Audio output

This article is a stub. Main article: Audio.

Audio output

Audio output or audio out simply refers to an audio signal, digital or analog, driven out from one device (in this case, a SpinetiX player) to another device’s audio input. All SpinetiX players are capable of outputting both digital and analog audio.

Note:

Audio decoding and audio output require some CPU power, therefore enabling the audio on the player might have an influence on the overall rendering quality of the content.

Digital audio output

HMP400/W players can output digital audio and video through the HDMI port and the DisplayPort USB-C port. They also support digital audio over any USB-C port when using an adapter or device with active digital-to-analog conversion (DAC). Starting with DSOS 4.7.0, these players support up to 8 audio channels (including 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound) on HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

iBX players provide digital audio and video output through the HDMI port and also support digital audio over USB-C when using a compatible DAC adapter. Like HMP400/W, they support up to 8 audio channels (5.1 and 7.1 surround sound) on HDMI outputs starting with DSOS 4.7.0.

HMP350, HMP300, DiVA, and legacy players can transmit both digital audio and video signals through the HDMI port, but do not support surround sound.

Notes:

HDCP content via the HDMI port is not supported; HDCP protected content will not be played.
For players supporting surround sound, the audio streams in the source content can be encoded using AAC, AC-3, or DTS formats. The most usual video container is mp4, though there are others that support these codecs, such as mkv, mov, mpegts, or audio-only containers such as m4a. wav, ac3. mka.

Analog audio output

Players can provide an analog line-level audio signal (two-channel stereo) through a dedicated connector:

HMP400/HMP400W: use the USB-C port marked with a speaker icon.
iBX players, HMP350, HMP300, DiVA, and legacy players: use the 3.5 mm jack connector.

Notes:

For built-in analog audio output on HMP400/HMP400W (DSOS 4.6.2 or later), we recommend using the SpinetiX USB-C analog audio cable (SX-HW-UCAUD), which is a true analog cable conforming to the USB-C alternate audio specification. It is purely passive, so no risk regarding the reliability of active electronic components, and the noise level and distortion have been validated in our lab.
Simultaneous audio via both HDMI (digital) and 3.5 mm jack (analog) is supported only on legacy players; nevertheless, we do not recommend using both outputs in the same environment as there might be phase/sync issues depending on the screen or HDMI decoder.

The players' analog stereo audio line output is powered by a PCM5121 integrated circuit, which provides an unbalanced, ground-centered output signal, full-scale at up to 2.1 VRMS or ~6.0 Vp-p (+/- 3.0V). Transposed to analog audio levels, this is equivalent to 8.66 dBu (reference 0.775 VRMS) or 6.44 dBV (reference 1.0 VRMS). As such, the analog audio outputs are suitable to drive professional audio equipment (+4dBu pro line level) with a margin of 4.66 dB or consumer equipment (-10 dBV consumer level).

Configuration

The audio output is disabled by default on the player; to enable it, go to the Display & Audio ⇾ Audio section in Control Center, check the "Enable audio output" option, and select the target audio output (e.g., HDMI, DisplayPort, Built-in Audio Analog Output, etc.). You can also enable surround sound and set the volume level.

On legacy players, this is done from Display Settings page ⇾ Advanced tab.