Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HD621 Set Up Questions

I'm wondering if putting the Radiance before the HD621 will solve the issue I've asked about here:

https://www.meridianunplugged.com/u...showflat&Number=90925&#Post90925

I was intending to put the HD621 first in the chain, but having two displays to be driven (with only one needing MHR) it seems that using the Radiance as the main switching device will solve a lot of problems for a lot of people.

Tim

Ken:

Can the MHR capable processors (or the HD621) provide enough Lipsynch offset to handle the delay of the VP afterwards?

If not, as I said... lipsynch hell!

Lumagen's response to my question about where to put the Radiance was as follows:

"The easiest system configuration is to connect the receiver to one HDMI output on the Radiance and connect the display to the other HDMI output. By default the Radiance software is configured for the receiver to be connected to the HDMI 1 output and the display to HDMI 2 output.

The Audio EDID is simply a memory that the video source can read to get information about the capability and preferences of the receiver. The Audio EDID doesn't control the video source, it only makes suggestions about the audio modes that it prefers.

If you connect all of your sources directly to the Radiance, you just need to select an input on the Radiance, which selects the audio and video inputs.

There is a global audio menu where you can setup the audio EDID. Press "Menu, Audio, Ok". Make sure that you "Save" the new settings when you are done.

You can over-ride the global audio EDID by setting up a EDID for an input. Press "Menu, Input, Audio Setup, Audio EDID, Custom, Ok". Make sure that you "Save" the new settings when you are done."

I don't think, however, that really answers the question. My question is about the need/importance to split off the audio from the HDMI transmission before the video processing is done. Lumagen's response seems to indicate that they do not see the need but it seems an indirect response.

My feeling is that I would prefer to put the HD621 in front of the Radiance. If I understand correctly, I supose the only benefit to doing the opposite is to use the Radiance's audio EDIDs to ensure that the audio format is transmitted exactly as you want.

Lumagen are actually working on adding in video delay for Meridian users as the processing plus MRC means the voice is behind the picture with the Radiance. According to the HD621 manual it has up to 85ms of lipsync configurable per input which should be more than enough for modern VPs. The Radiance is adjusting gamut, greyscale (currently 11 point, 21 point is on the to-do list), gamma, black and white levels and is scaling and deinterlacing incoming images and still manages to finish before the G68.

Tim

The advantage of putting the Lumagen ahead of the HD621 is that you can take advantage of the apodizing and upsampling features of the HD621 on more devices than the other way round - or at least that's the way I understand it. I got to know Jim quite well during the beta programme, I'll email him direct and ask him what steps they take to keep video noise away from the audio circuitry.

Tim

Will be interesting to see how Jim responds to your question. Still, you can plug a lot of devices into the HD621 even if it is in front of the Radiance so I'm not sure I take your point. In any case, I will only need to have the HD621 work on two difference sources (a BR player--most importantly and perhaps my TIVO).

I just sent the following email to Jim Peterson, President of Lumagen:

"Jim,

Meridian have recently launched the HD621. It takes LPCM audio on an HDMI feed and converts it into a Meridian High Resolution output (4x96kHz SPDIFs) for use with their audio processors. The HDMI output is video only. It also has an apodising filter and upsamples PCM. http://www.Meridian-audio.com/product-model/accessories/hd621-hdmi-audio-processor.aspx. Like the Radiance it has virtual inputs.

Their stance is that video should be kept separate from audio due to the high bandwidth noise so the HD621 should be the first item in the chain. There are those of us with Radiances that can see an advantage to having it the other way round (their HDMI sockets aren`t permanently powered for one), and as the Radiance will take the SPDIF of my Squeezebox at 44.1Hz feed it to the HD621 via HDMI which then upscales it to 88.2Hz at 24bits into my Meridian G68 surround sound controller which does its magic including but not limited to room correction.

What do you do in the Radiance to isolate audio from video noise? Providing users can be persuaded to connect things the “wrong way round”, there`s some synergy to be had between the two products.

Tim"

They are in Oregon which IIRC is PST so I might get an answer tonight. I hope so as I'm intending to hook my HD621 up this way round tomorrow!

Tim

Ah hah! Now I get it. I guess I could do the same thing with my music server. So there might be an advantage for me in putting the HD621 behind the Radiance after all. Thanks.

PS But what about a Geffen converter like this: http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4457

This one converts from optical to HDMI but I wonder if there isn't another product that would allow coax to HDMI?

EDIT: Just spoke with Geffen. That box will not do anything with the audio unless it also detects a video stream. So no go.

Okay...I decided to play with MConfig and have run into a problem for which I would like some assistance...here goes...

M 800 DVD Player...D1 D2 and D3 ---> 861 MD2 (i.e. for use as CD phantom input)
H1 ---> RadianceXE ---> HD621 H1 ---> 861 MD1 (for use as DVD physical input)

SA 8300 HD PVR....H1 ---> RadianceXE ---> HD621 H1 ---> 861 MD1

The problem occurs in that

a) 800 / DVD input in the 861 does NOT allow me to set the audio input to MD1 OR Last Valid which means that there is no way for me to select the audio over HDMI (which, one could argue, there is NO need to because the MHR is just as good and, perhaps, better)

b) SA / SAT input in the 861 does allow me to set the audio input to MD1 which means that I can select the high definition audio.

Is the above problem caused by the fact that because of putting the RadianceXE in front of the HD621 results in 1) only 1 HDMI connection from the RadanceXE to the HD621 and 2) confusion / limiting 1 device to set the audio input to MD1.

Is there a solution / workaround...

[EDIT: Interesting observation...I added a separate blu-ray player as a source and all is well...a little more thought got me thinking that the MConfig program did not like the fact that I was using the 800 as two inputs specifically the DVD physical input and the CD logical input which is I believe cause the problem...

Still, the question remains, in that is there an issue / limitation in that the 800 can not be configured as I would like it be, once as a physical input with the physical input NOT allowing me to selct MD1 as the audio source.]

TIA,


Joel

More accurately, Meridian's stance is that it doesn't want digital signals of HDMI bandwidth going into an audio processor that contains *analogue* circuitry. Hence, the HD621 extracts the digital audio from an HDMI stream and transfers it to the processor with the *much* lower bandwidth MHR/SmartLink or MMHR connections. See also Bob Stuart's comments in my post above.

Incidentally, this is probably why it took Meridian a long time (more than a year) to turn its initial G98 designs into an acceptable CD player; I'm guessing that the addition of the HDMI circuitry played havoc with the analogue outputs.

As above, in the digital domain, I don't believe this is an issue. In fact, given that the HDMI video is a carrier for the audio, I think this would be a fruitless exercise anyway.

Why are you configuring 800 with phantom inputs? It isn't necessary. Even if you define the input as MHR / Multi-channel digital your preset for 2-ch music governs the default for 2-ch input. One of the strong points of MHR is the ability to carry metadata defining content type (music vs. movies) and channel counts. [/quote]


That's your tradeoff. You have two multi-input HDMI devices which must cascade to one another. That being the case one of them is only going to have one input which is the output from the other.


Not that you'll like. Something like a 6x12 HDMI Matrix switcher, with output mirroring capability would work. This would give you 6 inputs and 12 outputs and a veritable snakes nest of cables, but it would work.


Setting aside the fact that it isn't needed, this should work, but the DVD should be input MD1 and the CD phantom should be D1.


You might have stumbled on to a genuine bug. I'll see if I can reproduce your configuration issue this evening.

This is true as you'll get (The number of Lumagen HDMI inputs) + 5 inputs from the HD621 available. I think that's about 13 inputs. I don't know of anyone that needs that many inputs, including me.

Cheers,