So I went to ebay and finally found this [Link] HDMI to I2S converter for $62. Like many of you getting the OPPO into the DirectStream DAC in I2S over HDMI has been a mission.
I ordered this and of course had to ask for a manual (after the fact, I know, kinda dumb). I got this:
It didn’t really make me feel any better except for the fact that it said PS Audio DAC (I had already told the guy I wanted to know if this would work for a PS Audio DAC, so, you know…I thought he was humoring me).
I did email him again to confirm that the I2S was 3.3volts, I had to take him at his word as I have no idea how to test that. He said it was.
So I got home and went straight to the mail, unpacked it and hooked it up to my TV first to see if it even did HDMI in and HDMI out.
It worked, so I hooked it up to the HDMI output of the OPPO and to the I2S input of the DirectStream. The selector switch on the board is labeled PASS, 2.0 CH and 5.1CH, but it seems like that corresponds to 44/16, PCM (including DOP of DSD64) and straight up DSD 64 (also includes the other PCM 192k and lower). Blu-rays play at full rez 96/24 (Tested Eric Clapton Crossroads). I don’t think this does DSD128 as it converts it to PCM 176/24.
The beauty is it passes Bit Perfect for both 96 and 192K. plays all my stuff natively, doesn’t downsample DSD64 and below. This took power from HDMI, so I was a bit concerned about hooking up a 5v power supply to it as well. This does allow SACD to play DSD64 through HDMI to the DSD DAC.
I make no claim on sound performance, but I gotta say I am pretty excited!!! It sounded pretty good to me, and it hasn’t died yet. I bought an aluminum enclosure that I got to DIY a bit but it should look pretty good with the rest of my stuff when I am done.
Hope this helps, here are some shots of the board and the Bit Perfect tests, and playing DSD64 but converting DSD128 to 176/24.
