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

It is highly unlikley. The Oppo early adopter program is confined to North America, wheras the only people who have received the HD HD621 are in Europe. The HD HD621 is supposed to arrive in the US in the next 1-2 weeks, and then hopefully the two shall finally meet.

The HD621 is now in Australia (arrived last Friday). Mine arrived the other day and was set up with no problems. However with visitors here I have not yet had time to fully evaluate it.

AFAIK we only have 5.1 output at the moment (via the 3 supplied leads into "Multichannel 1" of the 861) with more software needed (and hopefully NOT another expensive 800 card) to get 7.1.

The setup here into the HD621 is -

* Topfield 7000 PVR (Records HD FTA onto a 250GB HDD)
* Pioneer DVR-LX60D recorder (Also a 250GB HDD but only a SD tuner)
* Panasonic DMP-DP35 Bluray player (modified by a guy in Melbourne to be region free)

These and other items feed audio to a V4 Meridian 861 -> Plinius and Halcro amps -> Sound Labs and other electrostatic speakers + 4 subs

The video feeds to an iScan DVDO VP50 PRO -> Sony VW200 projector -> 96" Stewart screen

I've been an audio nutter for over 50 years (and now a video nutter also) so am interested in audio only discs using the new formats. I'll follow up on "The Nordic Sound - 2L Audiophile reference recordings". Is there anything else available which will take advantage of the HD621?

EDIT: I see the disc must be purchased from Norway as Amazon etc only offer MP3 downloads ("Audiophile"????). Nutter as I am I baulk at paying 4x the cost of a CD or are there other less expensive outlets?


John

OK, I finally sat down to some serious listening of DVD-As. I compared the following two setups:

E/M: ESOTERIC/Meridian 861 via IA45

P/M/M: Panasonic DP-35/Meridian HD621/Meridian 861

Both front ends fed into Halcro DM68's -> Sound Labs ""Majestic" full range electrostats for the main L/R, a Plinius SA250 -> pair of shorter "Majestics" for the centre, + various Plinius & other amps for the other surround channels.

Theoretically the second setup would seem the better where the audio stays in digital domain before the analog output of the 861 compared to the first where the IA45 takes in analog from the Esoteric and upsamples it to digital in the 861 before the final analog out. I guess those using Meridian speakers would agree with this concept of retaining digital for as long as possible. However, as with video, good digital <-> analog conversions can be transparent.

First up I listened to Berlioz "Symphony Fantastique" - a 2CH DVD-A transcribed from tape by HDTT. Unfortunately I found the stereo on both setups flat so livened it up with the E/M but fed the L/R through the preamp so the 861 could provide synthesised surround from a secondary feed ex the preamp. This remains my preferred option for 2CH. Addicted to MC?? Maybe.

I next tried a couple of choral MC DVD-As. There was not much in it but my leaning was towards the E/M setup as appearing to offer slightly better articulation. Maybe a reflection of the rigid Rb timer control on the Esoteric player?

Next was an Abbo/Berlin PO interpretation of a Beethoven symphony.

The P/M/M setup was most impressive with extended bass and great musicality. In comparison the E/M setup had less bass extension so less warmth and was not preferred.

So, maybe the "articulation" described above was more a reflection of less bass? I'm very wary of these sort of A/B comparisons with aural memory highly unreliable + slight differences in levels skewing interpretations of the sound. So please treat my observations with as many grains of salt as you think appropriate.

But look at the bottom line cost of the Esoteric UX-1 LE/G-0s combo (both bought used in my case) compared to that of the Panasonic player/Meridian HD621 combo and the value of the HD621 becomes apparent.

As with the Bluray discs, the Panasonic took some time to digest what format was being presented so was relatively slow on the uptake but that is a niggle.

I'll be interested to read observations from other HD621 owners.

John

EDIT POSTSCRIPT: Although preliminary feeling was that the P/M/M was preferred, on further listening I'm not so sure. But the fact it is such a close call is a tribute to the success of Meridian' HD621. I have some Bluray music discs on the way so will be fascinated to see how they sound.

I use the HD621 with my HDI Dune BD Prime Blu-Ray backup (NAS) player. I can only attest to the wonderful soundquality I'm getting from my system now with the HD621. Playing 6*24/96 recordings or even regular 6*16/48 is wonderful. I especially like that I can really crank up the volume and not hearing any distorsion from good recordings. Everything is crystal clear with wonderful fidelity!

This is just what our Meridian setups have longed for since the day DVD-A was invented. And now with the help of Blu-Ray and the HD621 we are getting it

Tip: Configure all vertical speakers as large if DSP5k or larger. I also like to run without a sub in my setup and let all large speakers handle and distribute the LFE channel. It really widens the experience with more even bass response throughout the room as well as impact when needed.

Oh ok. I thought somehow there were some "special" people getting it in the US ahead of the rest of us. I got my Oppo BR yesterday and had to hook it up via multi-channel analog. Can't wait to get the HD621 so I can use the HDMI. thanks.

Very brief video intro. to HD621 here for any interested parties:

http://uk.cinenow.com/videos/2102-meridian-hd621-hdmi-audio-processor-sound-vision-bristol-show-2009

~M~

So what's up with the MSRP in USD? The MSRP is 1500 GBP so at current exchange rates the equivalent in USD should be around 2200 yet it's my understanding that the MSRP is $3000. This mark up surely can't just be transportation costs, can it?

I have a problem with my HD621. I don't get HDMI signal lock on my DVDO VP50Pro Videoprocessor. (running v1.02 firmware)

My chain is Panasonic BD-30EK (European model) --> HD621 (H4) --> VP50Pro (HDMI 1)

I get sound from 621MHR --> 861.
No problems with HDMI lock using Cable or DVD (800D).

Any ideas?

John (Tassie Devil) you use a VP50Pro could you please check your VP50Pro settings and software versions?

Frustration levels increasing rapidly. I got the HD621 to get HD sound from Bluray. Grr.

Geir.

Why not plug the audio out of the VP50Pro into the HD621 and test that way if you haven't already.

This could potentially get you out of lipsynch hell too

Have you tried toggling HDCP on the VP50?

This is the way you should wire it. The VP50Pro will delay the audio based on the video algorithm being used. Native 60i content will require a different amount of delay than 60i that has a 2-3 pattern in it. The VP50Pro knows the correct amount of delay to apply.

Fixed delays don't work when video processing is involved.

You will probably need to also update your VP50Pro to at least 1.04, if not 1.05.

Jack, this is Mother's question to answer and you're not alone in wanting to understand it. This topic was being hashed about in the thread link below.


www.meridianunplugged.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php ubb=showflat&Number=89539#Post89539

Best,

J