Optical SPDIF to Firewire converter???

[shappy]

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I figure you guys here might know...

I am interested in the upcoming beyerdynamic Headzone system. However, I have learned that it will only take either a firewire input or analog 5.1 input. I want to use this for listening to DVD's and DVR programming and I would rather give this unit a digital input vs an analog one. Does anyone know of a product ($400 or less) that will convert optical SPDIF (from my DVD or DVR) to Firewire?

Thanks.

 

[Sir Nobax]

That is the craziest thing i have ever heard. (however i cant say it doesn't exsist)

...while we're at it, does anyone know of a Car to Motorbike converter

.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shappy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not sure if this is the right forum, but I figure you guys here might know... I am interested in the upcoming beyerdynamic Headzone system. However, I have learned that it will only take either a firewire input or analog 5.1 input. I want to use this for listening to DVD's and DVR programming and I would rather give this unit a digital input vs an analog one. Does anyone know of a product ($400 or less) that will convert optical SPDIF (from my DVD or DVR) to Firewire? Thanks.

The page that you linked on the beyerdynamic site states:

"The Headzone® system has three components: the processor, headphone and handy Headtracking receiver. The processor is linked by digital cable with a commercially available DVD player or AV receiver and its high-performance signal processors (DSPs) give the same distinct pulse and frequency patterns to the audio signal that the human ear recognises the direction of sound events with in actual space. "

Where did you find out that it would only take a FireWire or analog 7.1 input?

I know of no commonly available DVD players that have FireWire output, and the page seems to clearly state that it takes a digital cable from a DVD player. The only digital outputs on typical DVD players are the S/PDIF coax or TOSLINK connections. There are very few AV receivers that have any sort of FireWire interface, and those were FireWire inputs as far as I can recall.

EDIT: I think I have found the reason for confusion on this one..........

The "PRO" version of this unit was released last year to allow engineers to mix surround programs outside of a studio with that capability. The PRO model interfaced via either 5.1 analog inputs or a FireWire port, which makes perfect sense in that environment. FireWire would allow it to be daisy-chained with most digital audio workstation gear and multichannel DAC's that use FireWire as their native interface for hi-rez multichannel streams.

I'd bet the forthcoming consumer version has simply an S/PDIF coax and possibly a TOSLINK to provide its digital input. It does appear that the consumer version might have a FireWire port that would allow the user to program it in some way.

 

[shappy]

I spoke to someone at beyerdynamic and he told me the consumer model would also only use firewire or 5.1 inputs.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Is using a PC or notebook as the source out of the question?

 

[shappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarinthegourd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is using a PC or notebook as the source out of the question?

Yeah, pretty much. I will be using this for when I watch DVD movies or things recorded on the Dish HD DVR. Right now I am using a Dolby Headphone receiver and I am looking for something a bit better.

Basically the source will be an HD DVR and eventually a hi def DVD player. Video will be going to a 1080p plasma and I would like superior audio to match.

So I need a way to take the audio outputs from my sources (in the form of toslink optical) and get it to a firewire input. An alternative would be if I could grab the audio signal out of the HDMI connection and somehow convert that to firewire.

 

[sejarzo]

Are you really sure the guy at Beyer understood you?

This other thread on Head-Fi has been discussing the device for a while:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3143406

and brings up a good point: you need to use analog if you want that unit to play DVD-A or SACD surround material, because that is all those players are allowed to put out. No one posted anything on that thread that it would be FireWire or analog 5.1 only--but maybe only because they are interpreting the press release just as I did!

A related point might be that Beyer doesn't want to pay the license fees to do the surround decoding inside their unit.....so taking the analog ins, going back through A/D conversion, DSP for the effect, then back to D/A--quite a roundabout method, if you ask me--might be more cost-effective for them.

I'd ask the guy why it doesn't have an S/PDIF or TOSLINK input if I were you.

Does anyone know if there is a standard for interfacing pro audio devices via FireWire? I'm betting that the guts of the interfacing is done in the PC/Mac/DAW.....each device communicating back and forth via its own drivers with the computer and software as the "brain", translating from one to the other.....so a standalone, universal S/PDIF to FireWire converter might not be possible.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

I dunno, I would think you'll be fine with the analog inputs. They're wireless headphones after all...

 

[sugarinthegourd]

This part is too cool:

Quote:

The thing that makes the system credible is the headtracker technology. This provides the ability to turn your head while the virtual sound sources appear to stay in the correct spatial positions, just as would happen if you were in a room listening to separate loudspeakers. This headtracking function is achieved with a pair of ultrasonic transmitters mounted on the headband of the headphones, and a pair of receivers mounted at some convenient point in front of the user. This is essentially the same kind of technology as used in car burglar alarms to detect intruders. As the head is turned, the changing level and phase relationships of the two ultrasonic signals allows the processor to work out the angle of the listener’s head relative to the transmitter, and the modelling parameters are adjusted accordingly. Turn the headtracking off and, although there is still a surround sound image, the whole thing instantly becomes quite artificial sounding!

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarinthegourd /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dunno, I would think you'll be fine with the analog inputs. They're wireless headphones after all...

Don't think so, the press release shows a special wired version of the DT-880........I think the wireless part of the setup is the way the "jetsons" on the top transmit the location of the listener's head to the device.

 

[Sir Nobax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarinthegourd /img/forum/go_quote.gif This part is too cool:

What, who needs a Car to Motorbike convertor when you can have that O_O.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't think so, the press release shows a special wired version of the DT-880........I think the wireless part of the setup is the way the "jetsons" on the top transmit the location of the listener's head to the device.

Ah, right you are. Apologies, I stand corrected.

John

 

[shappy]

Well, based on some research, looks like there is no way I will find any kind of HDMI to Firewire switcher, due to the bandwidth differences (HDMI has much greater bandwidth).

So, that leaves Optical to Firewire.

 

[Sir Nobax]

HDMI's bandwidth too high? I am pretty sure optical's bandwidth is even higher.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shappy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, based on some research, looks like there is no way I will find any kind of HDMI to Firewire switcher, due to the bandwidth differences (HDMI has much greater bandwidth). So, that leaves Optical to Firewire.

I'll try to explain this a different way.

S/PDIF represents both a hardware standard and a protocol for transfer of audio data over that hardware. It's like providing a phone line, and at the same time requiring that everyone who uses that line must use the same language.

FireWire is a complicated standard that defines hardware and protocols, but because it's not specific to audio, it needs something else to allow devices to communicate. Sort of like a phone company that supplies the network hardware and service, but doesn't care what you talk about or in what language the users speak..........the users have to agree on their own to speak the same language, and only then can they communicate over the phone network.

As of now, FireWire audio devices still require their own specific drivers to communicate with applications on a PC. Apple and a firm named centrance are working toward a resolution, but it's not all there yet.

In theory, FireWire audio devices could communicate over the FireWire bus without a PC, much like DV camcorders communicate over FireWire with standalone digital video recorders--but that works only because they all follow a specific DV protocol for operation over FireWire. There is no such universal protocol for audio transfer over FireWire.

Does that make sense? Without a universal protocol, there can't be a universal optical-to-FireWire interface.