Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Standalone HD621 ?

Hello,

My 861 is going back to the factory because the problem can't be solved here in Holland.

I was looking for a 500 series processor for the meantime and then i thought could a HD621 be connected to the dsp5200's to get surround sound out of them? Then i could better buy a HD621 because when my 861 is back i could use it as an upgrade.

Regards Ronald

The only 500 unit that will work is a 568.2 that has been upgraded or a 568mm, both having the MHR connection. You will see the MM's come up, though prices seem to vary greatly on them.

MHR

CJ

The HD621 has 4 x 2 channel coax outs. Looking at the specs it sounds like it should work to connect those direct to DSP5200's.

If there is no-one here that can confirm it (which I doubt ), then maybe borrow an HD621 and test it out?

In theory you could use an HD621 in standalone manner, but the biggest issue would be lack of level calibration across the 5+ channels. The sound field could be quite unbalanced, but you'll know what your current calibration levels are to decide how feasible it is (or not).

Unless you are desperate for 5.1 whilst the 861 is away for a few weeks, I'd probably just take stereo PCM from your BD player and run two channel directly into your L&R DSPs for now.

Cheers

George

Thank you for your answers. I don't know what the levels are in my system. When I got my DSP5200SE I had my 861 at my dealer's place.

I want to have a backup system for in the future. If it would work with an HD621 it could be a option.

Regards Ronald

With regards to the level calibration, that depends on your source. If you use i.e. an HTPC then you can probably set it there.

Reviving an old post as I have a similar but slightly different situation.

I have a non-Meridian processor that does not have an HDMI input, and I have a lot of HDMI sources. The non-Meridian system is 2-channel only. Is it possible to use the HD621 stand-alone as an HDMI switcher to route the video via HDMI to the display and extract the audio signal via coax to the non-Meridian processor?

It looks like technically this should work, but since the digital audio signal would not be going to a Meridian processor would a high res HDMI input to the HD621 need to be down sampled to work with a non Meridian processor?

I'm not sure exactly how HDCP etc. comes into play here.

Yes, a HD621 will work like this. Infact you can set the HD621 to downsample to 48k should your 2 channel system not handle 96k.

The only limitation is that the switching between inputs would have to be manual by the physical buttons on the HD621 unless you have a separate Meridian unit to receive and pass on IR commands via Meridian comms from a remote. (You could control by RS232 should that be of any use to you.)

John

Thanks, especially for the front panel switching only! I would have driven myself crazy pointing the MSR at it, switching batteries, checking every setting over and over, etc.!

Does a HD621 output MHR in which case, unless that can be defeated, output will not work with non MHR (ie proprietary Meridian) kit.

MHR can be switched on or off via config.

I had my system running this way for a couple of years before buying an 808.

John

Interesting.
With MHR disabled, was the signal limited, e.g. to 16/48?