Meridian Sooloos or Qsonix? which is better?


I am in the hunt for an Audiophile level music server.

Today, i finally had a chance to view both of these systems.
Both of them have features that i like.
i will be connecting the server thru my dCS Scarlatti DAC.

since I running the server thru the Scarlatti DAC,is the quality more or less the same with either of these systems?

thanks for your input.

jon_p
I haven't heard either server but both have gotten good reviews and there are some threads on Audiogon about them that you can search for. Both servers are most noteworthy for their display software, I think.

There is a dealer here on Audiogon, Sound Science, who sells servers called Music Vaults. They would be worth checking out also. I think he'd be happy to discuss his products in comparison with those you've already seen. He puts his phone # in his ads.
IMHO the Sooloos has the best interface. I have not found anything that comes close. If I had to rate them I would go Sooloos first and the Qsonix second. To me what makes the Sooloos is the ability to cross reference music. It really is going to come down to which GUI you like better. You can't go wrong with either. Believe me I wish I owned either of them!
I have seen the Sooloos demo'ed but have only played with it in the store. I previously had an Arcam FMJ server which was great in its day but not particularly user friendly. Once Arcam discontinued the model there was no support available when I had issues but still good for the price. I have had a Qsonix system for about 4 months now and love it. I run it through a Moon DAC. Have the 1.5 TB HD and 19" touch screen. The touch screen and the interface make it so easy to listen to all the CD's you have had for years and forgotten about. You can select by Cover art, artist, album and many others including year, decade and composer. You can make playlists based on current songs, moods, time of year, driving and hundreds of other combos. Can save playlists and transfer them to an Ipod or burn CD's. Can run it remotely from your listening chair with an Ipod touch or IPad. Gives you album reviews. I have mine hooked up to my home network so can also run it from any computer in the house. It is always connected to the internet so whenever there is a software update, it is automatically downloaded to your unit, no matter when you purchased it. There is no yearly maintenance fee for this. Have contacted support a couple of times with minor questions and had excellent service. Its not perfect but very close to it. Highly recommended. If Sooloos is better than this and it better be to justify the price differential, it must be great.
I have some experience with both; but own the new version of Qsonix. I like the Qsonix; and find the user interface to be simply incredible; very easy my wife can use it; the software updates are great and solve some of the issues with meta tagging of the data, and album art covers. The new sound board from Wadia is a big step up from earlier model. It sounds best with balanced digital cable into dac. It can create its own play lists, and has many similiar features to the sooloos. The advantage I think of the Sooloos is its fixed raid hard drive; which does not need a fan; and is a bit quieter...but you need a mirror raid backup hard drive. I bought a WD portable back up hard drive for 1.5TB for $99; and I'm good to go. I find the quality of my HDtracks hi res downloads to be simply fantastic; both at 24/96 and 24/192. I found Meridian gear to work best in an all Meridian system; but hated how difficult it was to access control changes via computer, and base managment was very cumbersome. When I switched to a non complete Meridian system; the benefits seemed to disapper...
just my two cents; both good, with the external dac you have, I think you'll be happy with the Qsonix...they just dont advertise as much as Meridian, but they are quality company with outstanding customer support and reliability.
Good luck with your choice.