Possible solution for DTS/Dolby/Atmos+eARC+HDCP to AES/EBU - via Dante? (for Okto DAC8PRO etc)

[welwynnick]

I've been trying to find something similar to the Arvus HDMI-2A or H2-4D. Ultimately to see if consumer multichannel sources like blu ray players, Apple TVs etc could be sent from HDMI-/+eARC into the XLR AES digital inputs of an Okto DAC8 Pro while not having to fret about HDCP, support eARC and decode any and all Dolby formats. This is a lofty goal apparently. I'm clearly not the first to explore this from the posts on here.

If that's the goal, rather than necessarily going all-out for an immersive decoder, then I think there's one other "left-field" option that hasn't been covered yet.
The SOUND PRO AUDIO HDMI to 5AES by yulen on DIY Audio. It's a real thing and it does work. He does lots of other clever stuff as well, like Dante to AES converter.
This is an extractor rather than a decoder, but if your source can decode Dolby to 7.1 LPCM, then this can generate 8 channels over AES. Links here and here and here.

 

[carolimagni]

I went down the yulen rabbit hole a few months back. Found it really cool how they made boxes nobody else did. But I did find: (compared to something like the DPR-16, on-paper)
- user reports of popping/artefacts in certain formats/format changes
- HDCP stripping likely required, inviting gremlins
- No eARC, Atmos support
- Needing (mostly not English) Windows software to configure parts of the DSP
Maybe these points have changed. The 5AES box answers the LPCM->AES problem, but not enough with regards to seamless DTS/Dolby over HDMI->AES.

I suppose I'm after the all-out solution.

 

[Mort]

If I 'just' want 5.1 digital into my Genelec GLM/SAM system, what product should I consider? I gather the new Hyperion DPR-16 is a candidate but is there anything cheaper if I don't need so many channels?

 

[welwynnick]

If I 'just' want 5.1 digital into my Genelec GLM/SAM system, what product should I consider? I gather the new Hyperion DPR-16 is a candidate but is there anything cheaper if I don't need so many channels?

Can you get your source to do the Surround decoding and output multi-channel LPCM over HDMI?

 

[Mort]

Can you get your source to do the Surround decoding and output multi-channel LPCM over HDMI?

Apple music, yes. Right?

 

[welwynnick]

Apple music, yes. Right?

I believe that will be OK. That gives you a few options:

• The SOUND PRO AUDIO HDMI to 5AES by yulen on DIY Audio, mentioned in post 561 above, cheap but maybe a bit flaky.
• A used Meridian HD621 HDMI Audio Processor.
• Audiopraise VanityPRO, quite expensive for what it is, but a very solid performer.
• There is also the low-cost Atmos decoder, the NuprimeX H16-AES. Capable but appears to be buggy so far.

 

[Mort]

I believe that will be OK. That gives you a few options:

• The SOUND PRO AUDIO HDMI to 5AES by yulen on DIY Audio, mentioned in post 561 above, cheap but maybe a bit flaky.
• A used Meridian HD621 HDMI Audio Processor.
• Audiopraise VanityPRO, quite expensive for what it is, but a very solid performer.
• There is also the low-cost Atmos decoder, the NuprimeX H16-AES. Capable but appears to be buggy so far.

Thank you, you saved me a lot of reading. This is new to me.

How does one connect the HD621? I don't see AES. Does it really work? They look old and inexpensive on ebay.

Regarding the Sound pro audio by yulen - does flaky mean it has to be restarted a lot? And is there a special cable to connect that to the AES/BEU XLR? I assume those exist.

 

[welwynnick]

Thank you, you saved me a lot of reading. This is new to me.
How does one connect the HD621? I don't see AES. Does it really work? They look old and inexpensive on ebay.

To the best of my knowledge they all work, and I would happily get any of them. I used to own an HD621 to go with my 861V4. The digital outputs are essentially spdif, though Meridian call them Smart Link. They're only smart when they're used with a Meridian processor, which enables encrypted 88.2 or 96kHz audio. Otherwise it's vanilla 44.1 or 48kHz audio that anything can use.

Regarding the Sound pro audio by yulen - does flaky mean it has to be restarted a lot? And is there a special cable to connect that to the AES/BEU XLR? I assume those exist.

I don't know much about it - only what's in the post above. I think it's the real deal, but probably hasn't been integration tested with much partnering equipment, so there may be some usability issues and risks. I would read the DIYAudio threads that I linked above.

