Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Toslink: number of channels?

The Meridian Installation Guide of my G68XXV says that the five Toslink inputs are stereo. I am, however, sending a 5.1 audio signal from a Sony PS3 and a LG TV satellite/Cable receiver to these inputs (Q1 and Q2). Is the Meridian better than its guide says or are we processing a 2-channel input signal back to multichannel in the Meridian`s DSP? Is Toslink audio transfer limited to 2, 6, or 9 channels?

All compressed audio (DD/DTS) is compressed into 2 channels.
All home theater receivers/preamps work this way today.

That's a bit misleading don't you think?

If you were to say that it was compressed down into the bandwidth of 2 channels that would have been a bit more accurate

Just me being pedantic which I'm quite good at!

Cheers,

pedanticism taken.

Thank you for the clarification. But like often, new questions arise from it.

Ok, so the 6 channel DD/DTS signal is "compressed down into the bandwidth of 2 channels"? The signal decoders on both ends then compress and decompress the data stream? What are the limits to this compression. Toslink cables (both plastic or quartz) usually don't come with bandwidth information. Reportedly 5.1 but not 7.1 signals can be transferred via Toslink connections. What is the reason for this limit (bandwidth or decoder definitions)? How do I know when a specific Toslink cable is adequate to transfer all the data from my Sony PS3 to the Meridian G68 and when not? Plastic (single or multi-strand) Toslinks cost approx. $8/2m, quartz (often 280 strands) go for $60-100. I assume that the Meridian HD621 'resolves' this potential issue by providing HDMI1.3 connections, but I will still have this question with the Sat tuner that has only a Toslink audio output. Should I consider replacing the plastic Toslink with a quartz version there?

Most players don't encode (PS3 does not) it's encoded on the disk.

The compressed encoding is well below the SPDIF bandwidth and runs at 48Khz and could handle 96Khz.

You generally don't have to worry about the bandwidth limits. The bandwidth usage is fixed and just padded to use up to the fixed bandwidth used. So it's not like it's gonna use more with a better cable.

Generally it's a good idea to get a reasonable quality toslink cable (I spend $50 on 1/2 meter toslink cables and probably over kill). Partially depends on length. Better cables are thicker and tend not to bend to sharply, which can be a problem. The better cables click in nicer too.

Have not really paid much attention as to if they were glass or plastic.