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Author Topic: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?  (Read 1587 times)

davewave

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DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« on: January 20, 2019, 01:21:54 am »

Hi,

I thought I had seen a post here stating that DSD can’t be output via PC to a receiver via HDMI due to limitations of video chips or possibly drivers on the HTPC.  I was wondering if that was not correct, and it would simply be a matter of settings to get DSD files over HDMI.    The HTPC is an Intel NUC running Windows 8.1.  The receiver is a 2016 vintage Marantz (6012).  The Marantz can take SACD natively via HDMI from my Oppo 83.

ThanKS
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Awesome Donkey

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2019, 05:43:24 am »

It's correct, it's not possible to do DSD via HDMI from a computer.
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Windows 11 2024 Update (24H2) 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS Noble Numbat 64-bit | Windows 11 2024 Update (24H2) 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

TheShoe

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2019, 09:30:51 am »

it’s more complicated then that.

DSD using DoP (dsd using pcm frames as transport) is possible but you need a receiver that can support that.   i have a marantz av7703 and it can’t.  thee may be driver considerations as well for your Nuc.  have not researched it enough so take all this with a grain of salt until you do.

my Marantz can be a renderer however using DLNA and MC will see it as such if it is on your network.  you can then select it as the playback device and tell MC to use it for dsd playback by selecting it as a Zone.  this has some caveats:

1: only 2ch DSD 2.8 and 5.6 are supported (for my Marantz)
2: the Marantz will take over the video output -if you are using it and switch to its gui.

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DSD

in the end i just bought a dsd capable DAC that also supports multichannel since a very large number of my dsd collection is multichannel.   sounds wonderful!

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kr4

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2019, 10:28:04 am »

Again, my solution is to feed HTPC output to the HDMI input of a suitable Oppo player and the HDMI output to the AVR. It works.
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Kal Rubinson
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davewave

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2019, 09:45:28 pm »

Unfortunately my Oppo 83 does not have HDMI input only output.
However, it does have a LAN input so I wonder if there is a way to output to the unit via the home network?
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JimH

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2019, 06:37:40 am »

The wiki has a topic called Media Network.
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TheShoe

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2019, 08:16:56 am »

Unfortunately my Oppo 83 does not have HDMI input only output.
However, it does have a LAN input so I wonder if there is a way to output to the unit via the home network?

The Oppo BDP-83 does not accept DSD through DLNA as a supported file type; it also does not work as a DLNA media  renderer as opposed to the 103/105 and 203/205 models which do both.  The 105 and 205 have USB inputs by the way so you can use them as DACs - which do support 2 channel DSD.  I've done this and it works perfectly from MC (with the exception of the 2 channel limitation).

The 83 can output DSD over HDMI to a a receiver that can accept DSD over HDMI.

Some handy references:

Oppo BDP-103 FAQ:
http://watershade.net/wmcclain/BDP-103-faq.html

Oppo BDP-83 FAQ:
http://watershade.net/wmcclain/BDP-83-faq.html

the author maintains (unofficial) FAQs for the other Oppo models.

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davewave

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2019, 04:30:35 pm »

As a test I created some DVDRW discs with SACD ISO files.   Those can be played by the 83 just fine.  They sound exactly the same as the original SACD discs, so I know the rips are not corrupt.

If my receiver can receive DSD over HDMI from the Oppo, it seems there should be some way to do the same from the HTPC over HDMI.
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Awesome Donkey

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2019, 04:10:43 am »

DSD over HDMI from a PC won't work simply because the onboard graphics or the dedicated GPU doesn't support DSD in their drivers. And I highly doubt Nvidia, AMD or Intel will ever support DSD with their GPUs.
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DougHamm

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2019, 07:02:54 pm »

in the end i just bought a dsd capable DAC that also supports multichannel since a very large number of my dsd collection is multichannel.   sounds wonderful!

Hey there -- how are you getting the multichannel audio from your DAC to your speakers; do you have multichannel analogue ins on your receiver or are you using multiple power amps?  I haven't owned a receiver with multichannel inputs since...wow...2006.  Those were good days.
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TheShoe

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Re: DSD via HTPC; can it be done?
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2019, 09:25:23 pm »

Hey there -- how are you getting the multichannel audio from your DAC to your speakers; do you have multichannel analogue ins on your receiver or are you using multiple power amps?  I haven't owned a receiver with multichannel inputs since...wow...2006.  Those were good days.

the exaSound e38 is an 8 channel DAC.  it has analog outputs for each channel.  that is fed into my processor which has 12 analog channel inputs.   that further feeds my amplifiers.

trchnically i could feed the DAC directly into the amplifiers, but that would make it difficult to switch between the DAC for audio and the  HTPC for movie audio (i.e. dolby atmos, dts:x).   the processor has a “pure direct” mode which simply paases through analog to the amps, so i essentially use it as a switch between analog audio from the DAC and digital audio over HDMI from the Htpc

‘tis a wonderful thing

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