Meridian Configuration Program Quick guide

Meridian Configuration Program Guide
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Preface
ii
Copyright and acknowledgements
Sales and service in the UK
Meridian Audio Ltd
Latham Road
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire
PE29 6YE
England
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
Sales and service in the USA
Meridian America Inc
8055 Troon Circle
Suite C
Austell
GA30168-7849
USA
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
World Wide Web – http://www.meridian-audio.com/
Copyright © 2003-2004 Meridian Audio Ltd
Boothroyd|Stuart Meridian, Meridian, Meridian Digital Theatre,
Meridian Lossless Packing, MHR, MHR Smart Link, the MHR
logo, and MLP are registered trademarks of Meridian Audio Ltd.
Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows
logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Part no: MCP/2
This guide was produced by Human-Computer Interface Ltd,
http://www.interface.co.uk/
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Contents
iii
Contents
Getting started 1
Explains how to install the Meridian Configuration Program,
and gives a general overview of its key features.
Overview 1
Installing the Meridian Configuration Program 4
Quick tour 5
Describes how to create a complete configuration for a simple
system, and provides information about the more advanced
features of the Meridian Configuration Program.
Running the Configuration Program 5
Products: Adding a controller 7
Products: Inserting a source 11
Products: Adding speakers 15
Soft keys 18
Bass management 20
Speaker distances 22
Speaker calibration 23
Room correction 25
DSP presets 26
Tuner presets 28
Store settings 29
Finish 30
Room Correction 31
Explains how to run the Meridian Room Correction program
and create profiles for use with a digital surround controller.
Introduction 31
Auto Build 33
Viewing and repeating measurements 36
Viewing profiles 40
Editing filters 41
Changing settings at a later date 44
Troubleshooting 46
Control Window 49
Explains how to control a Meridian product from a PC via a
serial or USB cable.
Running the Meridian Control Window 49
Emulating an MSR+ or MSR 50
Using the Command tab 51
Index 53
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Contents
iv
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Getting started
1
Getting started
This chapter explains how to install the Meridian Configuration Program, and gives a general
overview of its key features.
Overview
The Meridian Configuration Program is a Windows application that
lets you design the configuration of your G Series or 800 Series
products to suit both your own personal preferences and the
particular configuration of other equipment in your system.
It uses an intuitive graphical interface that prompts you at every
stage for the information it needs to complete the system. When
you have designed the system to your requirements you can save
the configuration to the appropriate Meridian products in the
system via a serial link connected to the back of each product.
How it works
The Meridian Configuration Program reflects Meridian’s system
approach to designing audio products and presents a graphical
representation of your whole system. It allows you to create a
single configuration file representing the settings of each product in
your system and the way they are interconnected. This file is stored
in the controller of the system for future reference. As well as being
far more convenient than configuring each product independently,
this approach also enables the Meridian Configuration Program to
check that the settings you are proposing are appropriate for the
particular combination of products in the system.
The Meridian Configuration Program is structured as a wizard;
it leads you through a series of stages from the Welcome
page through to the Finish page, which is reached when the
configuration has been completed. A Breadcrumb Trail below the
toolbar at the top of the Meridian Configuration Program
window shows your current position in the sequence of pages and
allows you to jump back to an earlier page to check a particular
setting you made.
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Getting started
2
Benefits of using the Meridian
Configuration Program
Configuring your system with the Meridian Configuration Program
offers several important benefits. In particular:
• You can configure the entire system in a single operation.
• It is more convenient and more intuitive than using the front-
panel menus.
• You have access to many advanced configuration options that are
not available from the front-panel menu.
• You can conveniently edit the names of sources, DSP presets, and
radio presets using the keyboard.
• You can edit the G Series soft keys.
• If your controller is a G68 or 861 you can take advantage of
Meridian Room Correction.
• You can set up multiple systems far more conveniently than by
manually configuring each product.
• You can keep a record of the configuration of your entire system
in a single document on your PC.
If you have made manual adjustments to the configuration of
a product from the front panel, you can fetch the product’s
configuration into the Meridian Configuration Program as the
starting point for the configuration of your system, in order to
retain the settings, such as calibration settings.
