High end cdp with Meridian equip

The 568 does not have any analog pre-amp capabilities. It digitizes all of the analog inputs. Therefore, a high end CD player (via its analog outputs) would be a waste with a Meridian 568. The 568 only supports single ended analog inputs anyway.

On the flip side, the 568 is a pretty decent DAC. Feeding the 568 with a good digital signal, either via SPDIF, or via proprietary Meridian Link, is the way to go.

It's not really possible to make direct comparisons between the 568 and the 861. They are different architectures, at different price points, with different functional capabilities. They are both excellent performers.

I cannot describe the technical reasons why different cdp sound different ,but they do.I have meridian 861 and I find HUGE differences.I connect both my redbook player(reimyo 777) and sacd player(accuphase85) to the Analogue inputs and use the trifield mode for multichannel playback. The reimyo sounds better for redbook than the meridian 800. When I use the sonyxa9000es in multichannel input which is not compatible with trifield the sound is mediocre,when I input the two channel sony into the digital inputs of the 861 the sound is definitly not good as the other cd players.