Linn Surround Module

Direct decoding of surround streams from HDMI / HDMI-ARC / TOSLINK / SPDIF is supported with the addition of a Linn Surround module mounted onto the HDMI-2 board within the DSM.

The Linn Surround module is sold only as an upgrade to any:

Selekt or Akurate or Klimax DSM

• with Exakt capability and
• fitted with a HDMI-2 board.

List of products that support the surround upgrade module

Selekt Products

• All variants of Selekt DSM (upgraded with Selekt HDMI switching module)

Akurate Products

• Akurate DSM (Exakt variant) (upgraded with HDMI-2 board)
• Akurate DSM (4K compatible)
• Akurate DSM (Katalyst variant)
• Akurate Exakt DSM (upgraded with HDMI-2 board)
• Akurate Exakt DSM (4K compatible)
• Akurate System Hub

Klimax Products

• Klimax DSM (Exakt variant) (upgraded with HDMI-2 board)
• Klimax DSM (KATALYST variant)
• Klimax Exakt DSM (4K compatible)
• New Klimax DSM
• Klimax System Hub

• The HDMI-2 boards have been fitted as standard since September 2016 and are available as an upgrade to all Akurate and Klimax DSM's.

Sneaky/Sekrit/Kiko & Majik Products
This Linn Surround Module upgrade is either not available or is not supported in these products.

Surround formats supported by the Linn Surround Module

• Supported codecs on HDMI, HDMI-ARC, TOSLINK and SPDIF connections

• Dolby Digital,
• Dolby Digital Plus,¹
• Dolby TrueHD,
• DTS,
• DTS-HD Master Audio,
• DTS-HD,
• DTS Neo:6....

Dolby Atmos, DTS-X & DTS-CD are not supported.

¹ Supported on all HDMI inputs and HDMI-ARC connections on the Selekt products. Klimax, Akurate and Majik variants do not support Dolby Digital+ only HDMI-ARC connections due to the data rate of Dolby DIgital+ being outwith the specification of HDMI-ARC on these products.

Decode Mode

Available from the Konfig > Dolby/DTS tab are 'Decode Mode' selection, and ‘Dynamic Range Compression’ setting (formerly known as Midnight Movie Mode on earlier Linn products). These settings apply to audio received on HDMI, HDMI-ARC, Toslink and SPDIF.

Decode Mode settings explained:

• If Decode Mode is set to ‘Off’ then stereo streams will be presented in stereo and surround streams will be presented in surround, with down-mixing of the surround stream taking place to accommodate the number of speakers in the system.
• If Decode Mode is set to ‘Auto’ then stereo streams will be up-mixed to surround using the automatic up-mixing algorithm in the chipset. Surround streams are presented as above.
• There are also options for ‘DTS Neo 6 Music’ and ‘DTS Neo 6 Cinema’. These are similar to ‘Auto’ but the choice here determines which algorithm is used to up-mix a stereo stream.

Speaker positioning

• Speaker positioning should be achieved through Space Optimisation, however if Space Optimisation is disabled, the speaker distances may be configured from the Konfig > Dolby/DTS tab.

Speaker level adjustments

You can trim the Speakers levels using an inbuilt Pink noise generator within the Linn DSM. But Space Optimisation will need to be setup first to get the correct speaker positioning and timing.
After Space Optimisation has been setup you can adjust the trim, more details are listed HERE

Surround Songcast

Surround audio is NOT Songcasted to other rooms. Songcast will only support Stereo audio. If your DSM front panel is showing a Surround mode then this audio is not shared via Songcast.

Speaker configurations

To reduce the Exakt hardware requirements for extra channels, it is possible to configure an ExaktBox or ExaktBox-I to drive one non-Exakt speaker per channel, up to a maximum of 8 channels, using either a 6 x channel passthrough or 8 x channel passthrough Exakt filter.
These are FULL-RANGE outputs in accordance to the Surround channel assigned, that can be fed to any Linn or non-Linn loudspeaker.
Space Optimization will be supported for this configuration, but not Space Optimisation+ (for Exakt speakers).

• Speakers can be driven from any combination of:

• Direct analogue output from the DSM
• Exakt Speaker
• Exaktbox configured with crossovers for one or two speakers
• Exaktbox configured for surround playback

Speaker type set for

6 x Channel Passthrough for 5.1ch or

8 x Channel Passthrough or 7.1ch

• Linn Selekt DSM cartridge(s)

Examples of speaker setups can be found HERE

Konfig setup

Some information for setup in Konfig can be found HERE

Setup via IR handset

• Use the left/right handset joystick control to adjust the Lipsync. (make sure that in Konfig the "delay mode" for that source is set for "Video Sync"
  

• Press the Up/Down buttons to adjust the LFE (sub-woofer) settings.

Note:

• Turning OFF the HDMI module in Konfig/Manage systems will also turn OFF the Surround Sound module.

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FAQ HDMI issues

Check [HDMI issues]