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

Did anybody make a photo of a HD621's insides already ?

A few questions:
1) Does the HD621 without 19" rack mounts fit exactly on the G series? So does it have the same round edges and width as the G series?
2) Does the HD621 have automatic source selection just like the Octava?

The HD621 has square edges, not sure if it is the same size, but it wouldn't look like it was part of the G68 anyway.

The HD621 has a comms link, so when you change source on the processor it switches the input as well, so completely seamless in operation.

My HD621 has front corners rounded to the same profile as my G98,
Whereas all edges and the rear corners are square.

[Edit] It also has the same footprint as my G98.


Holtz'.

Are there different version of the HD621 ??

We've covered this before, and the answer is yes. There are two SKUs one for shelf mount, one for rack mount.

Regards,

I did some listening tests with the HD621 vs straight coax and HTPC videoserver vs. HDI Dune BD Player.

I used FLAC's for the testing session and Direct listening mode into G68->DSP8k.

The questions I had was:
Q1. Any difference in SQ between HDMI 2 channel audio into the HD621 (apodizing upsampling) versus straight coax into the G68 (classic upsampling), source HDI Dune BD Player.
Q2. Which source is best on 2 channel FLAC's, HTPC (a pretty decent one) or the HDI Dune BD Player.


Findings:
F1. I prefer 2 channel FLACs through HD621 from my HDI Dune BD Player. The coax (with classic G68 upsampling) sounds "cleaner" or tighter but does not have the same sense of space or musicality. Through the HD621 the material sounded more true. BUT we are all used to the coax input so you will probably pick the coax (G68 classic upsampling) at first by old habit, but listen to the timbre of instruments, voices and listening space.. I needed to digest the sound from HD621/apodizing at first. The HD621 also seem to reinforce the bass somewhat in my setup. I remember that when I performed upsampling in the HTPC in the past (Foobar2k/Secret Rabbit Code) it lost bass compared to the upsampling in the G68.

F2. I prefer 2 channel FLACs from the HDI Dune BD player regardless whether it uses coax or HDMI. The HTPC triumphed the toslink of the PS3 in the past and some other sources, so it's not a slouch. The HTPC sounded a bit boring and uninvolving in comparison to the HDI BD Network Player.


Listening Setup:
G68 upsampling on coax, Direct DSP listening mode.
HD621 upsampling on HDMI.
DSP8000 speakers.
Custom built powercables (my own) based on Furutech products on all sources and speakers.
Original Meridian coax cables from HD621 and the HDI Dune BD Player.
Shunyata Hydra 8 Gen1 powers all equipment and speakers but the HTPC.
Shunyata Hydra 6 powers the HTPC and Projector.
HTPC with ESI Maya 44 soundcard (24/192 capable). Water cooled, Solid Tech IsoClear anti vibration feet.

@crion,
Interesting enough I hear a similar difference when playing CD using the optical and using the HDMI through the Octava. Using HDMI the soundstage is much wider and the bass sounds more controlled and reinforced. It seems that this difference has nothing to do with the upsampling at all ... just for testing purposes, you could disable the upsampling in the HD621 and see what the result is. I bet you will hear the same difference.

Is it apodising (apodizing for the colonies ) that is doing this or some other 'special sauce' ?

If/when the new filters get into other bits of equipment (DSP's, G68, 861 etc) then I wonder if the same will be found...

The Octava HDSA71 does not have any upsampling or other apodizing filters ... however, the difference I hear between the optical and multichannel input is similar to what crion describes ... looks like HDMI is the 'special sauce'.

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e.g.

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