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HDMI cable for I2S

I’ve got an old Oppo DV-970HD I’m using as a transport into my Musician Pegasus R2R DAC in my headphone rig. The Oppo has an HDMI out (that does output 2-channel PCM) and the Pegasus has an HDMI I2S input, so I was wondering if any HDMI Cable will work for this? I recall someone saying you need to check with the DAC manufacturer to see which pins are live, but just wanted to check here to see if I’m missing something or if this can even work. I’m thinking of getting a 0.5m DH Labs Silversonic HDMI 2.1, so would this cable possibly work for this? It’s marketed as a video cable so not sure if that means anything or if HDMI is the same for audio or video. Thanks for any help/insights.

soix
lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

https://www.oppomod.com/

You can get a DIY I2s card from Oppo Mod.

Your model number doesn't show, but they reply by email very quickly.

FWIW I found using I2s over RJ45 was better than HDMI, YMMV.

soix OP
9,613 posts
 

The question should be, is the output from the OPPO truly I2S or standard HDMI?

The HDMI output is PCM, same as what comes out of the SPDIF output. So I’m thinking there’s not much value in using an HDMI cable or if the I2S input on the Pegasus would even recognize it.  Or, is the I2S PCM output the same as SPDIF and the difference is in the cable?

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

I2s will give superior SQ to any other connection and using the Oppo Card above you'll get Native DSD into your DAC.

You could also get Native DSD over USB but the Oppo doesn't output USB.

I2S Card Upgrade - $220

This is add on card which extracts the I2S signal from OPPO's internal digital audio data and transfers via HDMI to the I2S input of DAC's such as the PS Audio DAC.

With this upgrade all digital audio signals, including SACD and DSD, can be transfered to the outside of the OPPO BD player (These signals can not be transmitted by a normal S/PDIF coaxial or optical output).

Currently, there are no standards for transmitting these I2S signals, but many manufacturers are following the PS Audio standard. This specification uses the HDMI terminal physically (not the HDMI transmission standard).

Currently PS Audio, Holo Audio and Javs DACs are confirmed for compatibility.

soix OP
9,613 posts
 

So, is an I2S signal different from a standard PCM signal?  I’m still not clear on this. 

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

I2s is another transmission method, an alternative to USB, SPDIF(AES & RCA COAX) or even TOSLINK.

Currently I2s is usually transmitted using HDMI or RJ45 cables.

PCM is a method of storing music and usually uses WAV or FLAC formats.

DSD is the King of the Hill and is usually stored in DFF files, unless DSD is on a SACD.

If your DAC cannot play DSD it will be converted to DOP, not quite as good but acceptable.

There are also Apple formats, MQA and MP3.

I don't know of any format or currently used frequency that I2s cannot transmit.

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