Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Streaming Dune Content - Decoding HD audio

NOTE: I have researched this topic and have not found a firm recommendation, hence my post. If this has already been discussed please refer me to the thread.

Use-case: Migrating from an old Dune Player that can decode HD audio to one that cannot. I would still like to decode the DTS-MA, HD-MA tracks from NAS stored content.

Potential Solutions:
I have been able to unearth three options - 1. Oppo as a decoder, 2. Apple TV + an software player and 3. Preamp that can decode and pass PCM or LPCM via HDMI. I am particularly interested in 1 and 3.

1. NAS -> Dune -> Oppo -> HD621 -> Video to 4k TV + Audio to Meridian 861v6

3. NAS -> Dune -> Outlaw preamp 975 or 976 -> HD621 -> Video to 4k TV + Audio to Meridian 861v6

From what I have read online, it looks like Option-1 is being used by fellow HHikers and will work. As to option-3 I am unsure if this will work. My thinking on option-3 can be coupled with a 4k switcher (HDS-42AVR)can do the job and still use the HD621.

Questions:

1. What problems do you see or have experienced?
2. With Option-1, I would think the scaler in the Oppo will be used and I would loose that with Option-3; Am I loosing a lot by implementing Option-3?
3. As always, I am not sure what am I missing?
4. I am eliminating Option-2, because, I need to solution to work w/o any issues. I need to keep the peace with the family as this is a living room solution and not a techie solution.

Your comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone and wish you all a Happy Holiday Season!!!

Hi, don’t have any suggestions on 1 and 3. But why not option 2?

I don’t see why this would be any issue. I have the apple tv 4k with infuse software it decodes the DTS-MA and HD-MA tracks.

I store my movies on a QNAP NAS have the share mapped up in Infuse, it detects all the movies and displays a nice movie wall, and had no problems with different formats.

NAS -> AppleTV -> HD621 -> TV + Meridian.

I went from a Dune to a NUC (small PC) and Kodi.

AppleTV 4K with Infuse 6 Pro subscription here.

NAS -> AppleTV 4K -> UHD722 -> Projector + Meridian 861v8

Decodes everything lossless to LPCM and does a decent job of it as well as displaying/converting HDR->SDR and whatelse you need.

Might get an update next year 2020 with wifi 6 if assuming a 3 year Apple cycle...

That looks interesting, how much is the annual sub?

It’s like $10-12 for a year.

Very reasonable then. Do you know if there are any big advantages over Kodi?

Thanks
Tom

Couldn’t tell. For me it was just simple to use since i had an apple tv4k, and if using kodi i needed another box.

Also i just found infuse very easy to get going, just buy pro to get hd decoding and point to file share with movies.

You can download the standard edition for free to check it out.

It's just a matter of pointing it to your NAS share and you're done!

That is why ATV 4K with Infuse6 is so popular for Meridian users with HD621/UHD722. Pro version is needed for 4K and DTS MasterHD/DolbyTrueHD content.

Thanks Crion and Virtman, I'll get one soon and try it out.

Cheers
Tom

How would option 3 work?

The pre-amp might decode the digital signals for its own outputs, but I see no evidence that it will then output that over the HDMI out.

So far every pre-amp and receiver that I've come across either sends the HDMI through (pass through) or actually removes the audio content altogether. The Oppo 20x is the only device I know of that has an HDMI Input that decodes bitstream formats and sends them to an HDMI out as LPCM.

If anyone knows of any other devices, please tell me!