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

It's honest objective opinions like these I tend to believe than the chaulk and cheese ones

Very quick HD621 install first impressions.

Just set it up last night. Chain is Panny BD55, Kaleidescape PLayer, Tosh HDXA1, HD Sat Box ->HDMI->HD621->Smart Link Coax->861. The video is going HDMI to my Radiance XE

I was expecting there to be some kind of huccup I would have to deal with- there just usually is with any electronics in a long chain and given all the hand shaking issues, I was just mentally prepared for it. In my case there were zero issues. I followed the instructions to the letter- did the m config on the HD621 and updated a few settings to my 861 and it worked right out of the box.

When I used to run the audio through the Radiance to the 861 over coax I would get a lot of pops whenever Id change a chapter or source- I think because the HD621 has the comms to the 861 this is greatly reduced. If on a scale of 1-10 before it was pretty annoying- call it a 7- now its less than a 1 but not totally eliminated.

Im not sure the picture looks any better than before- it sure does look good- but the sound is wonderful. I only had time to play a little bit of one movie: Transformers BD. What struck me most about the sound is the added detail and also the greater dynamics not on explosions but on what I would call fast sounds. Things like fighter jets that would woosh in now have more pop and impact and subtle background music is clearer.

Im not so sure I would put this on par with the difference going from DPL 2.0 to DD 5.1 but its a very welcome improvement.

I'm looking forward to more experimentation- I am still setting up my Radiance so its a lot of new moving parts to get coordinated. When I tried my Kscape as a source it did seem to be passing the DD bitstream.

So let me say this: BRAVO to Meridian because while you made us wait, and we all moaned, you delivered a beautifully polished product- the wait was worth it. Keep up the good work!

Quite simply, lossy audio codecs (perceptual codecs) mask quieter sounds which, in the right system, are not only perceptible, but add significantly to the overall experience. Welcome to the digital lossless club...

I forgot to add one other observation which I think has gone unmentioned so far. The HD621 can be used to add lip sync delay- I believe up to 85ms. By using the HD621 for lip sync, one can set the 861 to 0ms lip sync. This frees up a little more processing power for a few extra filters on MRC should one desire it...

JerryL, appreciate the shared experience and hope that you continue to relay your findings...and, as far as your instalation experience is concerned, I do hope that mine is similarly smooth...

Has anyone been able to create a setup with the HD621 and a G68 or 861 in which you have the video signal from one source while listening to the audio from another source? If so I would be very grateful if you were kind enough to explain precisely how you accomplished this (e.g., what settings in mconfig for HD621 and processor)? I've tried various combinations of phantom source and using "last valid" on HD621 and G68 but with no luck. thanks.

Hi Jack,

I set up my HD621 for the first time the other night over several hours and finally found the solution to the anomalies I was experiencing.

I have a Wii (component + optical) & Fox satelite tuner (comp + opt) feeding video into a VS50 (3 input by 1 output Component Video Switcher Card) and audio into a 4 optical input ID25 card both in a 861V4. The component output of the VS50 is fed back into an 800V4 for upscaling to 1080P by the VE12 and then output on HDMI.

Into the HD621 I have the 800 feeding video only, a PS3 feeding video and audio, a TIVO feeding video and audio, a Sony PC feeding video and audio and an Apple mini mac feeding video only. The audio on the Apple is fed via optical to the ID25 card in the 861.

Essentially I have 7 video sources currently feeding into the HD621 with the 800 providing 3 of these (DVD,Wii and Fox) on one input. Also into the 861 I have a Sonos feeding audio via optical into the ID25.

I have had to go the all optical route for audio sources into the 861 as the 6 digital inputs on the IE42 card in the 861 are now occupied by the HD621 on MD1 and the 800 on MD2.

So everything switches without problem and if I want to watch a video source while listening to another audio source, I simply selectg the video source first then the audio source next (on the assumption that the audio source doesn't come with a video source as well).

In Mconfig he "trick" to getting everything working is to click on the 861 and right click for properties. You then click on the sources tab and go through each source specifying the correct audio and video inputs. With the HD621 in the system you choose the correct MD input for the audio of the sources fed into the HD621 via HDMI.

I hope this helps as it is an easy setup once you know what to do ! Knowledge is bliss.


Cheers,


Steve

PS: The other thing I did was to retype the HD621 to Type 0 but I don't know if this is necessary as I didn't know the original default type out of the box.

