Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Solution for DD/DTS-HD HDMI in, decode LPCM HDMI out

I have bought a Zappiti HDR, which I am very pleased with.
Except is doesn't decode DD/DTS to LPCM which can be used in my HD621.

The picture quality is much better then my Kodi Raspberry, so I am searching for a solution between the Zappiti & HD621.

Does anybody know an option?

Hi,

I’m not sure that I fully understand what you’re asking but can’t you just send DD/DTS from an optical or coax output on the Zappiti directly to your 861 and let it do the decoding. That’s all the HD621 does.

As I said, perhaps I’m missing the point

Brian

Hi Brian, this indeed works perfect for DD and DTS, but not for HD formats like DTS-HD or True-HD.

An Oppo-203 has an HDMI In, and it will decode it to its second HDMI Out, or so I'm told. I've not tried it myself as I have an Oppo with a Vanity board (digital coax out) so I go straight to my 5ks.

They don't make it any more, but as far as I can tell, its your only option. They go for about $1200 on eBay, and it’s worth it.

With our speakers, the difference between TrueHD and DTS was clear even to my wife (who usually doesn't care about such things).

If you can find an alternative please let me know!!!

Hi,

OK, I’m with you now _ you’re saying that the Zappiti unit doesn’t have a LPCM output on the HDMI.

I’m not aware of any other options to what JamieB has suggested_ an Oppo or something with the Vanity board installed if you want a multichannel digital input.

Brian

I think most of us are using AppleTV 4K with an Infuse Pro subscription that does output DTSHD MASTER and Dolby Atmos into LPCM 7.1 to HD621 or UHD722.

Nvidia Shield + Kodi works as well. Fewer and fewer devices can decode to LPCM however, which is sad because 861+HD621/722 will be obsolete at some point for HD audio.

Personally, I would be wary of an untried second box option. It looks like if you really want the HD codecs, the Zappiti may have to go (or change your processor of course). My alternative source recommendation is OSMC’s Vero 4k which decodes HD and supports 4k and HDR.

They are already obsolete. They might be very good at very old standards (7.1), but Atmos has been around since 2012. The 861 cannot do 11 speaker configurations; cannot decode Atmos; cannot handle 11 channel LPCM even if something else would babysit the decoding. Anyone doing a new theater build would be crazy to buy an 861, unless they wanted to get the $10k discount on an 861 that is available because the Trinnov makes the 861 untenable at its official price point.

That's why I said HD audio and not 3D audio (Atmos, Auro, dtsX). My Meridian system is now sitting in the living room, which is perfectly fine for what it does there, as I'm not using 3D audio there. I've thought about replacing the 861 for watching mostly TV shows and listening to music, but besides a better room correction, I think there's no point in doing it (doesn't mean I won't at some point). For movies in the theater with 3D audio, that's another story and replacing a 861 makes a lot of sense.

But otherwise I agree, if someone is buying new, the current 861 is a bad choice in any case. If you want 3D audio, it's a no-go. Even if you only want 7.1, it's a still a bad choice due to price. A Acurus Muse would be a much better choice for under $6k (+$2.5k for the upcoming calibration kit, if needed) if analog outputs are not an issue. For digital there's always the Storm Audio and Trinnov Altitude. Although my recent experiences have led me to believe there's no (audible) difference between analog and digital out. One is just more convenient, especially if you can feed the speakers digitally. If anyone has a different experience, I'd like to hear about it. But that's probably a topic for another thread.

From the Zappiti websiteI guess Zappiti will stop sending HD audio when it recognizes that HD621 is HDMI1.3?
Maybe you can try UHD722?