Vanity203HD I2S link

[AP]

HI Mjay71,
Not sure which resolution you mean, but I2S is natively 32 bit, audio going though is usually 24 bits padded to 32 bit frame.
Regards,
Pavel

[Mjay71]

Thanks, Pavel. I use the Vanity103 board and was curious what advantages are gained with the 203 plus vanity board. Regarding the I2S, I thought I had read the Oppo 203 can handle audio samples greater than 24/192 through maybe usb or hdmi inputs, and was wondering if those higher rates, possibly even DSD 128, can be passsd on as is through the I2S link.

If that is not the case, are the advantages gained via I2S primarily jitter related, as the clock data and audio data are sent separately?

Thanks,
Michael

[AP]

Hi Michael,
Now I see what you mean. Although the preliminary specs of the UDP203 mentioned support for up to 384kHz and DSD256 the production version can reliably playback only sampling rates up to 192kHz. Just like the BDP-103. The only extra thing in UDP-203 is DSD128 playback which is rubbish anyway, because DSD128 is internally converted to PCM. Therefore the main advantage of the I2S output on the Vanity203HD is better clock transmission, no sampling rate advantage over SPDIF/AES output I am afraid.
Regards,
Pavel

[Mjay71]

Thank you, Pavel, that makes sense.

Does the I2S draw its clock data straight from the oppo master clock, or does the board clean up the clock signal somehow beforehand?

Considering the reclocking of the signal for spdif output of the vanity board, it would be interesting to see/hear what improvements timing/jitter control are achieved via I2S.

[AP]

Since the audio data is reclocked to the Vanity's clock domain the output clock comes from the local oscillators. Otherwise it would be out of sync. The differences between I2S and SPDIF as transportation methods will greatly depend on concrete implementations, so it is difficult to give any general advices which one is better. I have seen a company selling an "isolated I2S output module" based on digital isolators, which just by the technical specs should sound absolutely rubbish (or very "musical" ironically said) due to variable propagation delay of such isolators. If you are going to try something, please let us know the results!
Thanks.

Pavel

[Mjay71]

Oh, so the audio data is reclocked by the Vanity board for I2S output, as well as for the spdif output. That was what I was inelegantly trying to ask. Thanks.

The implementation of I2S on the vanity203 board should be substantially better than if I installed one of these into the 103 I currently use with a Vanity103 board:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/I2S-board-for-OPPO-203-103-D/173750048758

Michael

[ridom]

Hello to everybody
It looks that this ine is open, so I will post my question
I want to connect the card's I2S output to the LVMOS RJ45 input of a Denafrips Terminator II. I have both pin's asignments. However, I did not find, on the Denafrips side a Pin for the 3V3 that the card supposedly needs. Is it mandatory? If yes, how can I do it?
Many thx in advance, Ricardo

[AP]

Hi Ricardo,
The 3V3 pin is just a +3.3V power provided in case you need to power an intermediate active converter, such as LVDS or similar. The pin doesn't need to be connected. If you are unsure, please consult your intention of connecting the I2S between two devices with someone with electronics skills. The connection has to have a solid low impedance ground connection between both sides (OPPO and DAC) before you can make the actual I2S connection. Often the chassis and signal ground are floating with respect to earth potential and the potential difference between two devices can reach voltages able to easily damage electronics circuits.
Regards,
Pavel

[ridom]

Hello Pavel

Many thanks for your answer. I checked with the makers of Denafrips DAC and they told me that I will not need the 3.3v connection since the DAC have its own power source. Furthermore, I am not using an LVDS converter since I will use the LVMOS input of the DAC. Anyway, I will go back to the maker to check if there is a real low impedance ground connection on the DAC side. Is the latter the point that you are trying to make or do i have to connect the ground output to the Oppo instead?
My best, Ricardo

[AP]

Hi Ricardo,
The solid ground connection has to be between the OPPO/Vanity and your DAC. The reason is the I2S signals have common reference on both sides. For SPDIF it doesn't matter because it is transformer isolated, I2S is not.
Regards,
Pavel