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

I can’t get my card to work. In trying to do some research 'cuz I’m almost sure I am missing something.

Hi. I bought the card for an BDP-103 but I’m not getting any audio from the I2S card output to my DirectStream DAC. The card must okay as it does pass audio to the Oppo’s 7.1 analog board. I tried several settings and also not connecting to the analog board, still, no success.
Would you mind sharing how you got a successful connection between the 103 and the DAC (including the settings in the Oppo). Thanks in advance!

Hi Riku
Its an Oppo 203 I have.

I’ve done many modifications to my 203, the Oppomod i2s board was just one of them,
Heres a link to when I’m talking about the i2s board, hopefully it’ll help. :slight_smile:

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?56087-Hey-guess-what-I%92m-about-to-do-Major-Oppo-mods/page12

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I have the I2S mod and the 103. For me it took some support from mr Lee and two slightly different cards to get it right. Mostly around the card settings. Once working it is rock solid and delivers a really good QA.

These are my settings:

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Has anyone ever heard why these boards were not made for the BDP-105 and 105D? I still have my 105, but don’t care to buy another disc player like the 103 or 203 that I would use probably only a few times a year. I’d still like having a good transport on hand (especially if I hosted a local audio club meeting, or wanted to hear a newly purchased disc before I ripped it), but I can’t see spending a lot for such limited use.

I believe that the 105 is unable to extract the SACD information from the disc. It is “too new”. At least that is what I remember when I did the research last year.

The 105 is on the list of devices that can rip SACD’s so I’m not sure if that’s the case

Thanks. I’m not sure then. I think you could ask Mr. Jaehong and I am sure he would give you the correct answer. It takes him a day or two to reply and it will be in broken english but he is very straightforward. I ended up buying a fully loaded new 103 from him wired for PSA I2S connections.

I asked Mr Jaehong about the 205 and he simply said that he hadn’t had time to do it. That was about two years ago.

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I am using one of the Chinese HDMI->I2S interfaces with my Oppo 105 and GCD. I have found the channel switch problem that occurs only for DSD and therefore currently am running LPCM output for SACD. I have two questions I’d appreciate assistance with. I have read about a pre-emphasis problem several years ago. Is that still relevant for this setup?

My 2nd is that I have confirmed with Mr Jaehong that there is still no support for the 105/205 models. Is the only channel fix solution using a second board? The eBay sites indicate a “B” version to these adapters. Do these fix this issue?

TIA.

Even though I have not gotten any replies, I have done some further investigation and can report a solution to the SACD channel reversal problem. The current Chinese digital HDMI to I2S interfaces have a jumper solder pad that causes the channels on SACD only to reverse. This is the OP1 option in the attached picture. The pads are not connected by default and for correct use between an Oppo and GCD need to be bridged. While I used solder I would expect conductive paint will work as well for those not so equipped.

As to my question about pre-emphasis the frequency response with both PCM and SACD is fine. Hope others find this useful.

Just want to shout out a great thank you to you for solving the DSD channel reversal on the Chinese eBay HDMI I2S conversion cards. I guess I was not paying attention to the newer version of these cards. I have had at least two different versions sitting on the shelf with the OP1 option on the board and not paying attention that a bridge soldering at the point you indicated would normalized the Left and Right channels output for the DSD Sr DAC. Brilliant, now I am only using one board directly inputting the HDMI I2S into the DSD Sr DAC using a HDMI adapter connector. I also replaced the caps with Silmic II caps equivalent. For best results a 5.0 Volts DC linear PS should be used to power the board as mixed results are obtained if only the HDMI 5 volts input from the SACD player is used ( I am using a SONY other have used Oppo like you) and remember to cover the HDMI pin 18 to prevent errant 5 volts current from leaking into the DSD Sr DAC. I am now enjoying both SACD and PCM as I2S input into the DSD Sr dac with no switching of anything and not having to do any ripping. Lastly with the Synergistic ECT’s on the board the sound is wonderful and by the way that is with the Windom firmware. A few more things are burning in and will wait a little longer before moving to the Sunlight firmware. Again thank you :pray:.

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Which resistor do I remove to kill the pre-emphasis issue on 16/44.1 tracks. It used to be R47 on the old boards. What is the equivalent referenced designator on the new (blck) board ?

Thx in advance.

Joe

You can block pin 15 on the cable connector with a piece of tape. That is the pin that the flag gets pushed through.

While you’re at it, you can block pin 18 so any power supply noise doesn’t transfer to the DS from the board since the DS does not need the 5v on pin 18.

I posted about Blue Jeans Cable willing to make a pin18less high quality cable for anyone @ $15 above their normal list in any length. Perhaps they’d be willing to also remove pin 15 for you (for a price).

(reposted because I meant to do it as a reply)

I can’t believe you’ve only gotten one reply!!! This is the answer that hundreds of people were/are looking for. A simple dab of solder did it for me too. Thank you so much, you are the man.