This is a review and detailed measurements of the Monoprice Blackbird 4K series HDMI 7.1 audio extractor. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $30.79.
I like the Link light which indicates signal on HDMI input. The switch lets you "lie" to the source and tell it you have 8 channel audio even though your TV for example only has stereo. For non-PCM data you have the "bitstream" to pass it down to another decoder. Back panel shows a very useful Toslink optical output in addition to 8 channels of audio:
Yes, you have to use 3.5mm plugs but hey, you didn't pay much for this!
In my use, the box nicely attached to the output of my PC Intel HDMI output. One other fancy/expensive one I tested would not work at all. Alas, I could not get the output to work with my computer monitor. Maybe it is pilot error. Maybe it is the stupid HDMI. As with all of these products, compatibility is hit and miss so be ready to return it if it doesn't work in your setup.
Monoprice Blackbird Measurements
Here is our dashboard of HDMI in and analog stereo out:
As noted, it didn't matter which of the 4 channel pairs I tested. They all had the same low output of just 1 volt and SINAD of 86 dB. Latter is caused by too much distortion.
Normally I would be depressed at this point, wondering why I was put on earth. Then I tested S/PDIF Toslink output:
Ah, there is salvation! We get basically 24 bit, unmolested output. This means you can connect your favorite DAC and get as much extra performance as you like.
Continuing with analog output performance, noise is actually reasonable:
Multitone is not:
Nor is jitter although audibly is probably OK:
IMD test shows that we are not that far ahead of a cheap phone dongle:
I couldn't run the rest of my tests due to issue of ASIO emulation in my test setup (not a fault of the unit).
Conclusions
The analog performance of this HDMI audio extractor could embarrass a self respecting audiophile. But is good enough for everyday work. The great thing is that you have S/PDIF output for perfect audio to connect to your favorite DAC. There, you could get stated of the art performance. Heck, you could buy this little box as an accessory to add HDMI input to any DAC you want!!! It is so cheap and not much more than the cost of an HDMI cable or two.
Hopefully compatibility is not a major issue. You may want to read about that elsewhere.
Overall, I am going to recommend the Monoprice HDMI 7.1 audio extractor. It is a bargain with great expansion capability.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I like the Link light which indicates signal on HDMI input. The switch lets you "lie" to the source and tell it you have 8 channel audio even though your TV for example only has stereo. For non-PCM data you have the "bitstream" to pass it down to another decoder. Back panel shows a very useful Toslink optical output in addition to 8 channels of audio:
Yes, you have to use 3.5mm plugs but hey, you didn't pay much for this!
In my use, the box nicely attached to the output of my PC Intel HDMI output. One other fancy/expensive one I tested would not work at all. Alas, I could not get the output to work with my computer monitor. Maybe it is pilot error. Maybe it is the stupid HDMI. As with all of these products, compatibility is hit and miss so be ready to return it if it doesn't work in your setup.
Monoprice Blackbird Measurements
Here is our dashboard of HDMI in and analog stereo out:
As noted, it didn't matter which of the 4 channel pairs I tested. They all had the same low output of just 1 volt and SINAD of 86 dB. Latter is caused by too much distortion.
Normally I would be depressed at this point, wondering why I was put on earth. Then I tested S/PDIF Toslink output:
Ah, there is salvation!
We get basically 24 bit, unmolested output. This means you can connect your favorite DAC and get as much extra performance as you like.Continuing with analog output performance, noise is actually reasonable:
Multitone is not:
Nor is jitter although audibly is probably OK:
IMD test shows that we are not that far ahead of a cheap phone dongle:
I couldn't run the rest of my tests due to issue of ASIO emulation in my test setup (not a fault of the unit).
Conclusions
The analog performance of this HDMI audio extractor could embarrass a self respecting audiophile. But is good enough for everyday work. The great thing is that you have S/PDIF output for perfect audio to connect to your favorite DAC. There, you could get stated of the art performance. Heck, you could buy this little box as an accessory to add HDMI input to any DAC you want!!! It is so cheap and not much more than the cost of an HDMI cable or two.
Hopefully compatibility is not a major issue. You may want to read about that elsewhere.
Overall, I am going to recommend the Monoprice HDMI 7.1 audio extractor. It is a bargain with great expansion capability.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
