Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Introducing New Players?

Just thinking about Meridian withdrawing from disc players, we now have 2 channel music available from server based systems with little sign of MC upgrades coming along. MC music, as Meridian say, is a limited market segment and so the main MC requirement is for film. The only realistic way to see a HD/MC film at home is via BD and Meridian do not have a player.

It seems logical that, with no in house source, they will let the legacy MC processors wither away and become a lifestyle music server company. Meridian Digital Media System? What media are they talking about?

I don't think they'll let their MC processors whither away if only because they would then lose the opportunity to sell you seven and a bit very expensive speakers instead of just two.

As for what media, just like the Good Old Boys, they will maintain that they are able to play it all: both country AND western.

I don't think so; there are plenty of multi-channel sources out there (DVD players, BD player, media players and STBs) and the HD621 exists as an interface to these devices.

But, p-l-e-a-s-e Meridian, if it's possible, can you add vanilla DD/DTS decoding to the HD621?

Yeh! And stick another HDMI ouput while you're at it.


I thnk there's little doubt that disc spinners are dying. What I want is a high quality multi-media client (multi-channel audio, high definition video (+3D), photos) all controllable by a mobile device app. I don't think that asking for much.

Beyond being able to then Upsample in the Meridian Processor, what advantage does DD/DTS in the HD621 offer??........I understand it would be a handy feature, but how much more??

I agree on the 2nd HDMI Output for Dual Display situations

While Meridian still sold DVD players, I would agree that it only made sense with STBs; and you could put together a convincing case their bit rates are so low, it wouldn't be worth it. But with no more Meridian video spinners, new customers are *forced* to decode lossy DD/DTS in their (presumably Blu-Ray) players.

Now, according to Meridian, it does lossy DD/DTS decoding better than the competition. So, looking at this with sound quality as the prime objective, I see three possibilities:

- There is no Meridian DD/DTS-decoding special sauce vs. good non-Meridian players. Not that Meridian would ever admit this. In which case, we should decode DVD soundtracks in the DVD/BD player. Few STBs that do this though.

- Decoding in a Meridian DVD player and up-sampling in a Meridian processor was never really worth it at typical lossy DD/DTS rates. Is this credible?

- There is special Meridian sauce when it comes to decoding DD/DTS. In which case, all lossy DD/DTS would benefit from decoding in an HD621.

Edit: Mind you, this would all be moot if Meridian had bothered to re-architect the 861v6 properly and add the ability to decode and up-sample.

Yes, and while we're at it, how about SPDIF inputs and TrueHD and DTS MA decoding?

Edit - OK, since the controllers have apodising now, we don't need SPDIF inputs. It was just something I remember being frustrated about when I got my HD621.

Why are these needed?

SPDIF would be nice to have, but HDMI is now the norm.

TrueHD and DTS (HD) MA are lossless formats which incur no disadvantage by decoding in the player. Delivery via HDMI from a non-Meridian player is the only available mechanism as SPDIF bandwidth is too small.

Decoding for DD+ is another matter (though again HDMI delivery would be the accepted transfer mechanism).

Its a vain hope, but that's what I'd like to see as well. Yes, the HD621 achieves that functionality, but since the digital audio has to be converted to HDMI and then back again, I don't accept that there's no performance penalty. Several media players don't decode the lossless codecs, either.

I'm convinced that the only way to get the best possible SQ in a high-def multi-channel Meridian system is to have MHR outputs on the player. HDMI should never have been invented, but since we can't avoid it now, lets keep it for video, and never for audio.

Yes, I know most people don't agree....

Nick

I'd rather take MMHR from an ID80 with video.. Otherwise the upcoming HDI Dune Pro + HD621 will be the closest we will get to a premium MCH FLAC and Blu-Ray streamer.

Sorry, I should clarify that I agree that MHR from a Meridian BD player would be optimal; however, I'm working on the assumption that Meridian will never produce a BD player.

And yes, HDMI is an abomination.

Meridian can also make the argument that much of their current DSP Range offers the Upsampling, RE and Apodizing of the PCM Streams sent their way from a Meridian Processor doing the DTS / DD Decoding.......(not sure if this applies to the recent D32k's or D33k's???....anyone know??)

But that doesn't help existing users of older DSP's

As regards a Meridian Bluray player.......how many here would spend �1,500 (minimum IMHO) for a Meridian Badged Oppo based player, with an MMHR Output???

Answering that question honestly gives an idea into the "Business Case" question faced by Meridian

Without Bluray Audio discs taking off, I wonder what percentage here would be able to hear the differences with Movie Discs, between an Oppo Player and the above Meridian / Oppo / MMHR???..........and I really don't know if Bluray Audio (Music) will ever take off.......there just doesn't seem to be any demand for MC High Res Music