I2S output board for my Oppo 203 vs Bridge II ethernet for sound quality?

Audio Components DACs
1

Ready to pull the trigger on said board, turn my Oppo into a digital out SACD player and a Roon endpoint that will talk to my Directstream via i2S.

Sounds great on paper, and was all set to get it but thought…hang on…the Bridge II uses i2S internally?

Should I…?
Better sound quality?

Imagine disk playback will be better than coax out the oppo into the DS, but thinking 4K Bluray into the Directstream via i2S would be something else!

All that said, deciding factor is which input should give more of Ted’s Directstream magic and get the feet tapping the most.

Thanks guys. :slight_smile:

2

Who makes an I2S board for the 203?

I would be sure it can be returned if it doesn’t satisfy. All the inputs are really great but I find more depends on the source than the input used on the DS.

3

I wonder if this would work with the Directstream?

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It says:

“PS audio digital audio DAC device etc can be recived I2S signal through the HDMI terminal”

5

Thats the one I’m talking about yeah.

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6

I wonder if it will pass the DSD bitstream along that IS2 connection?

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If it does pass DSD you also need to check that the DS channels are correct. Some that do do PCM PS Audio’s way have the DSD channels swapped.

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Considering that this other Chinese HDMI to I2S converter board that people discovered last year sounds slightly better in some ways than does my Vanity HD card inside of my Oppo 103, it seems to me like this could have some serious potential, assuming that it works.

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FWIW: A friend of mine purchased a linear power supply for his 103 from this same guy so he claims. And this power supply has worked fine inside of his 103. So, that is one positive data-point should anybody be considering this board…

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I have his linear PSU in my 203 player, it improved this greatly and doesn’t run hot.
Good workmanship and quality components used, I trust the guy.

He says his board works to the “PS Audio i2s standard” so…

Be picking one up to complete the mods on my 203, just have a garage bill for my Alfa to take care of first!

11

i2s board ordered and on the way from Hong Kong, should be here in a couple of weeks.

Confirmed to work well with the Directstream, should be an interesting one. :slight_smile:

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Fitted the Oppomod i2s output board today.
It works!

It used a Xilinx CPLD chip to do its thing.
No issue with reversed channels, all good.

Dont have any SACDs here to test yet, but DSD files from a USB key are sent properly to the directstream, and DSD is displayed on screen.

Sounds superb, redbook CDs sound far better via i2s than coax to the Dac.
Bluray movies too…wow.

Happy days. :slight_smile:

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gazjam:
Some questions:

  • It’s not clear from the photo, but is that black piece an HDMI port?
  • Did you cut out the back of the 103, per the seller’s photo?
  • Anything else to know about fitting the board, such as how easily it attaches to the 203’s chassis - or does it attach to the back and sit in the air?
  • What coax were you using, i.e., for sound comparison?
  • To get a better sense of your comparison, what else is in your system, components and cables?
  • How did you contact JH Lee? Don’t see any contact info in English.

If it is an improvement over the board some of us got on eBay, I could get some money back on PS Audio HDMI/I2S cables.

Thanks,

14

No problem,
I’ll post up some pics and some thoughts later tonight.

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15

I purchased this board as well. Mine did not come supplied with a ribbon cable which makes the pass-through feature of this board impossible to use if you can’t locate one of those oddball 22 pin flat ribbon cables. Did yours come with this cable? I’ve been searching every source that I know-of, and I have yet to find an exact match for this cable.

Also I can confirm that mine DOES indeed seem to reverse the channels for SACDs when it used inside of my 103. But I can confirm that it does NOT have the preemphasis issue that the Chinese HDMI board has.

I haven’t spent a lot of time listening to my board yet (because I’ve been waiting for a compatible ribbon cable before trying to mount it), but in the short time that I did spend listening, it seemed to sound very similar to the Chinese card.

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Don’t know if this is the ribbon cable you need but found this one on Amazon:

Uxcell 1.0 mm Pitch 22 Pin Awm 80C 60V Flexible Flat Cable

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I didn’t use the supplied cable that came with mine as I dont use the built in Dac at all for analogue out.

After installing the board I popped the existing ribbon cable out the existing Dac board and connected it to the i2s board.

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HI,
I posted a thread on a UK hifi site I frequent on fitting this board, maybe answer some questions. :slight_smile:
https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?56087-Hey-guess-what-I�m-about-to-do-Major-Oppo-mods&p=935691#post935691

To answer your questions directly though:

**It’s not clear from the photo, but is that black piece an HDMI port?**

If its the one on the PCB then no, its unused, HDMI port is on the back.

**Did you cut out the back of the 103, per the seller’s photo?**

Yes (Used a Dremel to cut gap to fit board)

**Anything else to know about fitting the board, such as how easily it attaches to the 203’s chassis - or does it attach to the back and sit in the air?**

Has 2 mounting points wither side of back of card, which connect through venting slots in back of Oppo and lock card to back panel.
(Mounting screws didn’t come with it, M3 machine screws work perfectly)

**What coax were you using, i.e., for sound comparison?**

Black Cat Silverstar 75 designed by Chris Sommovigo.
The i2s board sounds better, particularly on disk playback.
Streamed sound quality is “different not better” than Roon feeding the DS’s Bridge 2 (Though the card’s sound is changing with some hours on it - I’ll reserve judgement on that for now)

**To get a better sense of your comparison, what else is in your system, components and cables?**

My System: (slightly changed since this picture)

qsfVtps.jpeg3264×2448 1.1 MB

300B SET power amp 8watts per channel output
Densen DM20 preamp
Bespoke British speaker build 94DB efficiency

Directstream Dac with Bridge II
Oppo 203 (heavily modded, inc. internal linear psu)

Cables:
Morrow Audio MA5I/C and SP7 speaker cable, PAudio AC5 power cords.

A transparent revealing system I feel, able to tell differences quite easy?
Its fed by a balanced mains power supply, so the system has a lot of stuff batting for it.

**How did you contact JH Lee? Don’t see any contact info in English.**

Yes, by email on: pcaudio@naver.com

Hope this maybe helps.
A couple of days on the Oppomod board and its sounding terrific.
A real sense of life about the music compared to coax from the same player.

19

Thanks! Very helpful. – Gene

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So yours came with a cable? Mine did not.