Can Roon play or pass through DVD-A files?

Roon Software Discussion
1

I just recently discovered I could rip multichannel DTS CDs to my Salkstream III and play them using Roon. The Salkstream is connected via optical to my pre/pro (Anthem AVM 20) via which decides the DTS stream.

This got me wondering if I could do the same with my DVD-A discs. I’d love to be able to add my DVD-A disc collection to my music files for easy access using Roon. I found software that will rip DVD-A discs into FLAC. I assume the resulting file woukd still be in DVD-A format, but in a FLAC container, and would have to be run through something that can play the DVD-A format? Does this sound right?

Since my Anthem pre/pro can’t decode DVD-A, can I connect the Salkstream to my Oppo BDP 103 player to decode the DVD-A steam then send it to my pre/pro?

Any advice/guidance is greatly appreciated. :slight_smile:

2

I have lots of DVD-As that were ripped to 5.1 FLAC files. There is nothing special about the FLAC files from a DVD-A. The are just like any other hi-res or 5.1 FLAC file, will play fine in any player that supports hi-res and/or 5.1 FLAC.

3

No, rips from DVD-A no longer will be “DVD-A files.” They will be PCM in some container format or another. And if multichannel, that is not compatible with your TOSLINK optical connection, which supports only stereo or codecs, such as Dolby Digital and DTS.

AJ

4

He could be talking about MLP encoding. I have some DVD-As which have both WAV and MLP areas.

But the answer is the same. The ripping software always produces normal PCM.

5

MLP is PCM-based and so there isn’t any loss in conversion like there might be with DSD. So year, rip into PCM and play the DVDA-s. I have a bunch like that - they work very well, and some of the best sounding files I have.

6

Great info! Thanks. :smiley:

Ah, so after ripping the files are just PCM. So then the question becomes how to play the multichannel PCM FLAC files from my player (Salkstream III with Roon; Roon core and my music collection reside on the Salkstream’s internal HD) to my pre/pro.

Since the optical connection doesn’t support multichannel PCM, is there a way setup a second connection from my Salkstream III (I believe it has USB and HDMI connections on the back) to my Oppo BDP 103? Will the Oppo be able to take the multichannel PCM FLAC file and send the audio out it’s multichannel analog outputs to my pre/pro’s multichannel analog inputs?

This is all new to me and I’m not very computer savvy, so I greatly appreciate the guidance. :slight_smile:

Edit: I just looked at the PDF owners manual for the Salkstream III and there’s no mention of an HDMI connection; only USB (2 and 3) and spdif (optical). I’ll have to look at the player after work.

Edit: there is an HDMI connection. However, looking at the Salkstream settings, I’m not sure it’s an available output (the settings only refer to USB and SPDIF Optical).

7

UPDATE

With help from folks here and on the Salk forum on AudioCircle, and with a little experimentation, I was able to get everything working (sounds great!) and have started ripping my small DVD-A collection…woo hoo!

I did a little research on doing the same with my SACDs, but it looks a bit more intimidating. Maybe later I’ll get the nerve to give it a try. :slight_smile: …then I’ll be asking more questions! :smiley:

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Apparently SACD ripping can now be done with certain OPPO Bluray players. I haven’t tried it yet (may try this weekend) but the instructions I read sounded pretty straightforward.

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The revision of the players is significant in this case - Oppo 103 and 105 I believe are the versions you need for SACD ripping. Also I network cable to the rest of your network for the file transmission. You must also burn a boot USB to have it work.

1 Like
10

Yes very easy.

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I found instructions on how to rip SACDs using the Oppo 103 (the model I have).

I guess “easy” is in the mind of the beholder…I thought it looked a little intimidating. :open_mouth: :smiley:

12

I think it’s easier than tinkering with a PS3

1 Like
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Not being computer savvy or good tinkering with such things, I’d probably never attempt that. :wink:

14

Ok, you twisted my arm…trying my first SACD rip now. Fingers crossed!

