Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Question about digital iPod docks

Hi Guys!

I'm really happy with my system, however whenever I have people over I'm always asked if they can connect there iPhone to my system & play there own music. So because of this I set myself a task to try & find a good quality iPod dock so my friends & family can enjoy my system as much as I do.

I've been wanting to get a DIGITAL iPod docking station to connect to my Meridian 568.2 processor for a while now. After doing some research I've came to a decision. Ideally I wanted to get an actual Meridian iPod dock but after some research everything I read said that the Meridian i80 dock was only for the M80/F80. However even after finding this out I was going to get an i80 anyway just to see if it would work with my 568.2 but I then learned that it only has ANALOGUE outputs & ideally I wanted a DIGITAL iPod dock.

Well again after some research I found the only DIGITAL iPod dock available is the Pure i-20. So I recently bought the Pure i-20 & connected it up to my 568.2 processor.

Now here's where I came across a problem. After connecting it using a digital cable to one of my free coaxial inputs in the 568.2 I tried getting it to work but I got no sound coming out. The dock seems to be working fine but for some reason the 568.2 doesn't seem to want to play any audio. I've tried all the different sources & also tried different coax inputs as well as different digital cables (which I know all defiantly work) but still ot sound coming out.

I'm not quite sure where to go from here so has anyone else had similar issues or has any ideas how I can solve this problem & get my iPhone to play digitally through my 568.2 processor

Thanks guys, any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again,
Marc

Hi Marc,

Have you assigned the physical input to a selection on your remote i.e. D1 = AUX?
Also the pure will not have or need comms.
Just a thought, chris

Pricey but there's always the Wadia 171i if you want proper sound quality from an iPhone.
It's possible your dock is having its SPDIF disabled by the iPhone due to DRM issues.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your response. I'm kinda new to all this Meridian stuff, I wasn't aware I needed to physically assign the input to a source in order to play the dock. All my other inputs (PS3, Sky+, SqueezeBox, Bluray etc.) all work fine so I tried unplugging my SqueezeBox & using that cable connected from the 568.2 straight to the Pure i-20 & I would have assumed it should work straight away being that it's only a digital audio signal but again no sound even when on the correct source (as used with the SqueezeBox). I thought it might have something to do with the Legacy program?

Yeah the Pure i-20 doesn't have or require any comms to be connected to the processor, same as all my other inputs. I only use the comms for my DSP speakers.

Thanks again for your response Chris

Hi Mark (Mudge),

Thanks for your response. Not heard of the Wadia 171i till you just mentioned it so I just went & had a look but yeah your right it's a bit pricey for what I'm looking for. It literally is just for when friends & family come to visit so don't really wanna spend more than about �100 on a dock. I got the Pure i-20 for a good price of �50 so I was happy with that till I ran into some problems.

Hmm interesting what you said about the SPDIF being disabled. Don't no how I would check that issue though. Got nothing else to connect it to.

It's a shame I thought it was going to be simple to connected a dock up to the processor

Thanks again for your response!

Have you tried the analog output just to get it up and running whilst the digital problems are tracked down? Chris

Marc,
I had an Onkyo ND-S1 which is digital and which worked very well both via a 568 and direct into DSP5Ks. They go for less than �100 second hand.

You can always try the Pure direct into your speakers as a test, bypassing the processor, to eliminate config or hardware errors elsewhere.

Duncan

Hi Chris & Duncan

Just had a look at the Onkyo ND-S1 & it sounds quite good as a digital media transport. I'll keep an eye out on eBay & see what they go for.

I've just run a few tests & yes the analogue does work! Silly I didn't think to try that first lol. I also ran a few other tests as Duncan advised. It does works straight into the back of the DSP5K's but the remote has no control, I would have to go into the system settings & change the comms processor stuff. I also tried a few other things & I think it looks like my last remaining digital channel seems unfortunately to be broken unless it's some kinda hardware or Legacy Program setting.

At some point I'm going to have all my speaker's firmware updated so I might see if anything can be done about this channel problem at the same time. For now I'll just have to use it in analogue form.

Thanks guys!
Can always rely on helpful advice from people on here

Does the processor have to be able to support AAC?

Hello

My Pure digital dock works fine into my G91DH.

The only thing that I notice is that when set to play random some tracks are louder than others. Why should this be when it's all digital?

The same thing happens when I burn a MP3 disc to use in the car.

Neil

Hi Marc

That's quite a strange problem. From the troubleshooting tasks that you've carried out, it does sound like an issue with 568.2 .

Its useful to know that the dock plays through the speakers as that indicates that it appears to working correctly.

As you have tried Coax and optical cables in different inputs I think it's safe to assume that it is not a cabling of input issue either.

I wonder if Dr One is on the right track by suggesting it's something to do with the decoding. I notice in the Pure user guide that is has the following output: "Raw digital audio (recommended)". It wasn't obvious how you would change this setting from the guide, but it may be worth investigating further. Another thing (which is pure speculation) is that there could be a setting on the 568.2 which might need changing to automatically re-sample the input source.

I'm in Cambridge and have a G68 if you want to do some further testing.

Cheers
Tom

Hi Neil

Might that not just be the variation in recorded levels, particularly if it's music from older CDs vs contemporary ones? Loudness wars and all that! I find exactly the same thing through the Squeezebox when on random play. That was one of the beauties of the 518...you could boost low level recordings and inject much more life into them. Sadly, loud is loud though, and if music is mastered hot, it's pretty much screwed from the outset.

Cheers

George