Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems TV optical out, channel change clicks

Happy new year to all.

I have over the holiday period brought a new flat screen TV into the family living room - a 55 Samsung KS7000. This was purchased last year and has been in spare bedroom duties, I went with this model given the ability to pass DD from HDMI sources via it's optical out, as previously in the living room I had a HDMI splitter box gathering the sources (Blu-ray, PC, SkyHD box) and passing audio to my 568 and onto M33 fronts via optical. The Samsung removes this source selector from the chain and was theoretically a more elegant set up.

When changing channel on the SkyHD box previously and digital codecs changed via the multitude of differing broadcast approaches - ie stereo to 3.1, 5.1 etc. there were no pops or clicks. I now however get a loud click when changing channel and there is a recognisable change of codec on the 568. I am presuming this is down to the Samsung pass-through, but not sure if there is anything I can do to remove or reduce the level of this clicking.

I've read through a few older posts around Sky's HD boxes and some older processors - relay issues I believe. However, I had a silent set up previously with a splitter in play with the 568 so not sure these are relevant to my problem.

Any thoughts much appreciated, please don't suggest removing the Samsung.. the family won't go back now... lol

Lee

Happy New Year to you too Lee.

I can't diagnose the specific fault, but as a work-around, could you pipe the video to the TV via HDMI & feed audio into your 568 via coax outputs?

Not sure what your 568 has, but if it has an option “poor digital source”, try turning it on.

I presume you mean direct from each source Marcus? I would then need to select and switch audio from the 568, no major biggy I guess given changing source is infrequent (maybe 3 or 4 times a day) but just another layer of complication for the family as video selection in the telly still needed.

I'd probably just go back to using the HDMI splitter/switcher unless any performance improvements using the coax route?

Thanks for the suggestion

Lee

It's a vanilla 568 George, so not sure on that, I'll have a rake through the manual.

Cheers
Lee

Edit - yes it does have this option in the advanced area on the config program. I'll have a play and let you know if any improvement.

Tried this with no joy I am afraid, the clicking is still prevalent in all 3 speakers. I've also adjusted the gain to negative settings in each of the speakers via config, which I'd read in another thread as a possible fix with no change.

A little more detail having done a bit of testing, this click does not occur when moving from Dolby Digital broadcast channels (digital on the 568) to 2 channel (PCM on the 568 configured in Trifield). But between differing DD formats (5.1, 2.0, 2.1 etc ) and when moving from PCM broadcast channels to one of the DD channels.

Will adjusting DD compression settings in config have any effect? I have left these boxes as default historically.

Not sure if this raises any further thoughts?

Cheers

Lee

Once, I had similar loud clicking/popping on a set of VDH interconnects when adjusting the volume level on my Meridian 551.

Changing the cables completely solved the problem.

Don't have a solution, but when codecs change it takes a finite amount of time for new DSP code to loaded within the processor. To prevent any issue with audio glitch, Meridian ground the audio outs. On some processors, this is done by relay, which causes the infamous relay click, but in 568, it’s done by solid state means and should be silent.

It would be worth investigating whether the codec change is new to your setup, in which case it may well have always done it but you rarely had codec changes, or it may be something new.

If it’s the former, you may be able to restrict the output formats (which may not be desireable as you may be missing out on most optimal format), if it’s the latter, then something else amiss.

Sorry Lee; yes, I did mean separate coax outputs from each source. You'd then have "Sky", "BRay" inputs etc on the 568 to scroll through. If you continue to use your HDMI splitter then you'd only have the one HDMI input on the TV so no selection required there.

Thanks Ian, it definitely the latter, as we use the same channel mix we always have. The differences even on the main channels are crazy TBH, ie moving from BBC1 to BBC2 etc. create a codec change, notwithstanding the plethora of HD options which all seem to use slightly different formats.

It seems my options are:

Live with it and reduce volume on channel change, or anticipate codec change within a channel at the end of each show. Not ideal.

Move to coax from each source, and I presume invest in an intelligent remote which can select video and audio sources concurrently. I presume the 568 would accommodate this? Any suggestions?

Reinstall some form of HDMI selector, maybe a more complex option which gives me a better route forward, integrates with the 568 from a comms perspective? My previous box had trouble passing DD from the PC on which I run Kodi, intermittently.

New processor? I've been toying with a 568.2mm and HD621 combo for some time. Maybe it's time to bite the bullet.

Lee

I'd still need to select the HDMI input on the splitter Marcus using my current box. Unless there are better options out there or there is an intelligent remote in play? The TV does this video switching just fine, so maybe coax to the 568 and an intelligent remote is the best best way forward short term?

Lee

Hi Lee,
With your original system configuration and the new TV, can you check to see if the 30ms Delay for DTS noise tick box is checked in the config software? This is shown on page 92 of the 568 manual. See Duncan's Meridian Info at the top of this website for a copy of the manual.

I've had a similar issue with my system when the youview box is set to surround sound output. As the TV programs are broadcast in a mixture of 2 channel and surround, I used to get the same annoying clicks. Switching on the DTS delay gets over this.

Thanks,
Peter