Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HD 621 at last

WOW we now have a whole library of great surround sound and great two channel SACD available to us. Thanks "M" for the HD621.

Having read about the HD621 I feel compelled to ask a few questions which will probably seem really basic. However, reading about the unit on Meridian`s web site left me none the wiser and even the instruction manual didn`t really clarify things. I guess that if I am not entirely clear on my understanding of this unit then I`m not alone.

Amongst other pieces of kit, I have a G98, G68J and 421. Clearly, the HD621 is designed to replace the 421 and additionally extract audio from the HDMI inputs and feed it the processor. That part is easy to understand!

So, how would I connect the audio outputs from the HD621 to my G68J processor? Do I simply use three digital coaxial leads that plug into the HD621 and connect these to any three digital coaxial inputs on my G68J? If so, I assume that the G68J can be configured accordingly.

If this is the case, what sound formats will my processor accept from a Blu-ray player? The Oppo BDP-83, when it is available, seems to be the best option at the moment.

Many thanks for any information on this.

David

You are correct. Basically the BD player will decode all formats to 6 channels of PCM. It will show up as Cinema or Discrete on your G68 for all multichannel formats. Same as if your g98 was setup to decode internally.

George
You asked which Bluray player I have that separates out bitstream vs PCM. I have the Pioneer Elite BDP-95 however I don't currently use HDMI for the audio instead just the coax out and I can choose bitstream or pcm for the audio out. Are you saying that using HDMI for the audio-- you lose that option in the PS3 or can you still change it to bitstream if desired?
Joe

The PS3 doesn't output the HD codec bitstreams.

You have the same choice on PS3 on Optical out and HDMI. But when you choose HDMI and choose PCM. It will send EVERYTHING PCM. I suspect that is true on the Pioneer too. It does not offer PCM on Hires and Bitstream on LowRes.

George

Thank you for clarifying this for me. Having now spent some time reading about Dolby TrueHD and PCM, my understanding now is that whilst Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are lossless, they are compressed versions of the original PCM sound track. When these compressed signals are decoded and decompressed by the Blu-ray player, we reveal the original PCM track which is then sent (via HDMI) from the player to the HD621. These uncompressed signals are then sent to the processor.

The new processors which make so much fuss about being able to process Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are just carrying out the decoding and decompressing themselves rather than leaving it to the player.

Clearly, the decoding and decompressing part of all this is extremely important. Why then is there no mention of other Blu-ray players in this forum (except for the PS3) such as the machines from Denon, Pioneer or Sony?

At risk of answering my own question, the Oppo BDP-83 seems like a good solution as it should be relatively high quality but not overly expensive, whilst we all patiently wait for Meridian`s own Blu-ray player.

David

That is true for the Pioneer also so what I was asking is if you play an SD DVD in the Bluray player will the HD621 pass through DD/DTS over PCM or do I need to go into the Bluray player and change the audio to bitstream out over HDMI.
Thanks Joe

Why stop at 2? BDP-83 will send SACD 5.1 also!

There has been plenty of talk about other players. But the PS3 is one of the few that decodes everything and has for quite some time.

According to mark_h it will pass it through (if you can get your player todo that). I think on the PS3 once you say PCM over HDMI it applies to everything.

But even if it does you may not want to because you loose apodized upsampling if if you don't decode in the player.

Sorry if I missed this but has anyone actually used the HD621 with the new Oppo BR player? I have one of the Oppos arriving today but am still waiting (hoping) for my HD621 which I will only have in the best scenario in a week or two. thanks.