Converting a Blu-ray/SACD player into a digital DSD transport

[JW001]

Has anyone done this?

What I want to do: Take my Oppo universal disk player and have it output a DSD bitstream over I2S to my Topping D90 “HDMI” style I2S input.

My Oppo BDP-83 will output SACD in bitstream over HDMI HDCP. (Intended for an AVR that decodes DSD/SACD) Controlled by settings menu.

My Topping D90 MQA DAC will accept an I2S DSD signal.

I have found this box https://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-MHL-t...1&pageci=9a34179c-48c2-4d5a-bef2-93025efc42de
That will take an HDMI/HDCP signal, extract the digital audio and construct an IS2 signal and the. Outputs it as I2S over HDMI(cable, not HDCP format) or an I2S bus.

My thought is that this will allow me to “read” my SACD disks on the Oppo and have the D90 do the DSD decoding, since the Oppo DAC and analog stage is nothing special.

Has anyone done this with any success? I know there are companies that have sold cards that tap the I2S signal internally (before the HDMI signal is generated) and then output it from an added I2S over HDMI outlet on the back. This is the same result, usually much more expensive and not available for the model of disk spinner I have.

Thanks in advance for any input.

I do this in two steps: rip the SACD to files first, and then play the files with my DAC.

 

[raykkho]

I do this in two steps: rip the SACD to files first, and then play the files with my DAC.

This is certainly one of the ways but some of us still want to pop that disc and play for old time sake . I certainly rip mine too.

 

[L Plate]

As there's no standard I2S termination/pin assignment, connecting between two components from different brands with I2S can be tricky.

I don't think it's going to be any problem as most of the equipment that we buy are rather commercial and affordable. If you own something like a very high end, they tend to do their own stuff. In our case, we connect from the gadget I2S Hdmi output to the D90 I2S Hdmi input. The issue is when we try to connect HDMI output from our source player to the D90. It won't work because the HDMI port of the player is NOT I2S Hdmi port. Those Chinese made equipment or gadgets such as the HDMI I2S ports are very standard. I have a Singxer SU6 and the I2S Hdmi ports is compatible to my D90.

 

[raykkho]

I don't think it's going to be any problem as most of the equipment that we buy are rather commercial and affordable. If you own something like a very high end, they tend to do their own stuff. In our case, we connect from the gadget I2S Hdmi output to the D90 I2S Hdmi input. The issue is when we try to connect HDMI output from our source player to the D90. It won't work because the HDMI port of the player is NOT I2S Hdmi port. Those Chinese made equipment or gadgets such as the HDMI I2S ports are very standard. I have a Singxer SU6 and the I2S Hdmi ports is compatible to my D90.

Good for you, but my experience tells me differently. My Matrix Audio element X has 4 I2S settings, and NONE of them work with the I2S output of my Denafrips Avatar CDT. Fortunately the Avatar has a second I2S output and it saves the day. As there is no universal standard I2S per say, there is no guarantee I2S equipment coming from the same country will work, affordable or not.

 

[Buster Chestnut]

Not sure if the OP ever figured it out or went a different direction, but I was in a similar situation and sold my D90 in favor of the D50s. I modded a BDP-103 to output DSD (DOP) via coaxial (replaced multichannel output board).

My power amp is unbalanced so I didn’t need the D90 balanced outputs, and the D90 chip doesn’t support DOP via coaxial. So I ended up saving money by selling the D90, buying the D50s and modding the Oppo. I notice zero difference between the DACs.

 

[L Plate]

Not sure if the OP ever figured it out or went a different direction, but I was in a similar situation and sold my D90 in favor of the D50s. I modded a BDP-103 to output DSD (DOP) via coaxial (replaced multichannel output board).

My power amp is unbalanced so I didn’t need the D90 balanced outputs, and the D90 chip doesn’t support DOP via coaxial. So I ended up saving money by selling the D90, buying the D50s and modding the Oppo. I notice zero difference between the DACs.

Sorry Buster. I didn't quite understand what do you mean "D90 chip doesn't support DOP via coaxial"? Sometimes I play SACD via coaxial and optical outputs from my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter to D90 MQA dac coaxial and optical inputs. On my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter, I connect HDMI cable, Coaxial cable and Optical cable. I just switch them as I please and checking the D90 panel displaying DSD - 2.82Mhz (IIS HDMI cable), PCM - 88.2Khz to 192Khz (Coaxial and Optical cables).

 

[Buster Chestnut]

Sorry Buster. I didn't quite understand what do you mean "D90 chip doesn't support DOP via coaxial"? Sometimes I play SACD via coaxial and optical outputs from my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter to D90 MQA dac coaxial and optical inputs. On my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter, I connect HDMI cable, Coaxial cable and Optical cable. I just switch them as I please and checking the D90 panel displaying DSD - 2.82Mhz (IIS HDMI cable), PCM - 88.2Khz to 192Khz (Coaxial and Optical cables).

Your last sentence is what I mean. You will never get DSD using coax/optical on the Topping D90; it doesn’t support it.

