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Meridian 565 User Manual Supplement for DTS
Meridian Audio Limited
, Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE18 6ED, England
Tel
: +44 1480 434334
Fax
: +44 1480 432948
Web
: http://www.meridian-audio.com
Introduction
Meridian have recently released a new hardware
version of the famous 565. The hardware change
includes a new Z3 DSP card.
The Z3 card runs Version 4.x software, and will add
support for all the audio formats of DVD – including
Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS, MPEG Audio and 24-bit
PCM.
The first release of Version 4 software does not
include MPEG decoding; this will be provided as a
maintenance upgrade.
This sheet supplements your 565 Installation and
User guides and describes how to use the 565 to play
back DTS material.
The information in this sheet will be incorporated into
a new 565 User Manual when the MPEG software
upgrade to your 565 is available. Please return the
enclosed form to register your Version 4 purchase. We
will send you a final manual in due course.
Installing 565 for DTS
DTS soundtracks are available on CD, LaserDisc and
DVD. In each case the encoded DTS stream is
delivered from the SPDIF cable or optical output of the
player to the 565. There is no need for a demodulator
for DTS LaserDiscs or for Dolby Digital on DVD.
Consequently there is no need to change the way
your 565 is connected; DTS will be delivered from the
digital output of the CD and DVD players or the optical
output of the LaserDisc player directly to the 565, or
562V if one is present. (See page 9 of the
565
Installation guide.)
Please note: the digital signal carrying DTS can be
safely passed through a Meridian 519 Demodulator if
you have one.
The setup procedures for a new 565 are the same as
those outlined in the
Installation guide
for a 565 AC-3.
There is one additional
Config
parameter, and some
Config
subtleties – as outlined in this supplement.
New presets
The 565 has three new factory presets for DTS. These
are:
•
DTS CD – normally used for CDs. This preset will be
automatically called up by 565 if you play a DTS CD
and the 565 source is labelled ‘CD’.
•
DTS – for DTS movie soundtracks. The default
settings for Version 4.x assign this preset to the LP
source.
•
DTS THX – adding THX processing to DTS movies.
This preset loads automatically when the source is
‘LD’.
In keeping with current guidelines from Dolby, the AC-3
presets are now labelled ‘Digital’ and ‘Dig. THX’. If you
find this confusing, you can label your user presets in a
more helpful way.
How to use DTS
The 565 automatically detects DTS if you play a DTS
CD, LaserDisc or DVD.
When the disc starts playing, the 565 will switch to
one of its DTS presets.
If you subsequently play a different disc (such as a
standard CD or a Dolby Digital LaserDisc), the 565 will
reload another DSP preset – like Trifield or Dolby
Digital (AC-3).
Alternatively, you can manually select one of the DTS
presets at any time. (See page 18 of the
User guide.)
Please note: if you do deliberately select a DTS preset,
the 565 will
only
decode DTS and be silent for all other
formats until the preset is changed.
DSP parameters
The DSP preset parameters for DTS are the same as
those for Dolby Digital (AC-3), except for ‘Compress’
which is not a feature of DTS. (See page 40 of the
User guide.)
Correct use of the LFE Level control is important with
DTS recordings.
It is conventional for decoders to boost the LFE
signal by 10dB for movie reproduction (this is the
expected setting at the cinema).
Some DTS music material may not expect the normal
theatrical 10dB boost to the LFE signal. If you find the
sound of some material to be particularly boomy, you
should turn this parameter down to ‘LFE –10dB’ or use
the DTS CD preset instead, which has a default LFE
level of –10dB.
When DTS is being decoded, there is an additional
display available on the 565 that shows the encoded
format, like ‘4.0’ or ‘5.1’.
Storing Presets
Once you have customised a DTS preset to your liking,
you can store and name these settings as a User
Preset in the same way as any other DSP preset.
However, there is a very important difference in
functionality: while 565 will allow you to create a DTS
preset – it will not assign it to a source as part of the
‘Store’ process. (See page 30 of the
User guide.)
If you want to assign a DTS preset to a source, you
have to do that in
Config
. (See page 48 of the
Installation guide.)
Why is DTS handled differently?
Unfortunately, to understand this we have to delve into
some arcane technical issues.
Dolby Digital and MPEG are both ‘flagged’ as non-
audio in the data stream and so devices like 565 or
digital/analogue converters (DACs) know not to play it
as normal audio by mistake. (This same method is
used to prevent you playing back CDROMs as audio in
a CD player.)
If, for any reason, compressed streams are directly
played as audio, the result is a loud hiss.
Like Dolby Digital and MPEG, DTS is a compressed
(non-PCM) signal.