meridien digital theatre

eddiewww

Established Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2002
Messages
663
Reaction score
143
Points
185
Location
Blackheath, SE London
i recently bought a whole sytem from meridien and had had a problem from the out... i have had meridien down, the shop director was even here today to try and sort out my problem... i wondered if anybody else had a similar problem.
when i switch between DSP modes i hear a distinct "crack" coming from some (not always the same and sometimes only one) of the speakers. i also hear it when i am not switching..ie listening on any of the inputs... it is irregular and not just my "looking out" for it. i thought i must be imagining it when i first heard it ! it also makes a similar but not the same noise when i put it into standby ... i have it hooked into a panasonic plasma and have heard that the high rfi on them can sometimes affect remotes and tried listening to the system with it unplugged and still hear the noise.
the shop are taking it back next week and trying it in there dem room to see if the "environment" is the cause .... but since the envirnment doesn't change when i change DSP modes i cant see that being the cause... they have said they will swap out whatever is the cause, upto and including the whole system .. so i know it will all be OK in the end .. but if it is something simple that somebody has experienced and can be done now.. then i want to do that ..
so... anybody out there had the same ??

my system is:
598 dvd audio player (progresive with MHR)
568.2 processor
5 X DSP33 (digital)
1 X D1500 sub (digital)
 
where about are you, in the uk

is the cracking like mains noise or data interferance down the digital cable , are they running near main's cable's etc more info please


cause i no a very good shop in the surrey area for meridien & one person there no's meridien well..:cool:
 
yes...it is like a mains "pop" ... but .... since the signal going down the cable is digital it should be unaffected by mains borne RFI ... the signal is just a series of on and offs.... if an RFI signal is induced and affects the signal... it still appears as an on or off at the end of the cable...just a bit distorted and then gets filtered back to make a "good" on or off again.

i live in london ... i would certainly like to hear from your mate if he has any ideas though.

my personal thinking is a "dry joint" in one of the leads or connections.... in the comms part ... since it appears when changing DSP's and the MHR system has to "tell" the speakers as they are MHR enabled ... but also during normal listening.. so the "dry joint" may be kicking in there also.
 
There are two things you might want to try:

1) "Hard" power cycling your 568 (and probably everything else as well).

2) "Re-typing" your 568.


I once had a problem with my 568 after I upgraded the firmware where I would get extremely load digital cracking sounds when navigating DVD menus.

Someone suggested that the code that gets loaded into the DSPs can get corrupted under some circumstances (I think some of the DSPs are initialised at power on and others are dynamically initialised when you change modes).

The first option (hard power cycling) makes sure it isn't just some temporary memory corruption after an upgrade or power spike or whatever and the second option (re-typing) completely resets all of the DSP settings.

**** Be warned though: if you go for the re-typing you'll have to recalibrate and set up all of your user options again ****

To be honest, I can't remember if it was the first or second option that solved my problem (it was almost three years ago) but it did work.

If you use the PC setup program you might want to create a new setup from scratch and redo your settings (just in case uploading the config to your PC copies the "corruption" as well).

Ronnie
 
I swapped my 568 unit over for a replacement for a problem similar to this. The new unit was the same. I downloaded the latest software from the website and reinstalled the 568 using the PC software. Previous to this I had only initially set up the unit from the front panel.

The other thing to check is the digital cable between the 568 and 598. Meridian's blue cable is very nice, but doesn't have much shielding should it live within a 'nasty' environment.
 
thanks guys..
something to do tomorrow.... but i wont go any further i dont think......i have just had on sky news which is via the optical lead and the pops were coming at times 3 a minute then nothing for 2 minutes then a faint pop ...then 3 minutes before another couple ...
i have lost patience now... i will call the shop and tell them i want a complete swap out and install.
i just got EP2 on NTSC so i can get the prog scan working ... THX surround ... should be heaven ... but when i put on the THX optimiser ... when it is on audio test ... the right side speaker is silent (as i was expecting ) but when it gets to the left side.. the rears and the front left start up !!
perhaps i should have gone TAG....
 
eddiewww


Sorry 2 hear of your problems witht the 568.2
Get your dealer / Meridian to give you a new unit....Dont give up on the 568.2.....your patience will be rewarded........... I've heard the 598 / 568.2 with MHR Smart Link & it is fabulous.