 

[L Plate]

Your last sentence is what I mean. You will never get DSD using coax/optical on the Topping D90; it doesn’t support it.

Ok. Thanks. No worries. I have never heard of any DAC capable of playing DSD via coaxial/optical. It is always converted to PCM. Any player that can play so-called DSD via coaxial/optical are usually being modified that connects to the DAC however it is always in PCM. Maybe Sony player can do that. This is one reason why I bought the gadget HDMI Audio Extractor that plays DSD in PCM mode and now a new gadget HDMI - IIS Converter that can play DSD via IIS HDMI only NOT via coaxial/optical.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I have never heard of any DAC capable of playing DSD via coaxial/optical. It is always converted to PCM.

Have you never heard of DoP?

 

[L Plate]

Have you never heard of DoP?

Yes I do. But I thought DoP is DSD in PCM mode. This is what I saw on my dac when I play SACD via coaxial/optical and the panel shows "PCM" ranging from 88.2khz - 192khz using the HDMI Audio Extractor. But with the HDMI - IIS Converter, I get DSD via IIS. The panel shows "DSD" at 2.82Mhz maximum. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[L Plate]

Have you never heard of DoP?

Ok Kal, I think I know where you are coming from with my statement. I am trying to say that DACs will not play DSD without a HDMI audio extractor or a player without built-in extractor. Before purchasing HDMI Audio Extractor, I used to play SACD via coaxial/optical to the D90 DAC and all I am getting is PCM at 44.1Khz as displayed on the panel.

 

[raif71]

Sorry Buster. I didn't quite understand what do you mean "D90 chip doesn't support DOP via coaxial"? Sometimes I play SACD via coaxial and optical outputs from my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter to D90 MQA dac coaxial and optical inputs. On my gadget HDMI - IIS Converter, I connect HDMI cable, Coaxial cable and Optical cable. I just switch them as I please and checking the D90 panel displaying DSD - 2.82Mhz (IIS HDMI cable), PCM - 88.2Khz to 192Khz (Coaxial and Optical cables).

Maybe what he meant was that AKM chips does not support DOP via coax but ESS chips that are in D50s support DOP via coax ?

 

[diddley]

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...-physical-sacds-through-an-outboard-dac-r971/

 

[raykkho]

Noticed Topping D90 does not support DoP over coaxial but I am sure quite a few DACs out there already do that. Certainly my MA element X and Mytek Brooklyn do that via both coaxial and optical, and there is no conversion of DSD to PCM when say a player like Oppo and Sony is set to output DSD, and with the HDMI gadget/extractor one can extract the DSD stream from HDMI and send it to compatible DAC via DoP.

https://www.dcsltd.co.uk/support/what-is-dop-dsd-over-pcm/

 

[Wu7wah]

Just for an update: the converter finally arrived in the mail after almost 3 months. But I shouldn't have bothered. It doesn't work for me. So I finally read the voluminous user manual for the D2700. It turns out the D2700 does not pass SACD signals through the HDMI port. So I should have read it before. Now I have a converter I have no use for. What a shame! Perhaps I should sell it now. Not sure why I would keep it.

 

[raykkho]

Just for an update: the converter finally arrived in the mail after almost 3 months. But I shouldn't have bothered. It doesn't work for me. So I finally read the voluminous user manual for the D2700. It turns out the D2700 does not pass SACD signals through the HDMI port. So I should have read it before. Now I have a converter I have no use for. What a shame! Perhaps I should sell it now. Not sure why I would keep it.

It shouldn't be hard to get a used player that does DSD output, I got my Sony for less than $100.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Yes I do. But I thought DoP is DSD in PCM mode. This is what I saw on my dac when I play SACD via coaxial/optical and the panel shows "PCM" ranging from 88.2khz - 192khz using the HDMI Audio Extractor. But with the HDMI - IIS Converter, I get DSD via IIS. The panel shows "DSD" at 2.82Mhz maximum. Correct me if I am wrong.

Your DAC is not telling you everything. I have no idea what your DAC is or does but.................DoP is DSD with a PCM wrapper.

If your DAC supports DoP, it is playing DSD. If it does not support DoP, the source is likely defaulting back to PCM without your bidding.

 

[L Plate]

Maybe what he meant was that AKM chips does not support DOP via coax but ESS chips that are in D50s support DOP via coax ?

OK. Now I understand that D90 does not support DoP via coaxil/AES/Optical whereas Gustard X16 does.

 

[Wu7wah]

I have just found this thread. I have also connected my OPPO BDP-83 to my Topping D-90 via an HDMI to I1S converter with great success. It is just PnP with no fiddling with the settings of the converter which does not come with any instructions. But I do have to set up the DSD audio output of the HDMI port through the Setup Menu menu of the BDP-83 which means connecting it to a TV. That is the only hassle. I wonder if the newer OPPO models with a special Audio HDMI output port require the same setup.

 

[Wu7wah]

OK. Now I understand that D90 does not support DoP via coaxil/AES/Optical whereas Gustard X16 does.

I am not sure about that. I think the D-90 is showing the stream as PCM.