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

[STUNTfingers]

Thanks. Have you ever tried playing a Blu-ray through it?

Not yet, I haven't thought of trying that TBH. I have a PS5 so I can pick up Blu Ray and try it out and report back if you like.

 

[STUNTfingers]

I've played a blu ray through the PS5 with it setup in the original 5.1 LPCM setting and it worked fine. I then switched the PS5 to 7.1 LPCM and I think it had a handshake issue. I power cycled the PS5 and the black box and it's working in 7.1. I only have a 3.1 setup in terms speakers so I can only assume all 8 channels are working. I can play around with sigma and confirm it working with 7.1 at a later date.

 

[Esprit]

Im using an Apple TV to output over HDMI

Only 4K 30Hz?

 

[welwynnick]

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.

Yes, I posted screen shots of it up and running at 96khz earlier in this thread. The HD Fury Vertex v1 (with the request only firmware) solves both 1080p and 96kHz with the HD621. It acts as a splitter, stripper and it downsamples 4k on its second output to 1080p for the Meridian.

The Meridian HD621 and the HDFury Vertex make an interesting combo, and I wanted to capture a few things for posterity.
Meridian never offered much information about the HD621 HDMI capability, but I believe it supports HDMI V1.3 and HDCP 1.4.
HDFury claim that many of their recent HDMI products can convert "Any HDCP to any HDCP with CST1 support (custom state table)" .

Many people have cast doubt on the legality of HDFury selling equipment that can get round Digital Rights Management / content protection afforded by HDCP.
In 2016, Digital Content Protection LLC and Warner Bros Entertainment Inc attempted to prosecute LegendSky Tech Company Ltd ("HDFury") for "Damages and injunctive relief based on violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (the DCMA).

The DCMA has a large number of exceptions, and case 1:15-cv-10169 was dismissed because HDFury products amounted to "fair use".
Therefore it appears to be legal to take a high quality source protected by HDCP v2.3 and downgrade it to, say, HDCP v1.4 so that the HD621 can process the audio.

gov.uscourts.nysd.451763 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Click here to see available docket information and document downloads for this case. If you need the complete docket, you should consult PACER directly.

archive.org

I believe that part of the settlement was that HDFury had to stop selling HDMI to analogue video converters.
This case was widely reported in the media, but the actual settlement was often over-looked.

Perhaps what the Vertex is doing is not completely stripping the HDCP, but just downgrading it to a legacy HDCP version that the HD621 will accept?
Since both the Vertex and the more versatile Vertex 2 claim to convert "Any HDCP to any HDCP" perhaps the Vertex 2 (with 4 HDMI inputs) will do the same thing?

 

[Zooqu1ko]

[...]

Perhaps what the Vertex is doing is not completely stripping the HDCP, but just downgrading it to a legacy HDCP version that the HD621 will accept?
Since both the Vertex and the more versatile Vertex 2 claim to convert "Any HDCP to any HDCP" perhaps the Vertex 2 (with 4 HDMI inputs) will do the same thing?

That's what the Vertices and related products do out of the box, the configuration options are documented in the manual. There is however that different firmware that disables HDCP entirely on the output.

I thought that I didn't have any device that actually showed the HDCP status, but I do happen to have a Vertex and a Vertex 2, both with the special request firmware. My projector and AVP don't provide that info and neither do the web interface of the Vertex 2 or the tool for the Vertex, as far as I can see. But looking at the info display shown in this video, I concluded that I could just connect one Vertex to the other and check their builtin displays.

Connecting my CXUHD to the Vertex 2 (cyan) and then the Vertex (green):

Connecting my CXUHD to the Vertex and then the Vertex 2 show no "2.2" on the latter:

The Vertex seems to disavow any and all knowledge about HDCP going on at all, even when connected directly to the CXUHD:

 

[STUNTfingers]

Only 4K 30Hz?

Apologies I thought I'd replied to this.

4k@30hz is a limitation but it is possible to split the signal before the black box and have two signals, one going to the BB for audio processing, the other to your TV etc.

This could cause latency but the Apple TV has a nice latency adjustment feature.

For the price I think 4k@30hz is a minor issue imo.

 

[welwynnick]

That's what the Vertices and related products do out of the box, the configuration options are documented in the manual. There is however that different firmware that disables HDCP entirely on the output.
I thought that I didn't have any device that actually showed the HDCP status, but I do happen to have a Vertex and a Vertex 2, both with the special request firmware. My projector and AVP don't provide that info and neither do the web interface of the Vertex 2 or the tool for the Vertex, as far as I can see. But looking at the info display shown in this video, I concluded that I could just connect one Vertex to the other and check their builtin displays.
Connecting my CXUHD to the Vertex 2 (cyan) and then the Vertex (green):
Connecting my CXUHD to the Vertex and then the Vertex 2 show no "2.2" on the latter:
The Vertex seems to disavow any and all knowledge about HDCP going on at all, even when connected directly to the CXUHD:

Many thanks. That's confusing but also reassuring. My take away is that the Vertex 2 is indeed available with the special no-HDCP firmware, so it should be possible to use it with a Meridian HD621.