UPDATE: First rip was successful! :smiley:

I had a bit of a scare though. After transferring the new SACD rip to my Salkstream III (houses my music and Roon Core), nothing would play through the Oppo at all (eek!!), even though everything looked fine in Roon. This is the kind of stuff that makes me very anxious about trying stuff like this. After rebooting the Oppo a couple times and rebooting the Salkstream, it started working again, and the new SACD rip sounds great! I guess the Salk and Oppo lost proper communication through the HDMI connection?

On to try more discs. It’s a bit of a slow process, so this will take some time. I guess it’s a good thing my SACD collection is small.

Thanks for giving me the push to try this. :slight_smile:

1 Like
15

Well, my excitement over being able to rip my multichannel DVD-A and multichannel SACD discs was short lived.

Whenever I play any of these files there’s low level, but clearly audible, noise in the background of the music (the music itself doesn’t distort) that sounds kind of like a loose or bad connection. Its audible on all channels, including sub. It’s only there on the files ripped from multichannel DVD-A and SACD discs (I haven’t tried 2 channel SACD discs). There’s no such noise when playing files ripped from CDs or even DTS CDs. It’s there whether I’m playing multichannel through my Oppo via HDMI or direct to my pre/pro via optical.

So it seems either the Salkstream is doing something to add the noise or the noise is within the multichannel files. I’m thinking it’s the latter since it only occurs on the multichannel files.

Is it possible Roon is doing something to cause this noise? Any settings I can check?

Another issue is when using HDMI to the Oppo, if music is paused for awhile (the time varies) the HDMI connection between the Oppo and Salkstream is lost. I then have to reboot the Salkstream to get it to reconnect. Changing HDMI cables didn’t seem to help.

Any ideas what’s going on here? Am I just out of luck playing multichannel music using my streamer/Roon?

Any suggestions/help is greatly appreciated.

(I can start a new thread if needed.)

EDIT:

Another data point…streaming the multichannel files to my iPad (of course Roon downconverts to 2 channel), there is no noise.

I’m really confused about what’s going on here.

UPDATE

Now the noise is there no matter what is playing, or even if nothing is playing. Turning off the Salkstream stops the noise. If the Salkstream is on, the noise is there, and gets louder when asking the Salkstream to do anything (whether using Roon or the web browser access to the Salkstream). If I leave the Salkstream alone for a bit with nothing playing, the noise gets quieter.

I did discover something, however. If I disconnect the HDMI cable between the Oppo and the Salkstream, the noise goes away. So it seems using the HDMI connection introduces the noise (I tried 2 different cables, made no difference). Of course with it disconnected I can’t use Roon to play multichannel files through the Oppo. :frowning:

Any suggestions where to go from here?

16

Ground loop hum? Are you familiar with the concept and how to troubleshoot?

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I always thought of ground loop noise as a steady hum or buzzing… This sounds more like a scratchy loose connection noise, and it varies in volume depending on what the streamer is doing (the more work it’s doing, the more prominent the noise). Would a ground loop issue sound like this (I honestly don’t know)?

It sounds almost like the noise demonstrated in this video, except it’s lower in volume and volume/intensity vaires (from barely audible to clearly audible anywhere in the room) depending on how much work the streamer is doing;

I am somewhat familiar with troubleshooting.

18

No, that doesn’t sound like a ground loop, unless you have some actual electrical defect somewhere. Well that was the extent of my knowledge! Good luck!

19

Thanks for the responses. :slight_smile:

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UPDATE:

A cheater plug on the streamer’s power supply stopped the noise. So apparently it was some king of ground loop issue. I’m going to see if the builder (Salksound) can provide me with a 2 prong power supply.

The other problem I’m dealing with is after about 9-10 minutes the streamer stops outputting via HDMI (it continues outputting via optical indefinitely no problem). It’s as if the HDMI output is going to sleep.

I posted about this on the Salk forum on AudioCircle, so hopefully I’ll hear something soon (and hopefully a fix!) from Jim Salk.

I’m so ready to start enjoying listening to multichannel music rather than diagnosing problems!