Steve,

Thanks for the detailed description of your setup.

1. Regarding your comments about the mconfig setup. Perhaps because my G68 has no video switching in it (I used to leave that to my video processor and for the most part the HD621 is doing that in my system now), I do not have any options in the sources tab on the G68 to assign video. I was hoping I could do that from within the HD621 since the HD621 should have separate video and audio switching for each of it's HDMI inputs. I don't, however, see any options in the source tab of the HD621 to assign video and audio separately. I think this must be an omission in the software.

2. I still have to think a bit about how you have everything set up but on first read it seems that you are not running everything through your HD621 as you mentioned going optical into your 861. The way I have it set up is that all my sources are going through the HD621--primarily because I want to take advantage of the HD621 upsampling for my music server. The fact that you are running directly into your 861 with some sound sources might make a difference in terms of being able to assign audio and video differently, no?

3. Regarding the typing of the HD621 I had some confusion about that. In mconfig I can see the type for my G68 because there is a star next to it. With the HD621 I do not see any indication of which is the current type. At some point, I too, set the type to "0" but even after doing that I see no indication in mconfig that type 0 is the current type. I think it must be a software glitch and I assume that it is set to 0, which should, as I understand it, be the default type anyway.

Jack,

In my 861 sources tab on Mconfig, all video inputs except Fox and Wii are set to "last valid" as the only inputs in the connections listings are Y1, Y2 and "last valid". Y1, Y2 and Y3 are the 3 components inputs on the VS50 card. Fox is on Y1 and the Wii is Y2. Y3 is not being used so does not show up for selection.

In your case with no video switching, the video input choice probably doesn't exist in Mconfig but if it did, you would choose "last valid" for all sources coming through the HD621.

I can see where your problem lies. You don't have video switching in your G68 and you have all sources coming through the HD621 via HDMI as either video plus audio or audio only. The only input selections on the HD621 are H1 to H6 and "Last Valid". This is keeping video and audio coupled together rather than giving the flexibility to switch them independently by splitting the input selections into video and audio like the 861 and other processors with video switching capability.

Sorry to say unless someone else can offer an alternative solution to me it looks like the only solution is to get M to write this capability into the next firmware upgrade for the HD621.


Cheers,


Steve

I finally have my Meridian HD621 connected...the configuration is as follows:

1. Sources = SA 8300 HD PVR and Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray

2. Sources --> RadianceXE --> HD621 --> Meridian 861

I have been able to get the BD-60 (with BD-60 decoding the DD-TrueHD audio internal) --> RadianceXE --> HD621 --> Meridian 861 to produce audio; that is, after changing the "INPUT AUDIO EDID" (i.e. not the GLOBAL AUDIO EDID) to PCM 5.1 96kHz...YEAH!

I have NOT been able to get the SA 8300 --> RadianceXE --> HD621 --> Meridian 861 to produce 6 channels of audio; that is:

a) The SA 8300 is set to a DD 5.1 channel

b) The Meridian 861 shows Movie2 96kHz which means that it is receiving 2 channels of audio rather than 5.1 channels of audio

c) When I set the Radiance's "INPUT AUDIO EDID" to DD 5.1 44 kHz, DD 5.1 48 kHz and DD 5.1 96 kHz I get nothing but static.


The Question: Befor concluding that the problem is one or more of the RadianceXE or HD621 can someone please tell me whether or not:

i) The SA 8300's HDMI output passes 5.1 or, for some strange reason, downmixes the 5.1 to 2.0

ii) Those with an identical / simialr setup can shed any light on the problem.

Appreciate the assistance.

Joel, I'm concerned that, because virtually all Blu-Ray soundtracks are 48kHz and you've only been able to get your BD60 to work when you set PCM 5.1 96kHz EDID, that your player is upsampling... This would mean that the HD621 is not upsampling and you are not getting the benefits of apodizing.

Unfortunately, as I don't believe the HD621 tells the user what it's receiving, and it either forces up or down-sampling, this is very difficult to confirm one way of the other.

Joel:

This is not a problem as I can / will retest later today with EDID set to PCM 5.1 48kHz...this one will be easy to test...

The issue remains that I need to find out whether or not the SA 8300 passes DD 5.1 over its HDMI connection or whether it downsamples it to DD 2.0...


Arrrrg, did I tell you that I hate HDMI...