Hello, My connection: NAS to Zidoo via LAN, from Zidoo to AVR via Hdmi, from AVR to TV via Hdmi How to properly play music with FLAC format ? I set in option HDMI Audio: Raw What others setup option I need to set ? When I playing FLAC music the volume control on Zidoo is working. Is It OK ? Sound it s not so good like when l am listennig flac music on my reciever (Pioneer SC LX901 in NET mode (MediaServer). When I watching movie, volume control on Zidoo doesn´t work. I think it´s OK. R.
HDMI audio RAW setting is ok. The Zidoo will decompress FLAC into pcm. Therefor it can do volume adjustment. This is normal behaviour. Because you have the player connected to your AVR with HDMI, I suggest to turn Zidoo's volume all the way up and never touch it again. I have no idea why the sound would be better in NET mode. Maybe you have certain audio "enhancements" active in that setting? Volume control not working on Zidoo is dependent on which codec is used for sound. This is by no means related to whether this sound is used in a movie or not.
Thx.... to Whitfield ... Music from Zidoo plays very good, but from MediaServer on AVR is better. I will use BubbleUPnP or FOOBAR2000 on my phone to control my music on NAS with my AVR. Music aplication on Zidoo doesn ´t work properly yet. Thx so much you save my time ....
Using the same build-in DAC/AMP sound is only influenced by the HDMI Clock for transfer. This can influence the sound on a quality audio setup. If the AMP itself does the decoding then it can in theory/practice sound better. Also multiple players connected to the same AMP via AMP might slightly different. My OPPO 203 sounds slightly better than my Zidoo playing the same albums both via HDMI. This is why quality DAC's use XMOS via USB interfacing (or equivalent alternatives) to get ultra stable/precise clocking independent of the source. Very expensive AMP's like Mckintosh use a custom HDMI internal stabilizer chip between HDMI inputs and the DAC (similar concept as XMOS). This can't be improved using FW but yes by HW design. Just get an USB3000 to listen to. Missing on Zidoo is still a "bit-perfect" output option bypassing any processing at the source including volume control. Works nicely running UAPP on Zidoo for PCM (not DSD) also using the UHD3000 DAC.
looking at the specs, lx901 uses ESS SABRE32 Ultra DAC (ES9016S) which has jitter elimination. wonder how it compares w the newer dacs
lx901 is capable of decoding dsd (my lx82 cant). hve you tired any dsd tracks? i played around today w 192/24 flac and DSD128 of the same track (both in pcm). the difference is v small but felt dsd128 sounded a bit better.
A word about jitter elimination. Absolutely, it is not 100% possible. You can go & reduce jitter to a certain minimum. Maybe even to unmeasurable levels. By reclocking or other techniques. As a sidenote it's not only a matter of how precise & stable a (re-)clock is, but also how any other involved electronics are constructed and what components are used. I would indeed trust the LX901 DACs to be accurate and reliable. I think the reason in OP's audible sound difference must be in the pcm data itself. Decoding FLAC is pretty much straight forward. Never say never, but I would not suspect the Z9x creating that bad pcm-data from a FLAC stream straight off the bat. I think the question is, what happens to the pcm stream after having been ouput by the decoder and before leaving the Z9X at the output stage. As already said, it has to pass a volume controller. How well-engineerd/built is this? And what other processes & hardware does it have to pass? I wouldn't know, actually.
Hello, I have some DSD albums on my PC, but I don´t now how to show it on my reciever Pioneer SC lX901 via NET - MediaServer. R.
I really expect that Pioneer to sound somewhat better with FLAC played directly on it versus coming in via HDMI using Zidoo as a player. The reason is already mentioned clock stability at the source and explained above. Comparing sound with UHD3000 Analog might be a challenge as it should be very close. You can always put the music PCM/DSD on an USB stick (port on the front) for direct playback. Adequate for a comparison.
not sure u can (pls correct if i m wrong). z9x is supposed to support dsd (probably output as pcm) so might be u can try that first. if you want raw dsd stream (via hdmi), probably you need to find a player that can.
Zidoo will now output DoP/Native DSD via an Internat DAC (UHD3000 only) or External USB DAC (all models). Using HDMI it is converted to PCM. http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/practical-experiences-using-the-uhd3000.86061/
... so I tried dsd tracks via USB stick (as recommended Nice Monkey) .... it s working very nice and quickly ... source DSD tracks: Whitesnake - Come An' Get It 1981 (Universal.2010 SHM) SACD-DSD-DFF 1. playing on Zidoo Z9X to reciever via Hdmi quality: very nice (convert track from DSD64 to pcm with 88,2 kHz) 2. data from PC to reciever -MediaServer via LAN conection: quality nice (convert track form DSD64 to pcm 44,1 kHz) 3. data from USB stick to reciever (in USB port in the front panel): quality the best, display shows: DSD64 2,8 MHz 1 bit. Eagles - Hotel California 1976 [LP DSD128 DSF] 1. DSD128 to pcm with 176,4 kHz 2. DSD128 to pcm with 44,1 kHz 3. DSD128 display on reciever shows 5,6 Mhz 1 bit
its good to know. when i come to replace my amp, i know what to look for . i use a track called dirty work by jenna mamina for testing whch was recorded in hi-res. it was free to download at the time (now the high res album cost an arm)
