Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Thinking of adding an IA45- thoughts?

Im getting tired of not having even DD level audio from my Bluray player as many movies are either TruHD or DTS Master or just PCM high res. I think my Bluray player is sending 2 channel PCM to the 861 over the coax digital I am connected with right now. Does anyone know how long we are looking at for whatever HDMI solution we might see from Meridian? Is it worth the trouble to get the IA45 now?

best regards,
Jerry

Even better might be to get your player modified by SFogg for 3xS/PDIF output that you can feed as if it was a MHD digital source.

Kal

TrueHD and DTS Master is supposed to include the compressed stuff as well. I've probably rented 60 BD movies or more and everyone has been displaying "Cinema" on the processor. At least with using a the PS3 anyway.

My friend has a Lexicon and HD-DVD player hooked up Multi Channel and he had the same movie I demoed to him (flying daggers - drum dance). In his words "Wow, I never heard it like that before" about 15 seconds into the scene.

Are you sure the player is setup right. What is the processor displaying?

Regardless, I vote that you wait for the Meridian What-Ya-Ma-Call-It gadget for HDMI to MHR.

I agree completely with George. I use a PS3 and find the sound quality from the Blurays through my 861 superb. I get either full bit rate DTS or 640 kbs Dolby Digital output from the PS3. Be patient and wait for the Meridian solution.

There are 2 things to think of ... the 3xS/PDIF board is reality, while the HDMI2MHR thingy is still only a rumor ... and 2nd, the price of the 3xS/PDIF board is pretty reasonable, while I am pretty sure the Meridian gadget while be more pricy (this speculation is solely based on the price of the 519 and the Z3 board for the 565).

The 3xSPDIF board has not been fitted to any Bluray player yet. Many of us have players and some with players known to not be moddable (like a PS3). Most PS3's will also give you SACD once a HDMI solution arrives.

The HDMI2MHR devices is a very attractive solution.

Also the HDMI2MHR device might be able to transfer more "Meta Data" as Meridian Players do now over MHR.

If nothing is announced by end of summer you might seek alternate solutions.

Most are waiting for the the latest gen of Blu-Ray players even if they want to go the modded approach or waiting for the GeFen modded gadget. In all 3 cases it's waiting game so you might as well make an informed choice and wait to see what happens.

Thank you fellas. George, you were right- my player was just not setup properly. I cant believe I didnt even think of that. It was set up to down rez to PCM the higher resolution formats and then it was set to decode the high res formats as PCM. Once I put everything to bitstream it all fell into place. As a matter of fact it sounds really fantastic. I am more than happy to wait for whatever comes down the pike.

Kal, I'm glad they are modding players for this but what I really hope for is the HDMI->MHR solution. I hope Kaleidescape makes good on their announcement to ship a BD player in 2009.

best regards,
Jerry

Jerry,

I thought the problem might be in the setup on your Bluray player.

To answer your question about the IA45 card, I have the card and my ONLY connection between the player and the 861 are the 6 analog cables and NO DIGITAL cable connection what so ever.

The sound is BETTER than the digital cable provided.

I have the 861 and BD player setup to play this way and select on the disc whenever it is offered which is more often than not these days

Thank you Mr. Doggy. I don't doubt it at all. Of course some of this depends on the quality of your Bluray player's DACs. Which player are you using? So I am not debating you as to which way sounds better, but at this point it seems like the smart move for me is to wait as the Meridian solution seems to be in the shorter term (less than one year). I truly hope that is the case.

best regards,
Jerry

I agree. Already years ago I proposed the idea to Meridian, but never got any response ... I really hope we get news about this soon, even if it is a no-go. Then at least we know what to do.

Even though the Dacs of the Bluray player are OK the inputs into the 861 go thru reprocessing before going out analog. Its not just pass thru.

I actually went ahead and got an IA45 anyway . I figured that at the rate they are inventing ( and killing ) new formats ( Sacd , DVD-A , Hd-DVD , Bluray and Bluray Audio 3.0 ) I would probably continue getting some use out of it with these for quite a while now that my Squeezebox is up and running .

Longer term , the Meridian solution will probably be better for whatever you play/listen to the most .

~M~