Specifications

Bob Stuart answers Questions about the Meridian 598
Page 8
advanced navigation features of DVD-Audio), the player is also able to automatically pick
stereo or surround material according to its setup.
39 Does it play VCD?
Yes – very well! This feature provides access to thousands of titles.
40 Does it play DAD?
DAD (Digital Audio Disc) and SAD are actually DVD-Video discs that have 96kHz 2-channel
audio streams.
The 598 plays them very well!
41 Does the 598 play DTS DVDs?
Yes. 598 can decode DTS from DVD and it can provide multichannel or 2-channel outputs.
The 598 can also be configured to provide the DTS bitstream on its digital outputs for feeding
an outboard decoder like a Meridian 861, 568.2, 561 or 565. See Q. 49.
42 Does the 598 play DTS CDs?
CDs encoded with DTS are non-standard red-book discs. The 598 detects these discs and
provides the DTS stream on the digital output. Currently the 598 does not decode DTS from
CD, so if you play one of these discs the analogue outputs will be silent. To hear these discs
you will need an outboard decoder like a Meridian 861, 568, 561 or 565.
43 Will it decode HDCD?
No, but HDCDs are CD-compatible and will play back just fine.
44 Does it put out MPEG digital streams?
Yes, 598 has options to either decode MPEG audio streams internally or to put out the
bitstream.
45 Will it play SACD?
Not the high density DSD layer. Of course 598 plays the CD layer of hybrid discs.
598 has been carefully designed to provide absolute state-of-the-art playback and media
handling for all mainstream formats that use PCM coding.
SACD is different as it employs DSD – an analogue-like bitstream lossy coding. Whilst there
are some so-called universal players available, in the high end we try to maximise each and
every source. There are no plans to offer support for SACD in 598 and we suspect no really
high-performance player will optimise CD, DVD and SACD for some time.
As new formats appear, Meridian will continually assess both their viability and their
importance to our customers. Our criteria for adding support for formats are absolute
performance quality and/or anticipated long-term availability of software.
46 What about MP3?
598 allows you to replay MP3 files stored on CD-R or DVD-R. This is a great feature for
playing back collections, for building long-playing discs for parties or for sharing discs with
portable players. Using DVD-R you can build MP3 discs with up to 1000 tracks; continuous
music for between 21 and 70 hours depending on bitrate!