Meridian Digital Surround Controller 561 General instructions

Surround Controller Update
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Meridian Surround
Controller Update
This Addendum describes the Surround Controller upgrade available for
all three of Meridian’s current Surround Controllers, the 861, 561, and 568.
This upgrade adds three important DSP processing modes to your
Surround Controller: Dolby Pro Logic II, THX Surround EX, and Meridian
EZ. In addition, it adds two new display options.
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Surround Controller Update
Sales and service in the UK
Meridian Audio Ltd
Stonehill
Stukeley Meadows
Cambs
PE29 6EX
England
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
World Wide Web
http://www.meridian-audio.com
Part no: SCU
Sales and service in the USA
Meridian America Inc
3800 Camp Creek Parkway
Building 2400
Suite 122
Atlanta
GA 30331
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
Designed and
manufactured in the UK by
Meridian Audio Ltd
Stonehill
Stukeley Meadows
Cambs
PE29 6EX
England
Copyright © 2001 Digital Gramophone and Wireless Ltd.
Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories Licensing
Corporation (Canadian patent 1,037,877), Lucasfilm Ltd. (US patents
5,043,970; 5,189,703; 5,222,059), Trifield Productions Ltd, and Nimbus
Records Ltd.
Dolby, Pro Logic, Pro Logic II, AC-3, and the double-D symbol are
trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Lucasfilm, THX,
and THX Cinema are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. DTS is a
registered trademark of Digital Theatre Systems Inc. MPEG is a
registered trademark of the MPEG organisation. Ambisonic is a
registered trademark of Nimbus Records Ltd. Trifield is a trademark of
Trifield Productions Ltd. LaserDisc is a trademark of Pioneer Electric
Corp. Boothroyd|Stuart Meridian, Meridian, Meridian Digital Theatre,
MLP, EZ, and LipSync are registered trademarks of Meridian Audio Ltd.
This guide was produced by Human-Computer Interface Ltd, Cambridge,
England.
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Surround Controller Update
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Pro Logic II
Dolby Pro Logic II is a new DSP processing mode designed for
two-channel sources, whether or not they are encoded for Dolby
Surround. It re-creates 5.1-channel movie surround from the
two-channel source, using improved decoding techniques that
preserve the directness of the sound field, resulting in enhanced
image stability compared with standard Pro Logic decoding.
Meridian’s implementation of Pro Logic II was the first in the
world to receive Dolby approval, and uses priorietary code
based on 48-bit precision to give outstanding clarity.
Pro Logic II is available for any two-channel PCM or analogue
input. It is not available for two-channel Dolby Digital inputs; if
you want to use Pro Logic II with a two-channel Dolby Digital
soundtrack from a DVD you should first switch your DVD player
to PCM (two-channel) output mode.
Pro Logic II preset parameters
The following preset parameters are available for all the Pro
Logic II presets:
Parameter Options What it changes
Steered All Steered Rear, Which of the four
Steered Side, surround channels
Steered All are generated by
steering.
R Delay 10ms to 25ms* The delay of the rears.
S Delay 10ms to 25ms* The delay of the sides.
Rear -30db to +10db The level of the rears.
Sides -30db to +10db The level of the sides.
* 0 to 15ms in the PLII Music preset.
Three new presets have been added for Pro Logic II: PLII
Music, PLII Movie, and PLII THX.
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Surround Controller Update
PLII Music
The PLII Music preset is designed to use the Pro Logic II DSP
processing mode to decode music sources. It provides three
additional menus to allow you adjust the sound field:
Parameter Options What it changes
Width 0 to 7 The centre spread, where
0 is full centre and 7 is full
left and right.
Dimension -3 to +3 The spatial sound field,
where -3 puts the balance
to the rear of the room and
+3 puts it to the front.
Panorama No, Yes Extends the front stereo
image to include the
surround speakers,
providing a wrap-around
effect new to Pro Logic.
PLII Movie and PLII THX
The PLII Movie preset is optimised for theatre listening, and is
the recommended choice when decoding Dolby Surround
movies. PlI THX is the same as PLII Movie but with the
enhancements of THX post-processing, including re-
equalisation and timbre matching. An additional Pro Logic
parameter is provided:
Parameter Options What it changes
Pro Logic Off, On On selects the original Pro
Logic decoding.
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Surround Controller Update
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THX Surround EX and Meridian EZ
THX Surround EX and Meridian EZ are DSP processing modes
that are designed to give improved surround imaging with four
surround speakers.
Both THX Surround EX and Meridian EZ can be used with THX
Surround EX encoded material. In addition, Meridian EZ can be
used to give improved surround imaging with DTS ES encoded
material.
Both THX Surround EX and Meridian EZ can also be used with
non-encoded material, and often give a good effect depending
on the soundtrack.
THX Surround EX
THX Surround EX allows 5.1-channel film soundtracks to be
encoded with an extra surround channel during the mixing
process. EX post-processing can be used with THX when
decoding a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital signal. The decoded
surround signals are matrixed to the four surround speakers
giving more detailed imaging behind the listener and bringing
more depth, ambience, and localisation than before.
The Digital THX preset now includes an additional preset
parameter to allow you to turn on or off the EX post-processing:
Parameter Options What it changes
THX-EX On, Off, Auto Switches on or off the EX
post-processing. Auto
automatically detects
bitstreams marked as EX
encoded*.
Note that some EX-encoded discs may not be marked as EX
encoded, in which case select On rather than Auto.
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Surround Controller Update
Meridian EZ
Meridian have used their experience in developing algorithms for
multiple surround speakers to create a proprietary DSP
processing mode, called Meridian EZ. This is designed to give
an exciting spacious surround enhancement for non-THX
enhanced 5.1 sources, such as Dolby Digital and DTS.
An additional menu is available in the following presets to allow
EZ post-processing to be turned on or off: Digital, DTS, DTS
Music, MPEG, and MPEG Music.
Meridian EZ Preset Parameter
Parameter Options What it changes
EZ Off, On, Auto* Switches Meridian EZ
post-processing on or off.
* Auto is only available for Dolby Digital sources.
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Additional display options
In addition to the three new DSP processing modes provided by
the upgrade, two new display features have been added.
Dialog normalisation display
Dolby Digital audio streams include Dialog Normalisation and
Mix levels, to specify the recommended listening level of the
soundtrack.
The Surround Controller uses the Dialog Normalisation level to
adjust the volume level so that the soundtrack is reproduced at
the correct absolute level, assuming the system is calibrated to
produce 75dB SPL at volume 87.
The Mix level is an alternative level which you can select by
setting the Compression parameter to Mix.
The Dialog Normalisation or Mix level is now shown in a
separate display option for Dolby Digital sources:
For example:
DialNorm -31
Or:
MixLevel -27
MHR indicator
MHR (Meridian High Resolution) is a proprietary encoding format
which can be applied to digital audio streams between Meridian
components. It has the very important benefit of lowering jitter
and improving sound quality.
If an input stream has been MHR encoded the stream display
will now show an additional MHR indicator.
For example:
CD MHR 96k
Sources that supply MHR encoded streams include the Meridian
800 and 596 DVD Players. This display can be used to ensure
that maximum quality has been preserved from the source to the
processor.
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Surround Controller Update
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