SegaCD
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I have an absolutely wonderful vintage stereo integrated amplifier that I use with living room video set-up; however, I just realized that my TV only outputs 48kHz PCM via optical (which I had hooked up to my DAC) no matter what the source is. It's terrible that it took me a few years to realize that!
Anyway, I have a few HDMI sources, including an Nvidia Shield, DVDO Duo, PS3, & Wii U, along with the TV's tuner which I need converted to analog output. This amplifier sounds gorgeous and anything less than a nice DAC would be a disservice to it (I've been running a FiiO Taishan for a long while, and I don't like how it sounds at all). I'm assuming the best way to do this would be via the HDMI ARC output from the TV...
I had a few options I considered:
Also, any reason to consider a USB-only DAC like the March DAC 1 over another multi-input DAC like the Topping D50 besides a slightly better SNR?
Anyway, I have a few HDMI sources, including an Nvidia Shield, DVDO Duo, PS3, & Wii U, along with the TV's tuner which I need converted to analog output. This amplifier sounds gorgeous and anything less than a nice DAC would be a disservice to it (I've been running a FiiO Taishan for a long while, and I don't like how it sounds at all). I'm assuming the best way to do this would be via the HDMI ARC output from the TV...
I had a few options I considered:
- The Nvidia Shield will be able to host a USB DAC, but I'm not sure how I'd be able to pass through audio from the other HDMI devices on my A/V chain.
- The DVDO Duo has an optical audio pass-through, but I would need to route all my HDMI cables through it (which is too clunky to use on a daily basis) and avoid any Dolby Digital/DTS streams since it can't convert & downmix those streams to stereo PCM for the DAC.
- I could get an HDMI ARC to optical box...but how reliable are these cheap devices that I find on amazon? Any higher quality/proven alternatives that wont break the bank? Also, its another box/adapter to deal with.
- An Oppo UDP-205 which I think would solve all my problems and replace the separate DAC entirely, but it's freakin' expensive and a bit overkill to turn on every time I just want to watch a TV station...
Also, any reason to consider a USB-only DAC like the March DAC 1 over another multi-input DAC like the Topping D50 besides a slightly better SNR?
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