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.

Enable audio output

The audio output is disabled by default on the player, it can be enabled by activating the "Enable audio output" check-box option from Control Center ⇾ Display & Audio page, respectively Display Settings page >Advanced tab on legacy players.

Digital audio output

The HMP400 and HMP400W players can output digital audio/video over the HDMI port, the DisplayPort USB-C port, as well as digital audio over any of the USB-C ports when using an adapter/device capable of active digital-to-analog conversion (DAC). These players support up to 8 audio channels (5.1 and 7.1 surround sound) on the HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, starting with DSOS 4.7.0.

The HMP350, HMP300, DiVA, and legacy players can transmit a digital audio signal, along with a video signal, on the HDMI port.

Note:

HDCP content via the HDMI port is not supported; HDCP protected content will not be played.

Analog audio output

The players can transmit a two-channel (i.e., stereo) line-level analog audio signal on the dedicated output connector:

on HMP400/HMP400W that's the USB-C port with a speaker-like marker; a USB-C to jack audio adapter cable is usually required.
on HMP350, HMP300, DiVA, and legacy players, that's the 3.5 mm jack plug.

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).