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Idea: HDMI audio extractor as a transport
#1
I recently saw reviews of a couple of HDMI audio extractors on Audio Science Review.  Both had RCA analog outputs and a TOSLINK output.  Not surprisingly the measurements for the analog outs were not so hot.  The interesting thing to me was that the TOSLINK measurements were at the theoretical maximum for an optical device.

I decided to try one.  I received it yesterday.  I used the HDMI out from a Pi 3A+ as the input and connected the TOSLINK out to my bedside speaker.  The DAC in the bedside speaker isn't so hot and the audio was like other optical sources I've tried with the speaker.  Connecting the extractor to a reasonable quality DAC produced results similar to HATs with optical output that I've tried previously.  I'm thinking that this could be a budget solution for someone who wants a transport.

As long as you have a DAC you can plug the extractor into you'll have an under $30 transport.  The two devices I saw reviewed were from Amazon Basics and Monoprice.  There's a huge number of imported extractors ranging in price from under $10 to maybe $70.  The main risk looks to be the manufacturing quality.  As long as the PC boards are good and the connectors are solid you can get a surprisingly good device.

In Amazon reviews I've seen complaints on some models that to get the audio you need to have the HDMI output connected to a display.  I spent some time searching Amazon reviews looking for specific mention of audio only use.   There are quite a few extractors that work this way.  The one I bought cost about $20.  The Amazon Basics model I saw reviewed costs a little under $25.  The Monoprice model is close to $40.
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#2
It's very difficult to read one giant block of text. Please edit your post and break into paragraphs.
Enjoy the Music!
moodeaudio.org | Mastodon Feed | GitHub
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#3
(12-25-2022, 10:23 PM)Edited into smaller chunks. Tim Curtis Wrote: It's very difficult to read one giant block of text. Please edit your post and break into paragraphs.
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#4
Thanks for the info nosferatu_cat.

There are some DACs I would like to try that only have SPDIF input.

The other option would be async USB to SPDIF using CM6631A, which seem to be fairly comparable in price.

Is there any advantage to one over the other?
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#5
Why not a HAT ? similar outlay, optical and coax choices and no other cabling or power supplies to add.

https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hi...d-version/
https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hi...digi2-pro/
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bob
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#6
Which method has the highest sound quality? There are large numbers of options in HDMI extractors and USB to SPDIF converters. Less options in HATs.

The coax output from the Amazon Basics HDMI extractor does look amazing.

[Image: amazon-basics-hdmi-extractor-coax-measur...png.245865]
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#7
That does seem like an inexpensive way to get an spdif signal though apparently HDMI audio signals can have excessive jitter (which may or may not be audible).
If your amp/powered speakers need an analog signal then using a USB bridge/DAC combo (e.g., Topping D10S, among others) is the best choice in terms of a price/performance option.
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#8
I am unable to get audio output from an ARC Audio Extractor headphone jack. The device works on the TV ARC HDMI.

