I have just purchased a Bluestream HDMI audio embedder to hopefully get my SACD discs via HDMI to the coaxial on my Dac. I read a post that mentioned this HD11AU but it has dip switches on the side of it, could anyone advise which are the optimum settings of these to enable HDMI to Coax digital please and to output the video signal to the tv.
Thanks
The equipment I am trying to use this with is as follows
Oppo BDP-95 set to bitstream via hdmi in audio settings and DSD in the save output section.
Into the embedder via HDMI and out to a Benchmark Dac 3 HGC via coaxial.
Then into my Naim Nait 50.
whatever I do the benchmark Dac is showing 24/44 as the resolution and the SACD playback is showing as track type SACD PCM
I have all the toggles on the embedder set to the 0 position?.
The manual that comes with the HD11AU gives you a table to select the correct position of the dip switches for audio and video.
I have an HD11AU but dont use it for SACD or video pass- through, just Hi-Res PCM audio de-embedding.
Maybe @Mike_S can share his dip switch settings as he uses it for SACD but not sure about the video.
Here are the settings on my de-embedded.
I’m not sure that your settings on the Oppo are correct. On my CX UHD I take audio/video HDMI direct to the TV and HDMI audio only to the de=embedded and then coaxial to the ND555 for my music discs, including SACD, and have the audio output on the player set to PCM/DSD - not bitstream. On my other 4K UHD player I also use HDMI audio only to the de-embedded for PCM music audio, and optical PCM output to the ND555 for movie soundtracks.
How are you getting on with the Panasonic 820 Mike, are you pleased with its performance for both video and audio?
Im very impressed with mine, its picture and digital audio performance is excellent.
Yeah, the new Panasonic has been rock solid. I’ve only watched a few 4K movies, as I watch more in winter. The picture and sound quality really is top notch. I last watched the 4K release of The Prestige, which always stuck on my CX UHD and it played perfectly, and the picture quality is perfect really, couldn’t fault it.
I’ve watched a few music blurays as well, I just got the Eagles Melbourne one for $5 used, and that was really enjoyable to watch, the sound outputted to the ND555 is really good to.
So, yes, a great buy all round and excellent value.
Thanks I will try the settings that have been suggested and report back appreciate your help , very kind . I was endlessly pushing buttons on the remote last night trying to figure it out
Thanks for the advice, I have mirrored your settings by pressing the left dip switch to the down position and I now don’t need to output HDMI via the out on the device. I have altered my settings to these on the Oppo 95
Audio Format Setup
HDMI Audio - LPCM
LPCM Rate Limit - 192K ( the highest )
SACD Output DSD ( if I select PCM it is the same ).
Audio is being transferred to the Benchmark Dac 3 HGC , but the display only says 24/44 it can play up to 2xDSD but it only says the basic audio is being input?.
On the tv screen when playing SACD it says Trsck Type SACD PCM?. I can’t get it to alter to anything other or indeed the bit rate of the Benchmark to show to correct figures?.
Thanks
Is this only an issue with SACD? Have you tried a hi-res Blu-ray Disc outputting PCM (usually via the Disc menu)? What’s the DSD spec of the DAC. Maybe also check the spec for the HDMI ports on the Oppo.
Thanks for your help Mike, apologies about delay in reply. I digged out a Doobie Brothers DVD Audio disc which outputs 24/192 I connected the Coax straight to the Dac ( has two coax inputs ) on Digital 3 and the HDMI embedded on Digital 4 also via exactly the same brand of Digital Coax cable.
On Digital 3 the signal is showing 24 bit / 48 x 4 which is 192.
Switch over to the Digital 4 for the embedded and it’s showing as 24 / 48 only no x4 light on the Dac and the resolution sounds marginally less to be honest when flicking form one to the other.
I guess this embedder although transferring signals via HDMI isn’t transferring the full resolution to the Dac. I contacted the company and they said it primarily is a HDMI video device and the audio embedding was a secondary feature only. They said that Yoy may not get SACD resolution out of the embedder in reality?.
at least I’m getting something which the Dac can decode Eve if it’s not DSD standard?. I wonder if there’s another one I can try?. I did notice an image on the closed thread which showed a Naim DaC decoding DSD properly which increased my confusion!!.