 

[welwynnick]

There's an ASR thread on the Audiopraise, and a lot of ASR owners seem to rate it very highly:

Audiopraise VanityPro Review (HDMI Audio Extractor)

This is a review and measurements of the Audiopraise VanityPro HDMI audio extractor. It was kindly sent to me by their distributor, JVB Digital and costs US $1,599. The VanityPro is a compact device, not much bigger than typical desktop audio products. Its main functionality is to extract...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[sfogg]

Thank you, you saved me a lot of reading. This is new to me.

How does one connect the HD621? I don't see AES. Does it really work? They look old and inexpensive on ebay.

The Meridian is S/PDIF. For any HDCP protected HDMI sources it will only output up to 48kHz. If your input doesn't have HDCP it will output 96kHz unencrypted.

It is also 1080p only but can act as a sink. If you use something like a HDFury Vertex you can get around both 1080p only and 48kHz only. Feed the Vertex from your source (can be 4k) then send one output to your display (4k) and the HDFury can send the audio out its second input at 1080p.

 

[Mort]

There's an ASR thread on the Audiopraise, and a lot of ASR owners seem to rate it very highly:

Audiopraise VanityPro Review (HDMI Audio Extractor)

This is a review and measurements of the Audiopraise VanityPro HDMI audio extractor. It was kindly sent to me by their distributor, JVB Digital and costs US $1,599. The VanityPro is a compact device, not much bigger than typical desktop audio products. Its main functionality is to extract...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I was not paying attention to that one, but maybe I should.

I'd need a 9301a I think? maybe not for 1 subwoofer (5.1).

 

[darth]

I have the H16-AES. I got it for $699. Its been serving its purpose and once you get past the shenanigans, it works fine considering the price. You can see what issues remain on this thread https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/71645-h16-firmware-issues

- Pure mode still does some bass management for some setups
- It forgets its settings once a while
- LFE is about 5db louder than other channels

They have a US office, so didn't have to pay import duty either. Price has increased to 799 now.

I was not paying attention to that one, but maybe I should.

I'd need a 9301a I think? maybe not for 1 subwoofer (5.1).

9301B, A is discontinued but you may find it one secondary market

 

[Zooqu1ko]

[...]
- LFE is about 5db louder than other channels

Should it not be 10dB louder? Either way, 5db seems very wrong.

 

[darth]

Should it not be 10dB louder? Either way, 5db seems very wrong.

Prior patch had it like 18 or some shit. This has just been the biggest problem with their dev team. Something ain't adding up on what they are testing vs what folks see here.

 

[sfogg]

Should it not be 10dB louder? Either way, 5db seems very wrong.

That is an interesting question. LFE channel can obviously can hit 10dB higher than the main channels but you may not see that in the digital streams as that extra 10db of headroom is likely from analog gain after the D/A. Did a quick search and found this:

From ATSC A/85:2013 Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness 12 March 2013 Page 34

Attention is also drawn to the level alignment of the Low Frequency Effects or 0.1 channel. Some confusion occurs due to its requirement to have 10 dB of in band gain compared to the main channels. This does not mean that it should measure 10 dB greater in sound pressure level than the main channels when calibrating. Because the LFE channel’s bandwidth is more limited than that of the main channels, its level playing a pink noise source of the correct spectrum and electrical level will be approximately 4 dB greater than one of the main channels.

 

[darth]

Folks have asked that they should not change any db whatsoever for LFE. And if they want to bring it up +10db then provide a toggle for it so downstream devices can choose to not do it or do it.

 

[Mort]

A is discontinued but you may find it one secondary market

Just picked one up for $450. Now if only there were a used vanity pro...

 

[welwynnick]

Just picked one up for $450. Now if only there were a used vanity pro...

I've never seen a used one for sale, but there are always HD621's around, and they're not expensive now.

 

[Mort]

I've never seen a used one for sale, but there are always HD621's around, and they're not expensive now.

I got one new. Hope I don't regret that.

Can one just daisy chain the AES BEU in a SAM 5.1 system? Probably not...

 

[Zooqu1ko]

I got one new. Hope I don't regret that.

Can one just daisy chain the AES BEU in a SAM 5.1 system? Probably not...

You can chain 1 speaker each off another one, since each AES/EBU wire carries 2 channels. You can pick which of the channels any speaker plays (A or B) via GLM or using the dip switches at the back.