ling_w
Second Unit
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2001
- Messages
- 426
Meridian owners are low keyed, not like those fanatic Lexicon owners or even the Outlaw lusters, where nobody even heard the unit (I started waiting for that unit 2 yeas ago, but gave up after 6 months.) But the Meridian users are out there.
Here is the Meridian forum:
http://www.softronix.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi
And the Meridian Hardware FAQ and a quote of a question from it:
http://www.softronix.com/ubb/meridianfaq.html
How does Lexicon stack up against Meridian?
Harmless.
As you see in most reviews of processors, they don't go into as much detail about surround steering, F/R steering, etc. That is because they all use generic of the shelf DSP algorithms. Meridian and a few other companies rewrite their whole DD/DTS/DPL/Music surround algorithms.
Another killer music mode on this unit is Ambisonic. This requires the disc to be encoded for it (either as 2ch vector matrix (all of Nimbus's titles are encoded this way, but they are all 2ch playback compatable) or 5ch using DD or DTS as the carrier.) This music mode literally puts all the fake surround modes to shame. It literally also puts any music recorded via conventional DD/DTS format to shame. It is that good. Ambisonic decouples the number of recorded channels from the number of playback channels. Nimbus' titles, recorded in XY axis, requires 2ch as a carrier. They could be played back on the Meridian with 4/5/6/7 channels extracted out of the vector information. With true ambisonic decoders, you can go up to 10/20/30 discrete channels. If DD/DTS only adopted this as a surround format, there wouldn't be a rush to 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 10.3... All the surround info could have been encoded in 4 channels, and playback could be anything from 2.0 to 30.x. Unfortunately, due to the British not knowing what they are doing in terms of marketing (Michael Gerzon, Ambisonic and Trifield inventor, was a math genius, but not a marketing one,) titles are limited.
As you know DVD-A's lossless compression algorithm utilizes Meridian's MLP. This was a classic case of David taking on Goliath and won, all because Bob Stuart of Meridian knew way back that DD/DTS's compression algorithm was not high enough quality and devised the MLP implementation long before anybody else was even thought about it. With Stuart's digital expertise, and Gerzon's surround implementation. Meridian's product are hard to beat.
Here are a few reviews of the 565:
Link Removed
http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/..._printrev.html
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/test...idian565.shtml
Most web sites that mentions Meridian and its Trifield mode just brush over (enthusiastically, neverless,) but here are a few that describe it in more detail or talk about it in an absolute scale:
Stereophile's extensive review of the whole Meridian system, not the same as the 565, but it goes through quite a bit about the different music modes and how it compares to unprocessed 2ch.
http://www.stereophile.com/fullarchives.cgi?201
A review of the 561, and a quote about Trifield:
http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/..._printrev.html
"and it supports Trifield, which is the best available means of reproducing multi-channel audio from well-recorded two-channel stereo."
Here is a comparision of various music surround modes from Lexicon's Music Logic, Meridian's Trifield, Circle Surround and a prototype Quintium algorithm and a brief quote from it:
http://www.studio-sound.com/archive/...echnology.html
"Of all the processors tested, the Meridian 565 probably showed the best ability to retain focus and stability in the front image."
Here is an AV workshop site that metions about surround modes and a quote from it:
Link Removed
"Considerable numbers of proprietary schemes exist which either add more speakers to one of the configurations above by calculating additional signals from the basic set (for example, a four channel signal might be turned into six, with the extra channels feeding two extra extreme left and right fronts), or try to simulate the effect of speakers which aren't available, such as attempting to fool the ears that sound is coming from behind the listening position using only front speakers. In general, they're not worth paying extra for, but are occasionally not a complete disaster if they happen to come in a package you want anyway. A known exception is the Meridian 'Trifield' process, which is thought by most independent listeners to improve most Stereo material by reformatting the signal for three speakers including a centre. Sadly, Meridian equipment is expensive."
Here is the Meridian forum:
http://www.softronix.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi
And the Meridian Hardware FAQ and a quote of a question from it:
http://www.softronix.com/ubb/meridianfaq.html
How does Lexicon stack up against Meridian?
Harmless.
As you see in most reviews of processors, they don't go into as much detail about surround steering, F/R steering, etc. That is because they all use generic of the shelf DSP algorithms. Meridian and a few other companies rewrite their whole DD/DTS/DPL/Music surround algorithms.
Another killer music mode on this unit is Ambisonic. This requires the disc to be encoded for it (either as 2ch vector matrix (all of Nimbus's titles are encoded this way, but they are all 2ch playback compatable) or 5ch using DD or DTS as the carrier.) This music mode literally puts all the fake surround modes to shame. It literally also puts any music recorded via conventional DD/DTS format to shame. It is that good. Ambisonic decouples the number of recorded channels from the number of playback channels. Nimbus' titles, recorded in XY axis, requires 2ch as a carrier. They could be played back on the Meridian with 4/5/6/7 channels extracted out of the vector information. With true ambisonic decoders, you can go up to 10/20/30 discrete channels. If DD/DTS only adopted this as a surround format, there wouldn't be a rush to 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 10.3... All the surround info could have been encoded in 4 channels, and playback could be anything from 2.0 to 30.x. Unfortunately, due to the British not knowing what they are doing in terms of marketing (Michael Gerzon, Ambisonic and Trifield inventor, was a math genius, but not a marketing one,) titles are limited.
As you know DVD-A's lossless compression algorithm utilizes Meridian's MLP. This was a classic case of David taking on Goliath and won, all because Bob Stuart of Meridian knew way back that DD/DTS's compression algorithm was not high enough quality and devised the MLP implementation long before anybody else was even thought about it. With Stuart's digital expertise, and Gerzon's surround implementation. Meridian's product are hard to beat.
Here are a few reviews of the 565:
Link Removed
http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/..._printrev.html
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/test...idian565.shtml
Most web sites that mentions Meridian and its Trifield mode just brush over (enthusiastically, neverless,) but here are a few that describe it in more detail or talk about it in an absolute scale:
Stereophile's extensive review of the whole Meridian system, not the same as the 565, but it goes through quite a bit about the different music modes and how it compares to unprocessed 2ch.
http://www.stereophile.com/fullarchives.cgi?201
A review of the 561, and a quote about Trifield:
http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/..._printrev.html
"and it supports Trifield, which is the best available means of reproducing multi-channel audio from well-recorded two-channel stereo."
Here is a comparision of various music surround modes from Lexicon's Music Logic, Meridian's Trifield, Circle Surround and a prototype Quintium algorithm and a brief quote from it:
http://www.studio-sound.com/archive/...echnology.html
"Of all the processors tested, the Meridian 565 probably showed the best ability to retain focus and stability in the front image."
Here is an AV workshop site that metions about surround modes and a quote from it:
Link Removed
"Considerable numbers of proprietary schemes exist which either add more speakers to one of the configurations above by calculating additional signals from the basic set (for example, a four channel signal might be turned into six, with the extra channels feeding two extra extreme left and right fronts), or try to simulate the effect of speakers which aren't available, such as attempting to fool the ears that sound is coming from behind the listening position using only front speakers. In general, they're not worth paying extra for, but are occasionally not a complete disaster if they happen to come in a package you want anyway. A known exception is the Meridian 'Trifield' process, which is thought by most independent listeners to improve most Stereo material by reformatting the signal for three speakers including a centre. Sadly, Meridian equipment is expensive."