 

[sfogg]

Perhaps what the Vertex is doing is not completely stripping the HDCP, but just downgrading it to a legacy HDCP version that the HD621 will accept?
Since both the Vertex and the more versatile Vertex 2 claim to convert "Any HDCP to any HDCP" perhaps the Vertex 2 (with 4 HDMI inputs) will do the same thing?

No, if it were simply downgrading the HDCP to what the Meridian accepts the Meridian would be either encrypt its output or downsample. When I was testing this I had a Lumagen Radiance in the system, it will tell you the status of HDCP. With the special firmware there was no HDCP encryption at all. Which is why the Meridian would output unencrypted 96kHz material at 96kHz.

 

[Zooqu1ko]

Many thanks. That's confusing but also reassuring. My take away is that the Vertex 2 is indeed available with the special no-HDCP firmware, so it should be possible to use it with a Meridian HD621.

Almost. There are special firmware versions available for both the Vertex and Vertex 2 that you would have to request and then install yourself.

 

[Mort]

Two questions.

One: I'm running 5.1 with Apple TV, vanity pro and a 9301a interface for Genelec. I'm adding a second subwoofer but the 9301a only has one subwoofer out. How do I connect the second sub?

Two: Can I put a VRROOM upstream of the vanity pro and divert a signal to another HDMI box I use for headphones? Should work right?

 

[Zooqu1ko]

Two questions.

One: I'm running 5.1 with Apple TV, vanity pro and a 9301a interface for Genelec. I'm adding a second subwoofer but the 9301a only has one subwoofer out. How do I connect the second sub?

Connect a MiniDSP to the 9301a and then use MSO to optimize the combined signal.

Two: Can I put a VRROOM upstream of the vanity pro and divert a signal to another HDMI box I use for headphones? Should work right?

I'm not sure if the HDFury devices include audio in both outputs.

 

[welwynnick]

Recent HDFury devices typically have two HDMI audio outputs, though only one is conventional and the other is ARC or eARC.

 

[Mort]

One: I'm running 5.1 with Apple TV, vanity pro and a 9301a interface for Genelec. I'm adding a second subwoofer but the 9301a only has one subwoofer out. How do I connect the second sub?

Got the answer from Genelec support. I just connect the second subwoofer to the first using the digital out.

 

[Mort]

Two: Can I put a VRROOM upstream of the vanity pro and divert a signal to another HDMI box I use for headphones? Should work right?

This does not appear to work. No matter how I configured it, I could not get the VROOM inserted upstream or downstream of the vanity pro without killing the signal or distorting it. I'm going to try a conventional HDMI splitter next.

 

[Zooqu1ko]

This does not appear to work. No matter how I configured it, I could not get the VROOM inserted upstream or downstream of the vanity pro without killing the signal or distorting it. I'm going to try a conventional HDMI splitter next.

The VROOM should not distort audio. I'd recommend heading over to the AVSforum support thread and asking for support. Some HDFury employees hang out there. I'd assume their first recommendation would be to reset the VROOM and to put it into the default mode, whatever that is (if you scroll back a few pages in that thread, you should find those recommendations).

 

[Mort]

A simple splitter worked. Vroom did not.

 

[Mort]

Two questions.

One: I'm running 5.1 with Apple TV, vanity pro and a 9301a interface for Genelec. I'm adding a second subwoofer but the 9301a only has one subwoofer out. How do I connect the second sub?

Two: Can I put a VRROOM upstream of the vanity pro and divert a signal to another HDMI box I use for headphones? Should work right?

1) connect sub1 digital out to sub2
2) no.

 

[Frunse]

Nuprime H16-AES Price gone up from 899€ to 1298€!

But anyway i wait for Hyperion DPR-16 News

And don't wan't to invest Money on other Devices or made a trade in on HX-16 (unknown Cat in Poke)

 

[darth]

Considering APR16 is still not readily available and is also having issues around basic functioning, I won't be surprised if DPR16 doesn't come out this year.

 

[darth]

This does not appear to work. No matter how I configured it, I could not get the VROOM inserted upstream or downstream of the vanity pro without killing the signal or distorting it. I'm going to try a conventional HDMI splitter next.

What splitter did you get? I tired an orei yesterday and it did not work, constant handshake issues with my mac

I also need to try an anti CEC adapter since that is also cause of issues of constant tv turning off