Compare Avid Express DV to Avid Express w/ Meridian Box

[Dennis Kutchera]

The Meridien is never faster than the Meridien no matter what computer you use. But the last releases of Meridien Xpress actually ran extremely slow. The software had serious issues and fixing it was not a priority for Avid. I sent my upgrade back and gave my Meridien away to charity. I replaced it with XpressPro and Mojo. XpressPro will be faster with faster CPUs. Quality is the same or better.

Best Regards,

Dennis Kutchera
Avid COW

[John Watts]

Be aware, however, that Mojo does not support SDI or Component.
Xpress Pro runs nicely and with added SCSI drives I believe you can get 1:1, or so I understand. The only digital I/O is firewire.

[Bob Donlon]

Mojo does, in fact, support Component I/O, you just need to get Avid’s $75 breakout cable, or build your own.

Bob Donlon
Creative COW Avid Editing Forum Host
Bleecker Street Productions, NYC
https://www.bstreetproductions.com
Check out my new book “Avid Xpress Pro and DV On The Spot” at https://www.cmpbooks.com/product/1143

[Chris Holland]

Thanks for the responses.

I has some other specific questions:

1. Are there any effects, features that are missing from Avid Express DV to Avid Express Meridian?

2. Where do you store video files? Are the files still OMF files or are they avi files?

—I ask because I remember on the Avid Express w/ Meridian Board we had Avid Drives that were all OMF files.

Is it better to go with the Avid Express DV or The Avid Express Pro. Has anyoen who has used them feel one is better than the other.

Thanks again.

[Oakmozart]

Xpress DV is a joke. If you plan to edit professionally (which I’m sure you are), I’d go with Xpress Pro and Mojo.

All Avid systems use OMF media files natively. Don’t waste your time with AVI in Avid because it can get to be a headache.

The feature set between Xpress Pro and Xpress Meridien is actually pretty much the same. Xpress Meridien 6 had Timewarp/Fluidmotion effects, while Xpress Pro only has Timewarp templates that cannot be manipulated. I would expect full-Timewarp/Fluidmotion in Xpress Pro in an upcoming release, but that’s speculation.

Avid doesn’t appear to sell the Xpress Meridien system anymore, since they no longer advertise it on their webpage. In all seriousness, I’d probably just go with Xpress Pro Powerpack + Mojo, or get Xpress Studio HD. Then again, with the price you would likely have spent on a new Xpress Meridien, you’d probably be getting close to the ballpark price of a new Adrenaline. You might look into that as well.

[Chris Holland]

Thanks for all the responses.