Review and Measurements of Essence HDACC II-4K HDMI DAC

[formdissolve]

Much appreciated. So doesn't this mean that the unit isn't suitable for playback of movies etc. over a stereo system (given that dialogue is most often in the center channel that is being dropped in this case)?

That's part of the reason I ended up selling the unit. My Sony UBP-X800 has no manual user option to send a stereo downmix over HDMI and relies on the ESID of the destination (in this case, the Essence DAC), so yeah, no dialogue since no center channel. I did use a cheap HDMI audio extractor for awhile, which sent PCM audio from the HDMI 2 on the Sony to the extractor (which was set in 2 channel mode, limited to 24 bit/ 48khz so the Sony could see that it should be in 2 channel mode), then from the extractor to the Essence via COAX. Coming from an OPPO, it was weird to me that Sony didn't include a the option for the user to manually set 2 channel downmix over HDMI, but that's another topic.

 

[formdissolve]

Is it correct to interpret these measurements as inferring that the Coax (S/PDIF) output from the Essence HDACC (stripped from HDMI) is good enough to not be a bottleneck for modern DAC?

All copyright protected soundtracks (DTS, Dolby) on Blu-rays will be automatically dithered from 24 bit (if the soundtrack is 24 bit in the first place) to 16 bit. Part of the reason I got the Essence was to avoid this, but ran into the issues I mentioned in my other post above.

If you're sending audio from the HDMI to the Essence that is NOT copy protected, I am fairly certain it will take the PCM and output it via COAX at up to 24/192 or higher. The latest firmware might supposed DoP over COAX too, but you'd have to check their website for that information.

 

[zuker81]

I can’t seem to find any measurements ever being posted of the Evolve 7.1 version of this. Does anyone know what happened?

 

[Ongii]

Hello!
Can it be used as USB->HDMI converter, for multichannel audio?

 

[zakazak]

I am looking for a device that can make 5.1 movie files play fine on my stereo speaker setup.
So far I have been using an old device "Sony SDP-EP90ES" which will downsample 5.1 audio signals into stereo.
How ever, my device is defect and so I need a replacement.

The Essence device will not downsample anything.
Instead if will pick out the stereo signals from a 5.1 audio signal and drop the rest?
Meaning I will be loosing some sort of audio signals?

 

[formdissolve]

Hello!
Can it be used as USB->HDMI converter, for multichannel audio?

No, this is stereo only.

 

[formdissolve]

I am looking for a device that can make 5.1 movie files play fine on my stereo speaker setup.
So far I have been using an old device "Sony SDP-EP90ES" which will downsample 5.1 audio signals into stereo.
How ever, my device is defect and so I need a replacement.

The Essence device will not downsample anything.
Instead if will pick out the stereo signals from a 5.1 audio signal and drop the rest?
Meaning I will be loosing some sort of audio signals?

I used to have that Sony to play AC-3 on Laserdiscs, worked great. And yes, if you feed the Essence a 5.1 signal, it will accept it, but play only the left and right channels of all 5, so you will only hear what's coming from the left and right and not the center dialogue. If you can select stereo on the source video player, the player itself will downmix to stereo and then the Essence can play it.

For your case, you might be better off finding an HDMI extractor that will force 2 channel, which you can take and feed to your DAC

 

[zakazak]

I used to have that Sony to play AC-3 on Laserdiscs, worked great. And yes, if you feed the Essence a 5.1 signal, it will accept it, but play only the left and right channels of all 5, so you will only hear what's coming from the left and right and not the center dialogue. If you can select stereo on the source video player, the player itself will downmix to stereo and then the Essence can play it.

For your case, you might be better off finding an HDMI extractor that will force 2 channel, which you can take and feed to your DAC

I have a LG OLED CX TV which can do PCM via TOSLINK.
But I am not sure how downmixing on PCM will work.
PCM via TOSLINK is uncompressed stereo?
So will the LG OLED CX also only output left/right and simply drop all other channels?
Or will it incorporate the other channels into the left/right channel?
Also, the is no LFE I guess?
Additionally, I have no idea if the PCM conversation on the LG OLED CX will have a limited frequency response or if it doesnt matter because it takes all of the signals frequency?

