Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HD621 or G68 5.1 downmix to 2.0

Hi LoungeFly,

Can you update your equipment list in your profile signature box and add details of your Blu-ray player and any other kit in your system. Without this it is difficult to comment on how your BDP should be configured.

If your Blu-ray player is really outputting bitstream via HDMI to HD621, then your only hearing standard lossy DD/DTS as Meridian equipment cannot decode the lossless formats.

In general your BDP should be configured to decode and output multi-channel LPCM via HDMI, with the maximum sample rate limited to 96 KHz (it could be limited 192 KHz but the HD621 will only downsample it back to 96 Khz).

The HD621 will extract this from the HDMI signal and forward it on to your processor via the 3xSPDIF connections (The supplied Meridian leads are small diameter blue with RCA connectors).

This input (MD1/MD2) on your processor should be setup as a multi-channel input in your processor configuration. If you email me your Mconfig .msl file I�ll check it out for you.
When playing a Blu-ray disk make sure the correct sound track is selected i.e. HD Master Audio 5.1 your processor should display that it receive multi-channel signal and the DSP mode should be CINEMA.

There is some information in the WiKi on setting up a PS3 with a HD621. It may help to read this as the general guidelines apply to other BDPs.

Regards,
Carl

Hi Carl,

Thanks for responding to my post. This issue with Bitstream/LPCM setup is very curious to me. I am only running two 8000.2's (building my system slowly) so maybe that impacts my results? I have tried configuring my Compli Bluray player to output Bitstream and LPCM over HDMI. Each time, I prefer the Bitstream, it is significantly more dynamic. I have set my HD621 to 2channel (but also tried 6Channel and the sound is the same) My inputs into the G61RSL is through MD1. My G61RSL does say CINEMA when I output Bitstream but not when I output LPCS then it says PLMovie.

I will have to make sure I am selecting the HD Master Audio 5.1.

One thing that is not clear in the HD621 setup is selecting 'Types'. I have left them alone and the only adjustment I have made recently is selecting 2channel.

Hope this helps clarify. I will try to send my Mconfig file to you.

Thanks!

With HDMI the downstream component tells the source component what its capabilites are. Thus, if you set the HD621 to 2-ch it will tell the player to output 2-ch only. Thus on LPCM you only get a downmixed stereo which is then being processed by the G61. This is why you get PLMovie as the preset automatically selected.

You should set the HD621 to 6-ch. This will then allow the full data to be transmitted to the G61 for processing finally being output as 2-ch to your speakers.

For Bitstream, the HD621 just passes this through to the G61 for processing. As this feed contains all the music data (just compressed) it will sound better.

The Speaker Settings (distance, Small/Large, etc) in the Oppo apply only to the analog outs.

I had a similar problem with no center information when I had a 568.2mm/HD621. As I recall the order in which the components were turned on was important and you had to start with everything unplugged (long live HDMI).

Thanks Malcom, that makes sense. I set my HD621 to 6-channel and will test out the difference.

Please report back your findings....
/Marcus

It has been a few months but I have figured out the Bitstream/LPCM issue I was having with my G61RSL and HD621. I am now outputting PCM via my Theta Compi Blu and it is working perfectly. This issue was with the Theta Bluray player (based on the Oppo). Along with the players 'audio' setting of LPCM the players 'video' setting must be set to 'Source Direct'. I never thought the video setting would matter but since the audio and video are both traveling through HDMI they both need to be set this way. Previously, I had only set the audio to output LPCM and could not get the high def codecs to play. Hence, I was getting better sound outputting Bitsteam even though the HD621 is supposed to get PCM 'decoded True HD & Master Audio'. Its all working correctly now. Just wanted to follow up on the thread.