Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 3x S/PDIF modded HD-DVD player in the works...

There's now also a remote hack for R1 RCE titles (you'll still need to apply the multiregion firmware, though), and even a way to make the XA2 (US version of the same player) multiregion and PAL capable.

Shawn,
Could you modify a BR player with this? Given that HDDVD is dead I would be interested in having a BR player modified.

best regards,
Jerry

Jerry,

"Could you modify a BR player with this?"

As long as the BR player has the internal decoders for the surround formats, which not all do, and the PCM data can be found (having 6/8 channel analog outputs makes this much easier) then the player is a good candidate for modification.

Thanks,

Shawn

Shawn,
Do you have any suggestions? I am a hobbiest enough to figure this out for myself but my time is limited. Wouldnt any player with analog outs have this?

best regards,
Jerry

Jerry,

"Wouldnt any player with analog outs have this?"

I wouldn't count on it. There is a far amount of variability in Bluray players regarding decoding abilities. It wouldn't surprise me to see a player that has analog outputs but maybe not Dolby THD decoding.

As far as players I think I am receiving a Sharp in the near future to check out.

Thanks,

Shawn

I'm not sure if PS3 can output SACD --> PCM over HDMI or it's outputing DSD signals.


But as I know there are two SPDIF boards out there, both can convert DSD to PCM 88kHz or 176kHz.


Since none of my DSP speakers (8ks and 5200) can support 176kHz, I don't know if there is any obvious difference between DSD 88kHz & 176kHz output, but it should be.


A test here shows how PCM / DSD handle "Square Sound Wave"

Jumping from 44k to 96k yields big improvement, there is still quite an improvement from 96 to 192.


So when Meridian has HDMI solution, how can it send 176 / 192k signal to DSP speakers? This high-res PCM is in the HDMI spec. We might not have many materials that have it, but we all want to have "Full HD" on sound as well

I'm curious if a movie has only a compressed sound track what will happen with a player modded with this board?

That is, if a movie only has a compressed soundtrack I would much rather the Meridian decode it, wouldn't you?

I sure wouldn't want to have to config the player each time per movie.

I suppose this would be true even if Meridian's solution is only LPCM.

Why would you prefer your M Pre/Pro to decode it George? Thats not how Meridian has been dealing with DD and DTS decoding in their current player and pre/pro pairings. I think you'd still want the player to decode DD and DTS internally and output over the 3x SPDIF so your M pre/pro can upsample the PCM bitstream like a Meridian player.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

Hey Shawn and all interested parties,

The HD-XA2 arrived safe and sound this afternoon. A handsome and solidly built piece of kit for a mass market company, thats for sure! With the brushed ano aluminum top cover and ribbed sides its rather sleek.

Unfortunately two sets of circumstances have pushed back setting it up for a short while. A weekend hospital stay for a flare-up of pericarditis has put me a little behind with the remodel of my media room. To add insult to injury, my local dealer just informed me that the Canadian M distributor dropped the ball (once again) with my 861-ID20 card. A 2 month wait for the "back-ordered" card to discover that it appears the order wasn't placed by the distributor at all! This despite numerous calls on my behalf by the great local dealer and an apparently bogus eta date. Called M USA directly this afternoon- Of course the card is in stock, that card is always in stock! A recommended US dealer will be promptly handling the purchase it seems. In any event, I won't be reconfiguring the 861 twice, so install of the modded HD-DVD player awaits the arrival of the new card.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=980672

With Meridian external decoding solutions you have Meridian doing the decoding (I consider that plus), transmitting in MHR and Meta Data being passed with the decoded material. With non Meridian sources you won't have these and I would prefer, if the processor can handle the codec, have it decode. I suspect the results would be better.

"I'm not sure if PS3 can output SACD --> PCM over HDMI or it's outputing DSD signals."

It converts DSD to PCM for output over HDMI.

"A test here shows how PCM / DSD handle "Square Sound Wave"

Jumping from 44k to 96k yields big improvement, there is still quite an improvement from 96 to 192."

All a square wave is is a fundamental sine wave with many odd order harmonics. If you can't capture those odd order harmonics you no longer have a square wave and will be seeing the fundamental. A square wave is basically a sort of bandwidth test. To capture a 10kHz square wave you need to be able to capture those odd order harmonics... (30kHz,50kHz,70khz...etc...etc). At 44.1kHz sampling rate you can get the fundamental but no harmonics, at 96kHz you can get the first odd order harmonic, at 192kHz sampling rate you can capture 3 of the odd order harmonics.

You can sort of see this here:
http://switch-box.com/Lexicon_analog_bypass_measurements.html

Shawn