 

[formdissolve]

I have a LG OLED CX TV which can do PCM via TOSLINK.
But I am not sure how downmixing on PCM will work.
PCM via TOSLINK is uncompressed stereo?
So will the LG OLED CX also only output left/right and simply drop all other channels?
Or will it incorporate the other channels into the left/right channel?
Also, the is no LFE I guess?
Additionally, I have no idea if the PCM conversation on the LG OLED CX will have a limited frequency response or if it doesnt matter because it takes all of the signals frequency?

If you use the TOSLINK and select PCM output on your LG, it will downmix and downsample to stereo PCM 16bit 48khz, so you will have all channels mixed into 2. The Essence will not accept lossy or lossless Dolby Digital 5.1 over the Optical port, only PCM.

 

[zakazak]

If you use the TOSLINK and select PCM output on your LG, it will downmix and downsample to stereo PCM 16bit 48khz, so you will have all channels mixed into 2. The Essence will not accept lossy or lossless Dolby Digital 5.1 over the Optical port, only PCM.

Thank you for your explenation. That actually sounds pretty good for me when using my stereo setup for movies. No channels will be lost. No compressed audio. In fact, that is even CD quality when playing .flac files.

I now wonder which DTV Setting on the LG I should use in combination with TOSLINK PCM? There is MPEG, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, HE-AAC, Automatic


I guess there aren't many features I will be missing out when replacing my sound processor Sony SDP-EP90ES with a plain DAC.

 

[formdissolve]

Thank you for your explenation. That actually sounds pretty good for me when using my stereo setup for movies. No channels will be lost. No compressed audio. In fact, that is even CD quality when playing .flac files.

I now wonder which DTV Setting on the LG I should use in combination with TOSLINK PCM? There is MPEG, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, HE-AAC, Automatic


I guess there aren't many features I will be missing out when replacing my sound processor Sony SDP-EP90ES with a plain DAC.

I would set it to Auto PCM. The other options you list will not be accepted by the Essence, only converted PCM.

 

[zakazak]

I would set it to Auto PCM. The other options you list will not be accepted by the Essence, only converted PCM.

Oh well I might not even be using the Essence but just any other DAC that has TOSLINK Input.
But I guess it doesn't matter which one I choose since it gets always converted into PCM and there for stuff like "Dolby Digital Plus" gets "lost" anyway?

 

[formdissolve]

Oh well I might not even be using the Essence but just any other DAC that has TOSLINK Input.
But I guess it doesn't matter which one I choose since it gets always converted into PCM and there for stuff like "Dolby Digital Plus" gets "lost" anyway?

Yes, any modern DAC will support the PCM output from the Toslink. Any Dolby Digital or DTS (whether lossy or lossless), will be converted to PCM 2 channel and you will get the proper downmixed audio. I currently do this on my LG C8 and it works fine for Netflix and HBO Max.

 

[zakazak]

Yes, any modern DAC will support the PCM output from the Toslink. Any Dolby Digital or DTS (whether lossy or lossless), will be converted to PCM 2 channel and you will get the proper downmixed audio. I currently do this on my LG C8 and it works fine for Netflix and HBO Max.

Thank you very much! Any DAC you can recommend?
I am using a Sony TA-F690ES amplifier which is supposed to have a frequency response of 2Hz - 200kHz +0/-3 dB.

 

[formdissolve]

Thank you very much! Any DAC you can recommend?
I am using a Sony TA-F690ES amplifier which is supposed to have a frequency response of 2Hz - 200kHz +0/-3 dB.

No problem. As for recommendations, I'd defer to Amir's reviews on the site: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ital-to-analog-dac-reviews-and-discussion.10/ - lots of good options for various prices.

