision and stability. This, 

and the digital electronics as a whole, are driven by a new design of high-

stability clocking system which further reduces jitter and ensures that the 

highest level of detail is recovered from a disc. All digital data is accurately 

re-clocked.

Multiple power supplies ensure that digital and analogue circuitry are kept 

apart and can provide the required power when called upon to do so. 

The 808i version of the 808 Signature Reference CD Player includes a built-

in stereo preamplifi er with the ability to handle six stereo analogue inputs, 

three digital coaxial S/PDIF inputs, and two Toslink optical digital inputs, 

making it ideal as the heart of a superb stereo system.