Meridian Control Window
The Meridian Configuration Program is supplied with the Meridian
Control Window utility, a separate PC application that allows you
to control any Meridian product via a serial cable (or USB cable
on certain products) using a simple push button interface that
emulates a Meridian MSR+ or MSR remote control. Alternatively it
allows you to submit commands by name, and supply parameters
for commands that take a value, such as the volume setting.
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Breadcrumb Trail
Information Bar
Toolbar
Tabs to add new products
Resource Bar
Controller
Sources Speakers
Getting started
3
The Products page
The following illustration shows the key features of the Products
page, which lets you specify how your system is interconnected:
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Getting started
4
Requirements
To use the Meridian Configuration Program you need:
• A computer running Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT 4, ME, or XP.
• 10Mbytes of free disk space.
The Meridian Configuration Program communicates with the
products you are setting up via a serial cable. The computer you are
using needs to have a nine-pin serial port available, or you can use
a USB/serial adaptor.
Alternatively some G Series products include a USB port, in which
case the Meridian Configuration Program can communicate with
them via a USB cable connected to the computer’s USB port.
The software requires a mouse or similar pointing device – it
cannot be operated solely from the keyboard.
To install the Meridian Configuration Program
• Insert the Meridian Configuration Program Installation CD-ROM.
The Setup program should run automatically when the CD-ROM is
inserted. If not, locate setup.exe on the CD-ROM and run it.
The Setup program Welcome page will be displayed.
• Follow the wizard.
On the Preferences page:
• Leave Install for all users selected, unless you want to restrict
use of the program to yourself on a multi-user machine.
Installing the Meridian Configuration Program
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Running the Configuration
Program
• Click Start, point at All Programs, Meridian, then click
Configuration Program:
T h e Welcome page will be displayed. This provides links to useful
information.
Using the Meridian Configuration
Program
The simplest way to use the Meridian Configuration Program is to
click the links in the Breadcrumb Trail and Information Bar at the
top of the window; for example:
The Breadcrumb Trail shows a sequence of hyperlinks to pages you
have already visited; this is indicated by the blue underline. Clicking
one of the links takes you to the corresponding page to allow you
to check your settings on that page, or make changes. The last
entry on the Breadcrumb Trail is usually Next, which takes you to
the next page.
The Information Bar provides help about the current page, and
tells you what to do next. The Information Bar contains two types
of hyperlink: definitions, prefixed by a question mark icon, which
display a pop-up window with a definition of the item, and jumps,
prefixed by an arrow icon, which perform an action or jump to
another page.
Quick tour
5
Quick tour
This section gives complete step-by-step instructions for creating a complete configuration for
a typical simple system. Even if this does not correspond to your own system we recommend
you follow the tutorial to give you a quick tour of the Meridian Configuration Program.
At each stage the Quick tour shows information in grey tinted boxes about the more advanced
features of the program, and the additional options for configuring 800 Series products.
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Quick tour
6
Starting a configuration
To start creating a configuration from the Welcome page:
• Click the Next link in the Breadcrumb Trail:
T h e Products page will then be displayed. This allows you to
define the products in your system and indicate how they are
connected together.
Getting help
For more detailed information about the Meridian Configuration
Program see the on-line help. To display the help:
• On the Help menu, click Configuration Program Help.
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Quick tour
7
Products: Adding a controller
The controller is defined as the product that selects sources and
controls the volume for the system; it is the digital surround
controller, preamplifier, or combination product. In this example it is
a G68 Digital Surround Controller.
• Click the insert a controller link in the Information Bar.
An Insert dialogue box is displayed to allow you to specify the
type of controller.
• Select G68ADV from the drop-down list and click the OK button
to add the product:
You will then be asked whether you want to fetch an existing
configuration from the controller. If you are starting from scratch, as
in this Quick tour, you do not need to do this. For more information
see the
Advanced tips on the next page.