 

[zakazak]

No problem. As for recommendations, I'd defer to Amir's reviews on the site: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ital-to-analog-dac-reviews-and-discussion.10/ - lots of good options for various prices.

Hm one thing I noticed is that the frequency response of most DACs is between 20Hz and 40kHz. Why don't they go below 20Hz?

 

[aztecsurf]

Just wanted to let everyone know my recent issues with the Evolve II as it may have some issues with certain streaming boxes / services and 5.1 audio. I was just able to confirm this when connected to my nVidia shield, the following services will only play 2 channel stereo:

Netflix
Amazon Prime
Disney+

After some reading and discussing this with my friend who also has the same setup as I do with the Evolve, apparently those streaming services all use Dolby Digital +

The Essence Evolve II does support this format but it looks like its not working with the Shield specifically.

Now, I was not really familiar with Dolby Digital + before this starting happening and from what it looks like after some reading, the streaming companies may use this format for better compression and data size savings.

Long story short after a rigorous amount of testing specifically with the Essence Evolve and the nVidia Shield with the latest software version, we have concluded that no matter which variation of options you try on the shield and the settings within each streaming service, EX: Netflix, you will only get 2 channel audio.

We confirmed this by testing the Apple TV, which DD+ does in fact work with the Evolve. However we ran into other audio sync issues when playing movies. Still testing that right now as well. We will also be testing the Roku Ultra soon for issues.

Now to Bobs credit we contacted him already and he is looking into the issue right now. Basically replicating this situation on his side for a fix soon. Bob was very quick to respond to all our requests and a very professional person!

I have tried all the different streamers on the market over the years. Roku, Shield, Apple TV, Firestick, etc. The nVidia shield in my opinion is by far the best device for multiple reasons. UI speed and consistency, frequent Android updates, customer support, new features available. nVidia has really done a remarkable job supporting this device. If you get the chance to try it out I highly recommend it.

With that said I am sticking with the Shield for obvious reasons and waiting to hear back from Bob on the resolution. I am sure he can do it.

The Evolve II is fantastic product and solves a huge problem. Being able to use your old receiver you have lots of $$ invested into with the newest AV formats is awesome!

 

[BeachFunk]

Hi Amir, I'm curious in the years since this review if you've come across anymore DACs with HDMI in/out in this general price range? Thanks!

 

[rhollan]

The HDFury Diva strips HDCP on its HDMI Audio Out port and supposedly preserves original audio resolution. I have verified the former by going HDMI to SDI to deembedded/reembedded AES3 audio through a miniDSP DDRC-88D for Dirac Live, looped to an AES3 SDI deembedder to drive the display of a Symetrix Lucid ADA 8824 DAC/ADC, and finally looped through an SDI to HDMI converter into the HDMI input of an Oppo 205. 115dB SINAD through the system.

Now this does limit you to 24bit 48kHz sampling LPCM.

 

[rhollan]

The HDFury Diva strips HDCP on its HDMI Audio Out port and supposedly preserves original audio resolution. I have verified the former by going HDMI to SDI to deembedded/reembedded AES3 audio through a miniDSP DDRC-88D for Dirac Live, looped to an AES3 SDI deembedder to drive the display of a Symetrix Lucid ADA 8824 DAC/ADC, and finally looped through an SDI to HDMI converter into the HDMI input of an Oppo 205. 115dB SINAD through the system.

Now this does limit you to 24bit 48kHz sampling LPCM.

One thing to note: I had to use a BlackMagic Up Down Cross HD frame rate converter (and HDMI to SDI converter, so SOMETHING was needed there) between the Diva and the AJA 3G-AM AES3 deembedder/reembedder. The latter didn't like the 1080p59.94 signal from the Diva and preferred 1080p30. This does not affect audio and we do not care about video frame averaging here. 1080p59.94 output also worked but took forever for the 3G-AM to sync.