- Rajeev
It's also a matter of HOW it gets passed to receiver/DAC. I wouldn't count on a computer's HDMI port to perform well jitter wise. I'd think it would be audible on some level. The things used to prevent this via HDMI are proprietary and seldom interoperable like PLL and such. If you begin from such a deficit it is hard to imagine good sound coming out when making comparisons. My own Mac is widely regarded out the box but it sounds like crap over HDMI using any OS and combo of software. USB based DACs seem the best way to overcome that art the moment or invest in a well DAC'd player that gets glowing reports from lots of folks who do serious listening on serious equipment. It can be done for under 1k and sometimes under 300.
On Apr 28, 2013 12:33 PM, "August Bleed" <bleedink@gmail.com> wrote:--I also use upnp or dlna to further avoid the OS audio substrate. If the player assembles these asychrounous network packets with say a flash based buffer you've not only eliminated computer noise, you get a sort of free lunch jitter wise as the parts sent are buffered then played. Thus you can use an older Oppo as a near DAC. You'd be surprised at the difference in quality coming from just the computer to receiver (even using wasapi though that absolutely helps as does the NAA I discussed above). I have a (at the time) higher end AVR. It competes but not as well. My 2 cents.
On Apr 28, 2013 12:11 PM, "Rajeev Sharan" <rajeev.sharan@gmail.com> wrote:--That's a good point. Playing flac, DVD-A or SACD using foobar and WASAPI passes everything unaltered in digital to the receiver. The receiver recognizes the signal, displays the frequency (44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4) for couple of seconds. This way it's up to the receiver to process and finally convert it to analog. I think this way I'm avoiding messing up the signal as much as possible. Also all signal traveling in cables is digital and is not prone to any interference.However, playing bluray is a different story - I hear that PowerDVD can use HDMI connection and send the audio unaltered but I haven't tried it yet.
- RajeevWhat happens when you get to 24/176.4?--On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 7:14 AM, Rajeev Sharan <rajeev.sharan@gmail.com> wrote:
I've HTPC with HDMI output (Radeon HD6450) and that takes away any issue of sound cards. Yesterday I was able to get an old Core i5 laptop stream all 8 channels of audio to my receiver too via HDMI. As far as sound from HTPC is concerned, is there any drawback in streaming audio and video out like this?
- RajeevYes, most PC sound cards aren't very good. The specs on many A/V receivers aren't much better, especially if you compare to something like the ASUS Xonar line, which are pretty good and affordable. However, you can spend a lot more and connect your PC to a pro audio DAC or an audiophile DAC. Then connect the DAC to your high-end amps. Only the really high end receivers can compare to this sort of htpc setup for audio quality.
BTW, the best DACs on the market can be used in these setups, like the ESS Saber 9018. Even though that same DAC is used in some quality receivers, like the oppo, there's more to the sound than just that chip. Any receiver will have a hard time matching the isolation and analog sections of these standalone DACs. As for the power amps, I guess that depends on your speakers. Mine are really great sounding, but not very efficient. So I have 400W amps for every channel. I don't think there are any really high quality receivers with a ESS Saber 9018 DAC and 8x400W amps.
On Apr 27, 2013 11:08 PM, "August Bleed" <bleedink@gmail.com> wrote:--Most PC soundcards are horrendous. The DACs in the Oppo's are good, well implemented, and widely respected as reference equipement, both audio and video. My mac sounds good with Amarra and all that but it has nothing on a decent DAC or an Oppo.--On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 8:55 PM, Nor22 <noreltny@gmail.com> wrote:Don't quite get the advantage of the oppo over a PC with regard to multichannel. Is there something other than SACD, dvd-audio and blu-ray that you can play on an oppo that I cannot play on my PC? Because I can play multichannel audio from all those sources plus anything that's currently offered as a digital download.
On Apr 27, 2013 4:33 PM, "August" <bleedink@gmail.com> wrote:----While expensive the 105 given its DAC powers and hdmi inputs seems the better buy. At least you can convert anything into something you can feed that gorgeous DAC. That's the real advantage over PC if u r a mc fan. I wouldn't really consider the 103 while I find the old 93 w/out updates to be a good buy still.