• Click the No button to indicate that you do not want to fetch
data from the digital surround controller:
The Products page will then show a block representing the
G68ADV Digital Surround Controller:
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Advanced tips
Adding products by dragging them from the Resource Bar
The most flexible way of adding products is to drag an appropriate
icon from the Resource Bar (to the left of the Products page)
onto the Products page:
Fetching settings from a product
If you have changed any settings on a product from the front
panel since making a previous configuration, you can retain the
settings by using the Meridian Configuration Program to fetch the
configuration from the product, rather than starting from a default
configuration as described above. This is also useful if you cannot
locate the file on the computer.
• Connect a serial cable between the product and your PC, as
described in
To connect the serial cable , page 23.
• When the Fetch from Product dialogue box is displayed click
the Yes button.
Performing other actions
Right-clicking on most objects on the Products page displays a
context menu of actions appropriate to that object:
For example, to delete a product:
• Right-click the product, then click Delete on the context menu.
Note: If you delete the controller you will need to restart the
configuration from scratch.
Displaying or changing product properties
Many products provide a range of properties that you can change
for specific situations. To display the product properties:
• Right-click the product, then click Properties on the context
menu, or double-click the product.
T h e Properties dialogue box shows a list of the properties
associated with the product, and allows you to view or change
their values:
For detailed information about each of the properties refer to the
Configuration chapter in the Installation Guide for the product,
or the FAQs section in the on-line help. To display this click
Configuration Program Help on the Help menu.
8
Quick tour
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Changing the value of a property
• Click the value of the property.
• Choose an option from the drop-down list:
If it is a numeric property you will get a spin button rather than a
drop-down list:
If it is an on/off property you can click the checkbox to change the
value:
If you have changed the value of a property an asterisk (*) is
shown after its name.
Reverting a property to its default value
• Right-click the property, then click Revert to Default on the
context menu:
The menu option shows the default value.
Configuring 800 Series products
Adding an 800 Series controller
If you are adding an 800 Series controller a dialogue box will allow
you to specify one of the product’s standard card configurations.
Alternatively select Minimal to add a minimum set of cards at this
stage, in which case you will be prompted to add further cards as
you make connections to the product:
Adding cards
You will be automatically prompted to add cards as required
when you add sources or speakers to the 800 Series product.
Alternatively you can add cards explicitly if you prefer:
Either:
• Drag the appropriate card icon from the 861 Cards or 800
Cards tab in the Resource Bar (to the left of the Products
page).
Or:
• Right-click the product icon, then click Add Card… on the
context menu:
Quick tour
9
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The following dialogue box allows you to specify the card type and,
when appropriate, the position of the jumper identifying the card:
Removing a card
• Right-click one of the outputs on the card, then click Remove
Card on the context menu.
Displaying the properties of a card
• Right-click one of the outputs on the card, then click the
Properties item on the context menu.
A Properties dialogue box shows information about the type of
card, its slot positions, and the jumper setting:
Displaying information about the cards
• In the Properties dialogue box click the Cards tab.
Initially this shows a graphic of the card positions:
To show a list of the cards:
• Right-click, then click Details on the context menu:
This shows a list of the installed cards:
You can also add a card, remove a card, or display a card’s
properties in the Graphic or Details view by right-clicking, then
clicking Properties on the context menu.
Quick tour
10
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Quick tour
11
The next step is to add the sources in your system. For this Quick
tour we will assume a satellite receiver is required.
• Click the insert a source link in the Information Bar.
An Insert Source dialogue box is displayed to allow you to select
the type of source.
• Choose Satellite from the drop-down list, and click the OK
button to add the source:
The Connection Wizard is then displayed to assist you in
connecting the source to your other equipment:
• Leave Yes selected to make the recommended connections
between the source and the controller.
The Meridian Configuration Program will use a set of connections
which match the back panel screening of the controller to make
wiring up straightforward
• Click the Finish button to make the recommended connections.
The connections will be displayed on the Products page:
This shows the audio connection between the satellite receiver
optical output and the optical input O1 on the digital surround
controller, and the S-video and component video connections
between the satellite receiver and the digital surround controller.
You can now proceed to add the other sources in your system in a
similar way. In this example we are only inserting a single source.