Code:
20230401 110511 worker: --
20230401 110511 worker: -- Start moOde 8 series
20230401 110511 worker: --
20230401 110511 worker: Successfully daemonized
20230401 110511 worker: Boot config backed up
20230401 110515 worker: File check (OK)
20230401 110517 worker: Session vacuumed
20230401 110517 worker: Session loaded
20230401 110517 worker: Debug logging (OFF)
20230401 110517 worker: --
20230401 110517 worker: -- Audio debug
20230401 110517 worker: --
20230401 110517 worker: ALSA cards: (0:b1 | 1:Headphones | 2:empty | 3:empty
20230401 110517 worker: MPD config: (0Tonguei HDMI 1 | mixerSadHDMI) | card:0)
20230401 110517 worker: ALSA mixer actual (HDMI)
20230401 110517 worker: ALSA HDMI volume set to (0%)
20230401 110517 worker: --
20230401 110517 worker: -- System
20230401 110517 worker: --
20230401 110519 worker: Host (moode)
20230401 110519 worker: Hardware (Pi-3B 1.2 1GB)
20230401 110520 worker: moOde (8.3.0 2023-03-14)
20230401 110520 worker: RaspiOS (11.6)
20230401 110520 worker: Kernel (5.15.84-v8+ #1613)
20230401 110520 worker: Procarch (aarch64, 64-bit)
20230401 110520 worker: MPD ver (0.23.12)
20230401 110520 worker: CPU gov (ondemand)
20230401 110520 worker: USB boot (not enabled yet)
20230401 110520 worker: File sys (expanded)
20230401 110520 worker: HDMI port (On)
20230401 110520 worker: Sys LED0 (On)
20230401 110520 worker: Sys LED1 (On)
20230401 110520 worker: --
20230401 110520 worker: -- Network
20230401 110520 worker: --
20230401 110520 worker: eth0 adapter exists
20230401 110520 worker: eth0 address check (Off)
20230401 110520 worker: eth0 address not assigned
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 adapter exists
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 country (US)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 configured SSID (LivingStereo)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 SSID alternates (None)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 router mode (Off)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 address check (up to 90 secs)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 connected to SSID (LivingStereo)
20230401 110520 worker: wlan0 power save (Disabled)
20230401 110520 worker: IP addr (192.168.1.212)
20230401 110520 worker: Netmask (255.255.255.0)
20230401 110520 worker: Gateway (192.168.1.1)
20230401 110520 worker: Pri DNS (192.168.1.1)
20230401 110520 worker: Domain (home)
20230401 110520 worker: --
20230401 110520 worker: -- Software update
20230401 110520 worker: --
20230401 110520 worker: Automatic check (On)
20230401 110520 worker: Checking for available update...
20230401 110521 worker: Software is up to date
20230401 110521 worker: --
20230401 110521 worker: -- Audio config
20230401 110521 worker: --
20230401 110522 worker: MPD conf updated
20230401 110522 worker: ALSA card number (0)
20230401 110522 worker: MPD audio output (Pi HDMI 1)
20230401 110522 worker: Audio formats (U8, S16_LE)
20230401 110522 worker: ALSA mixer name (HDMI)
20230401 110522 worker: MPD mixer type (software)
20230401 110522 worker: Hdwr volume controller exists
20230401 110522 worker: Max ALSA volume (100%)
20230401 110522 worker: ALSA output mode (Default: plughw)
20230401 110522 worker: ALSA loopback (Off)
20230401 110522 worker: Reset renderer active flags
20230401 110522 worker: CamillaDSP (off)
20230401 110522 worker: CamillaDSP volume sync (off)
20230401 110522 worker: --
20230401 110522 worker: -- File sharing
20230401 110522 worker: --
20230401 110522 worker: SMB file sharing (Off)
20230401 110522 worker: NFS file sharing (Off)
20230401 110522 worker: --
20230401 110522 worker: -- MPD startup
20230401 110522 worker: --
20230401 110524 worker: MPD started
20230401 110524 worker: MPD accepting connections
20230401 110524 worker: MPD output 1 ALSA Default (On)
20230401 110524 worker: MPD output 2 ALSA Bluetooth (Off)
20230401 110524 worker: MPD output 3 HTTP Server (Off)
20230401 110524 worker: MPD output 4 Stream Recorder (Off)
20230401 110524 worker: MPD crossfade (off)
20230401 110524 worker: MPD ignore CUE files (yes)
20230401 110524 worker: --
20230401 110524 worker: -- Music sources
20230401 110524 worker: --
20230401 110524 worker: USB sources
20230401 110524 worker: No drives found
20230401 110524 worker: NAS sources
20230401 110524 worker: Celeron-G1830
20230401 110527 worker: Mount all submitted
20230401 110527 worker: --
20230401 110527 worker: -- Feature availability
20230401 110527 worker: --
20230401 110527 worker: Input select (available)
20230401 110527 worker: Input (MPD)
20230401 110527 worker: Output (Pi HDMI 1)
20230401 110527 worker: Bluetooth (available)
20230401 110527 worker: AirPlay renderer (available)
20230401 110527 worker: Spotify renderer (available)
20230401 110527 worker: Squeezelite (available)
20230401 110527 worker: RoonBridge renderer (not installed)
20230401 110527 worker: Multiroom sender (available)
20230401 110527 worker: Multiroom receiver (available)
20230401 110527 worker: UPnP renderer (available)
20230401 110527 worker: DLNA server (available)
20230401 110527 worker: GPIO button handler (available)
20230401 110527 worker: Stream recorder (available)
20230401 110527 worker: HTTPS-Only mode (n/a)
20230401 110527 worker: --
20230401 110527 worker: -- Other
20230401 110527 worker: --
20230401 110527 worker: USB volume knob (Off)
20230401 110527 worker: Shellinabox SSH started
20230401 110527 worker: USB auto-mounter (udisks-glue)
20230401 110527 worker: Saved MPD vol level (0)
20230401 110527 worker: Preamp volume level (0)
20230401 110527 worker: MPD volume level (68) restored
20230401 110527 worker: ALSA HDMI volume (96%)
20230401 110527 worker: Auto-play (Off)
20230401 110527 worker: LocalUI (Off)
20230401 110527 worker: Automatic CoverView (Off)
20230401 110527 worker: On-screen keyboard (Off)
20230401 110527 worker: Library scope (recent)
20230401 110527 worker: View reset to playback
20230401 110527 worker: Maintenance interval (360 minutes)
20230401 110527 worker: Screen saver activation (Never)
20230401 110528 worker: Session permissions (OK)
20230401 110528 worker: Mount monitor (Off)
20230401 110528 worker: Watchdog started
20230401 110528 worker: Ready



amixer
Simple mixer control 'HDMI',0                                                                                                                                                                
 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined                                                                                                                                
 Playback channels: Mono                                                                                                                                                                    
 Limits: Playback -10239 - 400                                                                                                                                                              
 Mono: Playback 0 [96%] [0.00dB] [on]
Hardware: RPi Zero W | Allo Kali | ProtoDAC TDA1387 X8 | PGA2311 | Icepower 500ASP | Harbeth SHL5
Software: Moode 8.3.3
Source: Win 10 NAS
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