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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 9:08:26 GMT -5
I've recently ordered an XDA-3 and two XPA-DR1 amps, not yet received. I'm working to understand the best way to have clean signals using an Amazon Firestick for video and audio. TV has HDMI-in only (not ARC) TV has digital audio out optical. Perhaps I should use the firestick at the TV, then use the TV optical out to feed the XDA-3? If yes, this would be a clean signal to the XDA-3? I'm not sure if this old TV, with the Firestick attached, will be sending a low-quality signal to the new equipment. If this is a good method, should I be careful which optical cable to use? Recommended brand? Is there a better way to connect this? Should I be considering additional equipment? (splitters, other things?) I'm hoping to have a good plan, and everything I need when the equipment arrives. Am I thinking correctly that an HDMI splitter is a bad idea? This would allow me to connect the firestick near the XDA-3, and split its HDMI out to the TV for video? advice?   |
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Post by geebo on Jan 1, 2024 10:19:03 GMT -5
I've recently ordered an XDA-3 and two XPA-DR1 amps, not yet received. I'm working to understand the best way to have clean signals using an Amazon Firestick for video and audio. TV has HDMI-in only (not ARC) TV has digital audio out optical. Perhaps I should use the firestick at the TV, then use the TV optical out to feed the XDA-3? If yes, this would be a clean signal to the XDA-3? I'm not sure if this old TV, with the Firestick attached, will be sending a low-quality signal to the new equipment. If this is a good method, should I be careful which optical cable to use? Recommended brand? Is there a better way to connect this? Should I be considering additional equipment? (splitters, other things?) I'm hoping to have a good plan, and everything I need when the equipment arrives. Am I thinking correctly that an HDMI splitter is a bad idea? This would allow me to connect the firestick near the XDA-3, and split its HDMI out to the TV for video? advice? View AttachmentView Attachment Nothing wrong with splitting the HDMI output. HDFury makes a device that might be just the ticket: www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/ |
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Post by spiette on Jan 1, 2024 10:20:11 GMT -5
I'm assuming that 2 channel audio is what you're expecting. Since it's not clear that you can connect the fire TV stick directly into the XDA-3 (it's expecting audio using ARC, which is not how a FTVS normally outputs audio) I'd try connecting the FTVS to the TV and use the Optical out to the XDA-3 to start with and then try analog to see which you think sounds better to you.
You may want to consider an AVR in the future to do decoding or a newer TV that will spit out ARC.
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 11:05:37 GMT -5
I'm assuming that 2 channel audio is what you're expecting. Since it's not clear that you can connect the fire TV stick directly into the XDA-3 (it's expecting audio using ARC, which is not how a FTVS normally outputs audio) I'd try connecting the FTVS to the TV and use the Optical out to the XDA-3 to start with and then try analog to see which you think sounds better to you. You may want to consider an AVR in the future to do decoding or a newer TV that will spit out ARC. Thank you all for the help. I had grand ideas of connecting stuff, and you gentlemen are helping me to get a grip on reality, and most importantly, I will now be avoiding unwanted smoke.  I was lacking a bit in understanding some of the newer technology. Yes, I am after two channel audio. I became fond of the XDA-3 + XPA-DR1 differential / balanced combo, and the Emotiva 25% sale event.  Thanks again, I had not thought that the firestick may not play well direct-connected to the XDA-3. I'm starting to smell an excuse to get a newer television  Clarify the term?.. FTVS? I have an old AVR, Marantz SR7002 Marantz SR7002 Receiver Review | Audioholics I was pondering grand plans of using it, but I will review possibly using it in a very simple way. It does not have HDMI arc. If I cannot get the Marantz SR7002 to play well with his new friends, and to provide a pure signal. A new AVR may be a good choice? I'll need to figure out what a newer AVR will provide. I presume mostly HDMI arc? So I guess my debate is now between a new TV, or new AVR, or HD Fury www.hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/SR7002  XDA-3   |
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Post by 405x5 on Jan 1, 2024 11:08:55 GMT -5
UB820-K Panasonic
This ultra high definition player has turned out to be one hell of a streamer…… We’ve been using it for that in addition to having an updatable player for all my physical disks. Not crazy about the Apps themselves but that’s not what matters the quality of the playback is what counts, meaning when you are actually streaming. I continue to maintain two Blu-ray players that stream in my system. The other is a Sony that has some features that the Panasonic lacks (has Bluetooth!) so between the two of them. I have all my bases covered
The Amazon fire stick is tied directly into the monitor , so my wife can stream when I don’t turn the big system on I could big system audio from it if I switch to an optical connection that I have, of course not as good as the HDMI
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 11:39:52 GMT -5