Sent from the BleedPhoneI've gone the HTPC route. Can't think of any format I can't play well with J.River Media Center. Granted, I usually have to rip my discs and maybe muck around with converting from one format to another for convenience, like Blu-ray -> mkv. I wouldn't recommend an HTPC for my non techie friends.
I wish someone would come out with an HTPC that was a combination of pretty affordable, quiet hardware, powerful enough to play anything produced today with software that had the quality of J.River Media Center and the interface for TV and movies (along with EPG) of Windows Media Center. However, instead of waiting for Microsoft to completely abandon media center, it would be produced by a company that was excited to make it into something great. A new HTPC breed of fast, cheap media players with output ports for the best audio/video hardware available today and the near future.
Maybe an enhanced version of Android that worked well with media servers or other forms of network storage (not just cloud storage). And this device would have great synergy between the media player, tablets and phones.
On Apr 27, 2013 12:45 PM, "August Bleed" <bleedink@gmail.com> wrote:--I was just going through a similar discussion with folks on other forums. It seems the ultimate media box is a seriously elusive beast. Even an HTPC has it's limitations--I just got tired of the endless configurations and one software playing one thing well, the other software playing this format well--and neither doing so particularly well as one has to sometimes switch applications and even operating systems to get one file type to work as opposed to another. I can't see a future proof machine not composed of 2 machines: the old 93/95 before firmware and the 105. The former requires a DSD DAC to complete, the latter requires the former to play ISO's and BDMV as well as SACD-R. The only format I can think of right now curiously is DSD. Obviously not a great choice in many many ways. Flac is about the only format I know that carries just about all PCM info as well as MC at all sample bit rates. I feel a bit better with the older model and AVCHD and BDMV and ISO support. But time will tell. There are a bunch of BDAs of good artists coming out soon (nothing we haven't seen but still...) from Universal or EMI (can't remember). I know I was jealous as all hell when the new Oppos came out but now that some time has passed I am not quite as sold on giving up my 93 for little or no gain.--On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 7:24 AM, Tab Cursor <tabcursor@gmail.com> wrote:
Anyone interested in the OPPO 103? If so, do you plan to play your archives on it? Comparing to the 93, the 103 (with latest firmware) removes the following:These features are subtracted:
It's the last three items that concern me. Except for ISO playback, it looks like our past archive techniques still play on an OPPO 103 (without the latest beta firmware update). Is there a "future proof" backup format that will work on future OPPOs? If so, what is that format? Or is the OPPO 103 strictly for playing from your "original" discs only? I'm confused; I thought disc media was supposedly going away. Is there a realistic downside to buying an OPPO 103 and never updating the firmware?
- No component video (recent AACS licensing kills component video for Blu-ray)
- No eSATA
- No aspect ratio setups for 4:3 TVs
- No rubber tab over the front USB port
- Composite video is limited to debugging purposes (shows Setup & Resolution menus)
- BDMV folders are no longer supported on DVD media. (This was a directive from the Blu-Ray Disc Association; I don't know why they care).
- The "AVCHD trick" where Blu-ray backups could be played if the BDMV folder were copied into and AVCHD folder no longer works. This was removed in firmware firmware 50-0323B, by command of the licensing authorities.
- SACD-R support was removed in firmware 50-0323B. (This is the writeable format for home-made discs and copies. Regular SACD is still supported).
On the other hand, an HTPC will play anything. An exception: some bluray software is now supporting Cinavia. But for every program that caves to the man, there's probably ten new ones that don't. And other programs disable Cinavia in software that is caving to the man.
OPPO 103 or new HTPC / Upgrades? Does one choice kiss "the man's" ass and another stick it to him?
Or is it time to just stop buying bluray? I had my first original bluray disc become unreadable. "Lion's Gate" -- the company who produced the disc -- offered no replacement support because I opened the package. That's right, I watched the movie and put it back in its box. It sat on a shelf for months. When I wanted to watch it again it was no longer readable. I didn't think to back it up. Had I done so, I could still watch "the archive" on an HTPC. But on an OPPO 103? Perhaps not. Future-proofing with blurays is tricky indeed.
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