I’m not really sure what is happening here sorry. The HD11AU is an audio de-embedder, so the company’s advice seems a bit odd. Are you are using the HD11AU for audio and video pass through to your TV using there HDMI output on the HDMI? I use mine only for audio, using an audio only HDMI output port on my CX UHD with the other main HDMI port (A/V) connected directly to my TV. Have you tried this? The Oppo BDP-95 manual has detailed instructions on how to configure each of the 2 HDMI ports. I vaguely recall that my CX UHD will process the SACD signal according to how the receiving DAC processes the DSD signal - on a Naim streamer the DAC converts DSD to PCM, so maybe check the settings on your DAC as well. If you are using HDMI pass through on the HD11AU this may be confusing things as the Oppo and HDMI will be seeing 2 DACs and maybe it then default to the lower one - I’m just guessing here.
The HD11AU will definately de-embed Hi-Res audio up to 24/192, I use it all the time for my Blu-ray music discs, so no problem with the device.
Sounds like its an output problem from the Blu-ray Player, it either cant output the Hi-Res signal or the settings are wrong.
Noting that the digital coaxial output of Blu-ray Players is normally limited to 16/48 due to copyright protection rules, hence why we use the HDMI output and a De-Embedder to get full Hi-Res signals out of Blu-ray Players.
I know it’s very confusing, here is exactly how mine is attached.
Oppo BDP-95 - HDMI 1 - HD11AU - DIGITAL OUT COAXIAL into Dac , I’m not using the hdmi output on the HD11AU to the tv at all. (24/44 on Dac display ) my settings for this I think mirror yours exactly now.
HDMI 2 on Oppo direct to the TV for normal use.
COAXIAL Digital on the Oppo via cable direct into the Dac (24/192 on Dac display )
Oppo in settings is set to LPCM not bitstream.
I don’t know what is happening different but here’s what the company advisor advised after I contacted them -
The HD11AU is predominantly a HDMI video device with the ability to breakout or embed audio. As far as I am aware, SACD audio delivered via HDMI would need to be converted to LPCM - this is not a function the HD11AU has, so the SACD player would need to convert this first.
If you can do this, you can set the HD11AU to act as an end point, so does not need a sink connected to the HDMI output. This is HPD (hot plug detect) mode and can be enabled by switching the left MODE DIP switch to the down position. Honestly though, I’m not sure this is going to work for you as you expect as this was not the intended purpose of how this unit was designed.
Been looking at the manual and this may have something to do with it , I thought with the player been such a good one it wouldn’t output audio with restrictions via coaxial digital
Due to bandwidth limitations, high resolution audio formats such as Dolby Digital Plus,
Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio cannot be sent
through the coaxial or optical digital audio output. A reduced resolution version of the
same audio track will be output instead. To listen to high resolution audio formats in
their best quality, please use the HDMI connection if you have a receiver that handles
HDMI audio (see page 14) or use the multi-channel analog outputs if you do not (see
page 15).
• Due to copyright restrictions, SACD audio cannot be sent through the coaxial or
optical digital audio output. To listen to SACD, please use the HDMI or analog audio connections
I would try disconnecting this and see what happens. Does the DAC have two coaxial inputs? Do they have the same specification? Disconnect the coaxial from the Oppo and only use the de-embedder. You could also swap the coaxial input on the DAC from the de-embedded and see what happens.
This is correct, so set the SACD output (HDMI) to LPCM and use the de-embedder.
Thanks Mike I was talking to someone about this and they said it’s impossible to get High resolution audio via any embedder via the digital output, I mentioned the other thread on here that shows the Naim dacs display showing a DSD signal. They said what I must be hearing is the cd layer of the disc via the embedder?. Can you confirm that your actually getting DSD on your equipment on the display I think it was mentioned in the other thread which I Riston bookmark!.
On my ND555 a SACD via the CX UHD shows as 88.2kHz, so a higher resolution converted to PCM. A hi-res PCM track from a Bluray will display at the same resolution as the Bluray, usually 24/48 or 24/96, so certainly get higher resolution digital using the de-embedder. A DSD file on my Core server is displayed as DSD 256 on the ND555 for the few DSD files I have.
Have you tried the connection changes I suggested.
I will try tomorrow Mike , thanks for the advice in the meantime