UB820-K Panasonic This ultra high definition player has turned out to be one hell of a streamer…… We’ve been using it for that in addition to having an updatable player for all my physical disks. Not crazy about the Apps themselves but that’s not what matters the quality of the playback is what counts, meaning when you are actually streaming. I continue to maintain two Blu-ray players that stream in my system. The other is a Sony that has some features that the Panasonic lacks (has Bluetooth!) so between the two of them. I have all my bases covered The Amazon fire stick is tied directly into the monitor , so my wife can stream when I don’t turn the big system on I could big system audio from it if I switch to an optical connection that I have, of course not as good as the HDMI Thanks, This is interesting. This can be a replacement for the FireStick, or the FireStick connects to it? Hmmm. I see that it streams Amazon.... I see that the firestick > TV without visitors blowing up the big system is a bonus. I have in-laws that think audio distortion is happiness.... It's HDMI Audio Out connects to the XDA-3 HDMI ARC? This is higher quality audio than the Firestick 4k? Panasonic DP-UB820-K  www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Ultra-Assist-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B07N3PQM5N |
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Post by 405x5 on Jan 1, 2024 12:02:36 GMT -5
UB820-K Panasonic This ultra high definition player has turned out to be one hell of a streamer…… We’ve been using it for that in addition to having an updatable player for all my physical disks. Not crazy about the Apps themselves but that’s not what matters the quality of the playback is what counts, meaning when you are actually streaming. I continue to maintain two Blu-ray players that stream in my system. The other is a Sony that has some features that the Panasonic lacks (has Bluetooth!) so between the two of them. I have all my bases covered The Amazon fire stick is tied directly into the monitor , so my wife can stream when I don’t turn the big system on I could big system audio from it if I switch to an optical connection that I have, of course not as good as the HDMI Thanks, This is interesting. This can be a replacement for the FireStick, or the FireStick connects to it? Hmmm. I see that it streams Amazon.... I see that the firestick > TV without visitors blowing up the big system is a bonus. I have in-laws that think audio distortion is happiness.... It's HDMI Audio Out connects to the XDA-3 HDMI ARC? This is higher quality audio than the Firestick 4k? Panasonic DP-UB820-K View Attachmentwww.amazon.com/Panasonic-Ultra-Assist-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B07N3PQM5NI bought the Panasonic to replace a no longer supported by the company Samsung 3-D Blu-ray player. Not happy about maintaining unsupported hardware in the system. Getting hold of an Amazon fire stick was purely to keep things simple for my wife when she streams and you’re right about not having company screwing around with the big stuff. I suppose you could do it but it would be redundant to input the fire stick to the Blu-ray player. If I wanted to run the fire stick through the big system, I would use one of the XMC1 HDMI inputs but no need. |
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Post by bobcel on Jan 1, 2024 12:05:46 GMT -5
IMHO in general HDMI splitters suck in the audio dept. (tried a couple of those in the past and lots of interference) Perhaps the 4K Arcana is different but at one heck of a price point. I am resigned to using the Fire stick 4K Max on my TV with an optical out from the TV to my XMC1. Not perfect but certainly nothing to complain about, clean connection, no noise and sounds very good for streaming purposes. Just the cost of an optical cable, you should try it. Love my XMC1 and wish I could buy an upgraded board to pass through 4K and plug in my Fire stick, impossible to locate at this point
My $.02
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Post by spiette on Jan 1, 2024 12:33:07 GMT -5
Clarify the term?.. FTVS? FTVS = Fire TV Stick While the Marantz SR7002 doesn't support ARC either do you really need it to? About the only thing that sources using HDMI ARC is a TV set and that's what the XDA-3 input is for according to the manual. The SR7002 has 192kHz 24 bit DACs and likely can decode as well as needed for the audio you would get from a Firestick. Feed the FTVS into it, connect it to the XDA-3 via analog from the pre-out for L & R or via one of the digital outputs (Coax or Optical). You can several options now, the simplest is optical from the TV to the XDA-3 using the Fire TV Stick as your streamer. I assume you have other hardware you want to connect to the XDA-3 for high quality music. |
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Post by geebo on Jan 1, 2024 13:33:24 GMT -5
IMHO in general HDMI splitters suck in the audio dept. (tried a couple of those in the past and lots of interference) Perhaps the 4K Arcana is different but at one heck of a price point. I am resigned to using the Fire stick 4K Max on my TV with an optical out from the TV to my XMC1. Not perfect but certainly nothing to complain about, clean connection, no noise and sounds very good for streaming purposes. Just the cost of an optical cable, you should try it. Love my XMC1 and wish I could buy an upgraded board to pass through 4K and plug in my Fire stick, impossible to locate at this point My $.02 I've tried three or four HDMI splitters and none of them work well in all aspects. The HDFury, however, works wonderfully. I have the older Integral2 that passes full HDR, DV and Atmos without issue. Yes, they are more costly but mine works with anything I've thrown at it. |
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 13:34:54 GMT -5
Thank you very much Gentlemen.
I'm beginning to understand this better now.
Happy New Year!
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 16:28:31 GMT -5
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Post by geebo on Jan 1, 2024 17:59:44 GMT -5
What are your plans for getting hi-res audio to the XDA-3? |
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 1, 2024 19:11:14 GMT -5
Im thinking NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro Streaming Media Player; 4K HDR movies, live sports, Dolby Vision-Atmos, AI-enhanced.
