Getting Oppo DSD Output to the Direct Stream Dac

Audio Components DACs
41

I am using the Oppo 105. I tried your idea to get SACD output into the DS DAC over coax. I get no sound. My Oppo settings that I believe you are recommending are:

Playback Setup/SACD Priority = set to SACD (NOT CD)

Audio Format Setup > Coaxial/Optical Output = I tried all of them (48K, 96K, 192K and Bitstream). None worked.

Audio Format Setup > SACD Output = PCM (not DSD).

If any of these settings are different than the ones you are using, Please advise.

I would love to be able to listen to my SACDs through the DS DAC, even converted to 88/24 PCM.

Thanks,

Focal_Point

42

I apologize, no idea what I was thinking. A stock Oppo cannot pass an SACD signal via coax regardless of setting. You will get just what you found: null output.

43

I am using the Oppo 2nd HDMI out into the adapter. The adapter then allows for coax or toslink outputs at the same time.

The SACD HDMI output on my Oppo is set to PCM.

44
ozzymilton said NEW Discovery: Getting the Oppo DSD Output to a Dac.
Getting the Oppo DSD Output to a Dac.

I’m no longer using a Preamp. So it’s been a long time since I have been able to play my SACD’s. I really didn’t want to pay for new digital downloads after paying so much for the many SACD’s that I currently own.

I saw an adapter listed on EBay from China that caught my attention. It costs $18 bucks including shipping! It looks to be well made and fairly small. It comes with a wall wart AC adapter. But, I found that it is not needed. It seems the little adapter gets its power from the HDMI via the Oppo. At one end of the adapter is the HDMI input. The other end outputs Optical or Coaxial and both are assessable at the same time.

Now with this little adapter I have been able to take the extra HDMI output from my Oppo 95 and convert that output digitally to my PS Audio Direct Stream Dac. And, it is outputting the DSD stream! The PS Direct Stream Dac shows 24/88.2 Hz as the input. Now, I can now play my SACD’s again and they sound fantastic!

So, I have been copying my SACD’s into my hardrive. To do this, I first copy the 24/88.2Hz signal using my Tascam DA 3000 onto a SD card. Just for the heck I’m also recording that Oppo output at 24/192 HZ. Then I simply transfer that recording to my Hardrive.

Would you please tell us the make and the model of your adapter? It would be really nice to know which makes and models of HDMI de-embedders have been proven to successfully work with the DS.
45

Yes, please advice which de-embedder to use.

Thanks,

Sam

46

24/88.2 is not the actual DSD stream–it’s the PCM converted from the DSD by the Oppo. Sony requires that the DSD stream be encrypted.

47

Any de-embedder will do that. Convert DSD to 24/88, it will also let you get PCM off DVDs at a down converted resolution. Except for SACD, you can get the same signal from the Oppo’s digital outputs. Doesn’t the Directream have an analog input? If so, you could run the Oppo’s analog output from SACD to the DAC.

If you do a search on de-embedders, there is a review of a bunch of them. I found an unlabeled Kanna[sp?] for cheap. But I removed it. I prefer the CD layer from my PWT to my DAC, to the SACD layer from my Oppo 83se.

48

No analog input on the DirectStream.

49

You can of course (and I have) put a small script on a USB stick in your 105 that will ftp the sacd ISO image to your computer. You can the convert It to a stereo dsf file using a 3rd party program

50

Some deembedders may not work well with the DirectStream.

There is another related thread in which Ted Smith said some deembedders may not produce the proper SPDIF outputs, and the DirectStream may not recognize the stream.

That’s why I want to ask which ones will work.

Thanks,
Sam

51

This is the Chinese switch that the OP is using successfully with the DS. I tried a US made deembedder that was similar, but it did not work with DS. The US made switch had only an optical output, not both optical and coaxial that this Chinese deembedder has.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-To-Digital-Optical-Spdif-Coaxial-Audio-Extractor-Converter-Splitter-No-1/231496077633?_trksid=p2485497.m4902.l9144

52

I had this Aten VC880 in use a couple of years ago. Between an Oppo 103 and a Lyngdorf TDAI2200.

53

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:

connections.jpg

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.

I2S-p1.jpgI2S-p3.jpgI2S-p4.jpgI2S-p5.jpgI2S-p6.jpg

54

Very interested in the hdmi to i2s converter. Which one did u get? There are a few similar ones on eBay.

Thanks for the info.

55

Sorry, the link wasn’t very obvious

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DMI-MHL-Input-Digital-Audio-I2S-Coaxial-Fiber-HDMI-to-I2S-IIS-HDMI-OVER-I2S/311951551008

56

I have an Oppo 105 and it has always been my goal to send everything digital from disks from the Oppo to my DSJ.

The HDMI to i2s converter above is intriguing to me, but since it does not have an enclosure and is just a board, I decided against it.

So, I bought a HDMI to optical extractor from Monoprice for less than $50. It works as I expected and I am getting DVD Audio in the original 96/24 bitstream into the DSJ. And since I have the setting in the Oppo to convert SACD to PCM, it is outputting SACD as 88.2/24 PCM into the DSJ. I now hear details from my SACD’s that I have not heard before when playing it through the Oppo DAC converters. And there are other improvements as well that would be expected from using the DSj as the DAC.

I know that sending native DSD from the Oppo is more optimal, but this set-up works great for me. A DMP would be ideal, but I cannot justify the cost. Maybe a junior version of it is on the drawing boards? Or, even a Stellar version that has a i2s output? That would sell like hotcakes!

57
Veneet said

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.

Just so I understand this device correctly, what it does is take the Oppo's HDMI output and converts the audio signal and gives you i2s out via HDMI?
58

Hi Seegs108,

Yes that is exactly right. It is able to handle up to DSD64 without conversion to PCM in I2s over HDMI. It also allows SACDs to play without conversion. I tried DSD128 but that converted to 176/24, but the more I think about that the more I think it is the OPPO doing that conversion, but I have no way to test. PS I did test and left and right are properly mapped to PS Audio specs.

Deanhorn

If you are ok with some metal drilling and some filing I bought this from Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TYYZ3FA?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

and put it inside. Mounted the board on circuit board spacers that screw in to the enclosure and allow a screw through the board. I’ll post pics when I get back Friday, it wasn’t so bad but I need to file some of the lines straighter…I put one edge with all the outputs against the one side and drilled the other side to accept the hdmi input all the way in including the outer shell (makes more sense when I post pics)

59

I haven’t installed the audio-gd I2S board yet, but in the meantime have been burning in the VanityHD card for the 203. 500+ hours in the sound is as gorgeous as I’ve ever heard in every way except one: it sounds, well, digital; or to put it another way, the music is lacking soul. It’s not cold but has this quality that seems to make everything sound similar and without the full tonal feeling that should be there in the performances. I should add that I also swapped in an entire loom of new AC-12 power cords just before the card, so I can’t rule out yet their effect in this perception (I’m not familiar with what the AC-12’s should sound like). I continue to burn in the Vanity and cords, but will be swapping back in the Oppo’s own audio card soon to compare before my 30 days are up.

60

Thanks Veneet! I will have to investigate it. It could be a good winter project.