See the
Advanced tips on the next page for information about
modifying these connections; eg to use analogue rather than
optical for audio.
Products: Inserting a source
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Advanced tips
Showing a list of the recommended connections
• Click the Details… button in the Connection Wizard dialogue
box.
This shows the connections that will be made if you choose the
Yes (recommended) option:
Specifying connections manually
• Choose the No (advanced) option in the Connection Wizard
dialogue box.
• Click the Next button to continue.
• Specify each connection that you want to make from the source
to the controller, using the From: and To: drop down lists, then
click the Connect button to make the connection:
• Click the Finish button to close the Connection Wizard
dialogue box.
Renaming a source
You can give each source a name of up to five characters to
identify it on the front-panel display:
• Right-click the source, then click Rename… on the context
menu:
The following dialogue box allows you to enter a new name:
Changing the MSR+ key for a source
You can choose which MSR+ key selects each source:
• Right-click the source, then click Properties on the context
menu.
• Click the Identification tab in the Properties dialogue box.
Quick tour
12
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• Choose the MSR+ key from the MSR+ key drop-down list:
Showing and hiding connections
You can choose whether or not source connections are displayed
by clicking the View or Hide Source Connections button in the
toolbar:
Displaying information about the style of each
connection line
• On the View menu, click Legend.
Connecting using drag and drop
You can also connect between any two compatible connectors
using drag and drop:
• Drag between the output on the source and the input on the
controller that you want to connect:
When you release the mouse button the cable will be connected:
If the connectors are incompatible a stop cursor will be displayed:
Removing a connection
• Drag from one of the connectors and release the mouse button:
The cable connecting the two products will be removed.
Quick tour
13
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Making a multichannel connection
If you are connecting a product with multichannel outputs, such
as a G98DH DVD Player, to a digital surround controller with
multichannel inputs, the Meridian Configuration Program can
create a multichannel configuration when you drag between two
appropriate connectors:
A prompt allows you to choose whether to make a single or
multichannel connection.
If you choose Yes the multichannel connection will automatically
be made:
Adding or removing inputs or outputs
With non-Meridian sources you can add new inputs or outputs,
or remove inputs or outputs, to reflect the connectors provided by
your source. For example, if your satellite receiver includes a digital
coax output you can add a connector for this:
• Right-click one of the source’s existing connectors, point to
Connection on the context menu, then click New… on the
submenu:
The Add Connector dialogue box allows you to define the new
connector.
• Specify the type of connector using the Class and Type drop-
down list, enter a name, and choose Output or Input as
appropriate:
• Click the OK button to add the connector.
Quick tour
14
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Quick tour
15
The next step is to add the speakers in your system.
• Click the insert a speaker link in the Information Bar.
The Insert Speaker dialogue box allows you to select which type
of speaker you want to add, and the positions in which to add it.
• Select DSP8000 from the Type drop-down list.
The Location will automatically be set to Front left/right:
• Click the OK button to add the speakers.
The speakers will be added to the appropriate points in the layout,
and the connections will automatically be made between the
speakers and the controller:
• Click the insert a speaker link again and select DSP5500HC
from the Type drop-down list to add a centre speaker:
The program will offer to add a 511 patch box to the layout to
connect the Comms cables for the speakers:
• Click the Yes button to confirm.
• Click the insert a speaker link again and click Analogue
(passive) on the Type drop-down list to add small analogue
rear speakers:
• Click the OK button to add the speakers.
The Meridian Configuration Program will automatically prompt you
to add an amplifier to the layout to drive the passive speakers:
Products: Adding speakers
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Quick tour
16
• Click the Yes button.
• Click G57 on the Amplifier type drop-down list, and click the
OK button to add the amplifier:
The G57 will automatically be connected up to the appropriate
analogue output on the digital surround controller:
Finally insert a subwoofer into the layout:
• Click the insert a speaker link in the Information Bar and select
Subwoofer from the Type drop-down list:
You can proceed to add any other speakers in your layout in a
similar way.
• Click the Next link in the Breadcrumb Trail to proceed to the
next page.
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