Usb cable to XDA-3...
I've gotten tired for the day...
Thanks for trying to help...
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Post by geebo on Jan 1, 2024 19:45:19 GMT -5
Im thinking NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro Streaming Media Player; 4K HDR movies, live sports, Dolby Vision-Atmos, AI-enhanced. Usb cable to XDA-3... I've gotten tired for the day... Thanks for trying to help... You'll have to let us know how that works for you. |
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 2, 2024 2:15:22 GMT -5
God bless,
Will do.
💪⚓😎
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Post by eurorom on Jan 2, 2024 10:19:02 GMT -5
I've recently ordered an XDA-3 and two XPA-DR1 amps, not yet received. I'm working to understand the best way to have clean signals using an Amazon Firestick for video and audio. TV has HDMI-in only (not ARC) TV has digital audio out optical. Perhaps I should use the firestick at the TV, then use the TV optical out to feed the XDA-3? If yes, this would be a clean signal to the XDA-3? I'm not sure if this old TV, with the Firestick attached, will be sending a low-quality signal to the new equipment. If this is a good method, should I be careful which optical cable to use? Recommended brand? Is there a better way to connect this? Should I be considering additional equipment? (splitters, other things?) I'm hoping to have a good plan, and everything I need when the equipment arrives. Am I thinking correctly that an HDMI splitter is a bad idea? This would allow me to connect the firestick near the XDA-3, and split its HDMI out to the TV for video? advice? View AttachmentView AttachmentI WOULD TRY EVERYTHING YOU ARE PLANNING...I THINK YOU WILL BE SUPER HAPPY. FOR TWO CHANNEL YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PATH. |
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,261
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Post by KeithL on Jan 2, 2024 10:47:28 GMT -5
Hi... Keith here...
I've been following this... mostly... and I'm going to add a bit of clarification to the subject.
(Some of this has been covered already.... so bear with me. )
1.
HDMI-ARC uses a different signal than a normal HDMI or HDMI audio signal.
HDMI-ARC is normally used to enable a TV to send audio that is sourced by the TV to an AVR or pre/pro.
(For example, if you were using an App on the TV, or had a source device connected directly to the TV by one of its other HDMI inputs.)
You would have an HDMI cable that goes FROM the processor TO the TV that normally carries audio and video TO the TV.
HDMI-ARC allows the TV to send audio to the processor... BACKWARDS through this HDMI cable... from the INPUT on the TV to the OUTPUT of the processor.
The HDMI-ARC input on the XDA-3 is intended to be connected to THE HDMI-ARC *INPUT* ON A TV.
You cannot connect it to an HDMI output on any device; it simply won't work that way.
2.
The XDA-3 is a two-channel device.
If you connect to it using HDMI-ARC your source device should "recognize this" and send the proper two-channel audio to the XDA-3.
Likewise, if you connect to its USB input, most source devices will recognize this.
However, the optical (Toslink) output on something like a TV is "dumb" - it doesn't know what's connected to it.
So, if you use the optical output on something like a TV, you MUST be sure to set it to "Stereo PCM" or "2 channel PCM".
(If you set it to "surround" or "DD+" then, when you try to watch a show that is in surround sound, the XDA-3 won't play... )
3.
You mentioned the USB input on the XDA-3.
Most people who play music via a computer or computer-based device would consider this to be the best option.
HOWEVER, while a computer has a USB output, and so do most phones, most OTHER devices, like TVs do NOT.
NOTE that the USB input on the XDA-3 is intended to be connected to the USB output of a device like a computer that allows you to connect "an external DAC".
It CANNOT play files from a USB stick...
And you cannot connect it to a USB port on another device that is ONLY intended to play files from a USB stick...
4.
If you connect a source device to the TV then the TV should send an audio signal out of its optical port.
As I mentioned above you MUST configure your TV to send a "stereo PCM" output, and not a surround sound or "DD+" signal, from that output.
And, yes, the audio quality on the Firestick will be somewhat limited (it will be limited by the Firestick itself, and the TV, and the source... so the quality will probably vary).
Likewise, if you use devices like an AppleTV, the quality will be limited by the source...
And it will also be limited by the method you use (audio streamed from a phone will be different quality that from a Tidal App ON THE TAV...)
To be quite honest...
A lot of these will work and will give you decent quality audio...
But the BEST audio quality will be achieved using the USB input on the XDA-3 from something like a computer...
And the next best would be using something like the Coax or Toslink input connected directly to the output of a high quality streamer...
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Post by spiette on Jan 2, 2024 11:04:54 GMT -5
Good stuff Keith.
It looks like the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro supports external USB DAC's for output. I question how much of an improvement that might be given the nature of the source material and the cost difference but I look forward to the review.
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Post by AverageNiceGuy on Jan 2, 2024 20:05:57 GMT -5
Wow! Thank you very much Keith and all. |
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