HDMI to I2S & Intel DN2800MT

[KlipschKid]

Hi,

I'm looking at trying out the new Intel DN2800MT board.

Intel® Desktop Board DN2800MT

It says it has an internal spdif header (yellow pins near the pci-e socket, on the top left edge with the back panel at the top) but I'm curious to know if using the hdmi audio might be better, and how easy it would be to create an hdmi to I2S converter.

I know HDMI requires a "signed" receiver device (or something like that) but I know very little else.

So the question is, can hdmi to I2S be done ? Or would it be be better to use the internal spdif header and a WM8805 or DIR9001 ?

Thanks for any advice,

Tom

[KlipschKid]

Well, no need for a reply - it's not easy - and it'll be far easier just to use the mobo headers.

As always, there's something hackable from China but not my cup of tea.

DTS AC3½âÂë°å 7.1ÉùµÀ½âÂë°å HDMI´ÎÊÀ´úLPCM½âÂë°å DTSHD½âÂë°å-ÌÔ±¦Íø

[sangram]

Late to the party, though I would recommend using a USB - SPDIF converter like the ones from miniDSP or a Hiface 2. The latter will net you galvanic isolation, the former doesn't.

I'm using a Fiio E10 as a temporary solution, it has WM8740 and Tenor 0722. Sounds reasonable for low cost. It has a few issues with signalling and the analog section is less than satisfactory, but the digital output works well.

Note that the older Tenor 0722 based solutions (like my e10) do not support 88.2KHz samplerate.

Onboard on the DN2800MT is very average. Tested using both digital and analog out, the analog output was easily bested by a $40 Alien DAC (PCM2702), the digital output was well below average.

The board also has multiple issues if you want to use it as a general purpose machine. For a thin music-only rig, it is perfect.

[KlipschKid]

Hi,

Thanks for that - good to know the mobo is average.

I already have a wide range of usb, pci and pci-e stuff so I was curious about hdmi, but it doesn't seem to have any advantage over other methods and a couple of disadvantages.

Cheers,

Tom

PS Do you know any 384Khz 32 bit usb ICs ?

[sangram]

Via has a chip that will do 384 KHz over USB:

VT1731. For stereo

VT1730 Multichannel

[KlipschKid]

Thanks - that's the receiver in the Asus Xonar Essence One... I shall do some research.... thanks again. (The Asus doesn't interest me btw cos the DAC is PCM1795, and I don't like the Ti DACs I've heard, plus it is max 192Khz.)