Meridian Audio Limited, Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows, Huntingdon, Cambs PE29 6EX
Tel +44 1480 445678 Fax +44 1480 445686
http://www.meridian-audio.com/
598/568.2 Smart Link info.
JMB v1.0 30
th
April 2002
MHR Smart Link in a 568.2 / 598 system
Introduction.
When a Meridian 568.2 Surround Sound Processor and Meridian 598 DVD Audio player are used together
in a system, it is expected that they be wired together using the Meridian MHR Smart Link. The Smart Link
allows six encrypted digital audio channels to be transferred directly from a 598 into a 568.2. Users should
note that the MHR Smart Link is the first approved digital DVD-A output connection, making it a unique
feature at this time, only available to Meridian customers.
The connection is designed to provide significant features and benefits for users. These, and their
implications, are described herein.
Features.
The 598 can be configured to decode all encoded audio streams internally and send out audio on the MHR
Smart Link, this allows the Processor to upsample (if possible) the audio stream and process the signals at a
higher rate, giving an improved audio performance.
The Smart Link also carries intelligent stream content information from the player; this includes information
about the source material, such as the encoding on the disc. The 568.2 can use this information to select a
suitable DSP preset for a selection of discs, such as Trifield for 2-channel music, or PLII Movie for a 2-
channel movie soundtrack.
Initial set-up.
Standard ‘Types’ (inbuilt default configurations for the products) will set up all parameters ready for
immediate Smart Link operation. If you wish to start this way then you should ‘Type’ the 568.2 to the required
speaker layout (in standby hold down ‘Volume up’) and type the 598 to ‘Type 1’ (in standby hold down the
‘Off’ key). See the 568.2 manual for more information on ‘Types’ and what happens when you have a Multi-
channel input card.
If you wish to use the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to define a more complicated configuration for the
568.2 then we recommend you start with a ‘Type’ as above and ‘Fetch’ into the GUI. This will set the
enhanced source as described below, which you may then modify.
The enhanced source.
Only one ‘source’ is required to provide all the functionality of the Smart Link, the ‘enhanced’ source. It has
seven different presets set-up to handle incoming audio streams, these split into two groups. Three are for
traditionally encoded streams: Dolby Digital, DTS and MPEG. Four are specifically for the different types of
stream available over the MHR Smart Link:
Music 2 - for 2-channel music material, such as from a CD
Music 6 - for multi-channel music from a DVD-Audio disc
Movie 2 - for 2-channel audio streams from a DVD-Video soundtrack
Movie 6 - for a decoded multi-channel DVD-Video soundtrack