One happy, overjoyed 596 / 568.2 owner.


Adzman.
 
i have had 3... processors and 2 DVD's !! they sound great it's just the constant "crackling" i get ... i have convinced myself it was cabling... at least after that it can ONLY be the speakers !

just want to swap the whole lot out and get to the bottom of it !
 
Have you done the software reinstallation? The dealer should have done this in first install. If not, get them to do it. I think this should fix your problem.

To me, it sounds like it's been plugged in straight from the box... the dealer really should do better for the sort of money you've spent. It doesn't give a good first impression, but like Adzman said, don't give up on it because once you have it configured correctly (via pc) it is simply stunning.
 
eddiewww,

For the amount of money you've paid the system should work properly without you having to fiddle with it at all, and especially it should have none of the such obvious cracks and pops.

You should by this time also raise the question with the dealer of obtaining a refund is the replacement system is showing the same problem. This maybe easier to achieve if you try the replacement in their own demo room and not accept delivery if problems are evident again.

It does appear on the face of it that 'digital' is heavily overrated.
 
The Shop Is In Camberley Called Audio T Ask for Ian they are meridien Dealer very very good . they will setup your system up Via pc .But As You may of got you stuff for another hifi Shop there may charge you .


Boogie Man
 
Yeah, they're pretty good in there. Actually they stock lot's of brands but are always trying to flog me Meridian stuff when I go in there :D
 
well.... i dont think it is just setting it up... i set the system up initially on my PC... once you have a read of the manual it's not tricky...set what is on which I/P and the dimentions of your room really.... this was all done again by the dealer .. afew times ... this was also when i got my first replcement processor ... then the engineer frommeridian came down and set it all up ... he did find some units that were not set up and i thought that was it ... we did a few etsts and were happy ... we thought that the pops may be due in some way to the optical I/P ... but after they left i had a chance to fully try the system and had the pops i described ... i called the dealer again and they came round (the top install guy and the director) and swapped out both processor and DVD ...still the problem.... we even swapped out the cables..... the installer is back on thursday and we will take the whole lot to there demo room and hook it up and see if the evirnment is the cause.... not something i am dismissing out of hand, but i don't believe it is the problem.... the dealer has said that they will get to the bottom of it and swap whatever is the problem... they even brought round a mains conditioner to see if that solved the problem....
its very frustrating as i cannot enjoy the system which i have dreamt of for as long as i can remember...i have worked long and hard to be in a position to afford it and the whole thing is being marred by this problem, which i am conviced will turn out to be a patch box or silly set up thing...
 
Eddie

Whilst you're waiting for you dealer to sort out your "Popping"
problem, why not copy your original post to the unofficial Meridian forum Here

Meridian Staff are also known to browse the forum from time to time.

Like yourself I own an MDT fronted previously by the 565 and now by 861 processor and both had problems with Popping. Not Loud , but certainly audible from the speakers.

Everytime I played a DTS encoded Laser Disc or DVD using the Pioneer LD/DVD 919, the system popped. I tried both a coaxial and optical cables, but the same problem.

Meridian tech staff put it down to a "dirty DTS signal flag" if I remember correctly. I subsequently changed the Player and have since had no problems.

The message here is that it could be your source (598)..

<<its very frustrating as i cannot enjoy the system which i have dreamt of for as long as i can remember...i have worked long and hard to be in a position to afford it and the whole thing is being marred by this problem>>

Don't give up the system, your patience will be rewarded.:)
(from owner for over 6 years) It's worth every hard earned penny
:)

Del:)
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom