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Author Topic: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback  (Read 7307 times)

Living Stereo

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JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« on: March 18, 2013, 06:04:28 pm »

I recently got a Oppo BDP-105. I have it connected to my music server via USB. I use JRiver Media Center for 2ch playback of my music collection. I know the Oppo will play multi-channel WAV or FLAC from a USB Memory stick. I have tried it and it works great except for gapless playback which I know it will not do. The question is will JRiver output a Multi-Channel flac or wav via the usb connection ? If So how do you set it up for this ?  If not, is there any other way to outpot those types of files. ?  I have tried playing multi channel wav & flac files on JRiver and keep getting the message "Playback Could Not Be Started Using The Format 96 kHz 64bit 6ch. This Format Would Work in 96 kHz 64bit 2ch, Would You Like To Have Your DSP Studio> Output Format Settings Changed Automatically?" I have tried all the different output modes and can not get JRiver to deal with multi-channel wave or flac files. The files I am using were created with DVD Audio Extractor and the disc that I took the files from is the Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon BluRay that came in the Immersion Box Set. These files play perfectly on the Oppo 105 via a usb memory stick.
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glynor

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2013, 06:25:44 pm »

What you are trying to do isn't possible.

The USB input on your OPPO is for mass-storage.  I don't believe the OPPO can be used as a sound card.  If so, it would almost certainly have a square-type USB connector (type B) and would show up in Windows as a sound device.  Does it?  Click Start and type Sound and then pick the Sound Control Panel.  Does it show up in the Playback Tab when it is connected?

If not, it isn't a "sound card" and can't be used in that manner.  I'd guess it is almost certainly NOT designed this way, the same way you can't plug other devices (like TVs and other set-top-boxes) into a PC and use their sound outputs.

You may be able to use the OPPO as a DLNA device through MC over your network, if the OPPO is connected to the network (and has that capability).
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Living Stereo

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2013, 06:43:40 pm »

Quote
What you are trying to do isn't possible.

The USB input on your OPPO is for mass-storage.  I don't believe the OPPO can be used as a sound card.  If so, it would almost certainly have a square-type USB connector (type B) and would show up in Windows as a sound device.  Does it?  Click Start and type Sound and then pick the Sound Control Panel.  Does it show up in the Playback Tab when it is connected?

If not, it isn't a "sound card" and can't be used in that manner.  I'd guess it is almost certainly NOT designed this way, the same way you can't plug other devices (like TVs and other set-top-boxes) into a PC and use their sound outputs.

You may be able to use the OPPO as a DLNA device through MC over your network, if the OPPO is connected to the network (and has that capability).
Posted on: Today at 06:04:28 pm Posted by: Living Stereo

The Oppo BDP 105 can be used as a stand alone DAC  It has the Square USB Connector (Type B) and a windows Driver.  I am already using JRiver to play 2ch flac through it with no problems.  I would like to use JRiver to play multi-channel files so I can have gapless playback.  The Oppo also has standard USB inputs for mass storage, but will not do gappless playback.
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bulldogger

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2013, 07:12:52 pm »

I have tried playing multi channel wav & flac files on JRiver and keep getting the message "Playback Could Not Be Started Using The Format 96 kHz 64bit 6ch. This Format Would Work in 96 kHz 64bit 2ch, Would You Like To Have Your DSP Studio> Output Format Settings Changed Automatically?" I have tried all the different output modes and can not get JRiver to deal with multi-channel wave or flac files. The files I am using were created with DVD Audio Extractor and the disc that I took the files from is the Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon BluRay that came in the Immersion Box Set. These files play perfectly on the Oppo 105 via a usb memory stick.
My sound card is limited to certain resolutions. I get that message when I try to use formats my sound card does not support. My laptop in particular will not support 6channel 96khz. My desktop will because it has a more capable sound card.
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glynor

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2013, 07:18:40 pm »

The Oppo BDP 105 can be used as a stand alone DAC  It has the Square USB Connector (Type B) and a windows Driver.  I am already using JRiver to play 2ch flac through it with no problems.  I would like to use JRiver to play multi-channel files so I can have gapless playback.  The Oppo also has standard USB inputs for mass storage, but will not do gappless playback.

Ahh, I see.  That's nice (not shocking, Oppo makes nice stuff).

You'd have to check the specs on the Oppo to see if it is supposed to support multichannel input that way.  It could be that they only implemented it internally and not in "DAC mode".  Or, perhaps it does support them, but doesn't support them at the same quality settings (maybe in multichannel mode the best it can manage is something more like 24-bit 44.1/48kHz).

However, to be clear:  MC handles multichannel FLACs just fine (I have a bunch).  I'm not sure about WAV, but I'd guess that it shouldn't be a problem.

To enable multichannel output in MC, you simply select your audio device via Options > Audio (or make sure it is set as the Windows default).  Then, set the DSP > Output Format to the proper number of output channels.  You should be able to test if it is a bit depth or sample rate limitation by starting low and then raising them up from there until it complains.

I did see this note on the AVSForum Owners thread:

Quote
SABRE32 Reference Audio DAC - The DAC is one of the most important components for digital audio playback. The SABRE32 Reference ES9018 from ESS Technology is the world’s best performing 32-bit audio DAC solution targeted for high-end consumer applications and professional studio equipment. With the ESS patented 32-bit Hyperstream™ DAC architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator, the SABRE32 Reference DAC delivers an unprecedented DNR (Dynamic Range) of up to 135dB and THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise) of -120dB, the industry’s highest performance level that will satisfy even the most demanding audio enthusiast. The BDP-105 uses two ES9018 DAC chips - one for the 7.1-channel output, and another for the dedicated stereo output. To learn more about the technologies behind the exceptional performance of the SABRE DAC, please read the SABRE Technical White Paper.

So, I'd guess from a start that your bit depth might be too high, assuming it does let you access that second 7.1 configured DAC via the USB.

If the DSP > Output Format > Bit Depth isn't set explicitly (it is set to Source Bit Depth), try setting it to 32-bit (which is what the DAC is internally anyway), and see what happens.
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glynor

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2013, 07:28:52 pm »

As I suspected, it looks like the Asynchronous USB DAC input is stereo only (it is likely only wired to one of those two DACs they advertize).  From the AVSForum thread I linked above:

Quote
The "special" USB socket -- the square socket on the back panel -- works very differently. This Asynchronous USB DAC Input is used to connect a computer so that the OPPO can be used to play audio IN PLACE OF the normal sound card and speakers in the computer. Whatever application you use to produce audio in the computer will send digital audio out that connection to the OPPO instead of sending it to the computer's own speakers. The decoding and rendering into digital audio of whatever file you decide to play this way happens in your computer (not in the OPPO), or more precisely in whatever audio playback application you are running on the computer. What gets sent to the OPPO is an already decoded, stereo LPCM stream -- up to 2.0 LPCM 192KHz 24-bit. That input gets passed DIRECTLY to the DACs in the OPPO -- bypassing all audio processing except volume control -- for Analog audio output. It also gets presented on the digital audio outputs as well -- i.e., HDMI LPCM stereo audio output.

Note that the Asynchronous USB DAC Input can only be used to play stereo audio -- no video or multi-channel audio. But the attached hard drive or network methods of playback can also be used to play video files and multi-channel audio files, as well as stereo audio files.

The good news is that that device has a built-in ethernet port, and does (apparently) support network playback of multichannel files, so you should be good to go.  Hook it up to your network, and MC should be able to play to it as a DLNA device.  I'm positive MC includes the necessary options to enable DLNA playback without transcoding the files, but you'll need input from someone better versed in how DLNA Renderers work through MC than I.  Ask if you need help.

Or, you should be able to hook it up via HDMI (if you have a HDMI output on your computer), and play 8-channel PCM to it from MC.  That would work just as well without any network fiddliness, especially if the Oppo and the computer are near each other.
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Living Stereo

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2013, 08:52:48 pm »

Thanks for all the info, I will see what it takes to do it through an Ethernet connection and see what happens.
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Living Stereo

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2013, 01:41:49 am »

Could Anybody explain how to get JRiver to send multi-channel Wav & Flac files via the network. How do the settings in JRiver need to be set & how are the Oppo 105 settings. I have been able to send multi-channel files to the Oppo via the network in JRiver (right click, send to Oppo BDP-105), but I can not get multi-channel, it just plays 2ch no matter what the settings. These same files play perfectly from a memory stick on the Oppo and show up on my Integra Reciever as multi-channel. I was hopeing to make this work via JRiver because I want gappless playback. It appears, per the Oppo manual that it won't support multi channel input on any of it's inputs, USB DAC, Coax or Optical, it seems only USB Stick and Possably Network only. "The BDP-105 supports up to 2ch/192kHz PCM signal through its USB audio input, and up to 2ch/96kHz PCM, Dolby Digital, DTS and AAC signal through its Optical and Coaxial audio inputs." Any help would be appreciated
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JimH

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2013, 07:10:19 am »

If you're using DLNA to play to the device, make sure conversion is set to none.  With DLNA, the file is then given to the Renderer unmodified.

The wiki has a topic on DLNA. 
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Living Stereo

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #9 on: March 22, 2013, 03:08:19 pm »

Thanks, I finally got it working, it is now passing Multi-channel WAV & FLAC files via the network properly and it is showing up as multi-channel on my receiver.  Now the bad news, it still will not do gapless playback, there is a gap between each song.  This is frustrating when listening to live material and especially things like The Dark Side Of The Moon.  Is there no solution to this ?  The whole point of getting JRiver to play the Multi-Channel files was to have gapless playback.  I have all the settings in JRiver set to gapless, but it still does not work.  Any suggestions ?
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Rubberduck0

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2013, 03:48:34 am »

Unfortunately not.

But another question: Can you do a seek with FLAC files (jumping to certain time index within the track)? And what is the manufacturer of your renderer?
(I own a Denon and seek over DLNA works fine for MP3, but not for uncompressed or FLAC files. Denon support told me, that the chipset of all Denon products is not capable of doing a seek for FLAC, so this is not a firmware issue.)
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Living Stereo

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Re: JRiver and Multi-Channel WAV & FLAC Playback
« Reply #11 on: March 23, 2013, 01:10:43 pm »

I sent a Message about this to Oppo and Oppo replied "The ability to support gapless audio will be supported through CUE file playback in a future firmware release for all sources played back by the player."  Just Have To Wait.
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