Can't get 24bit 192kHz to work

[nostraduckus]

I have connected the Wiim to my Samsung HW-Q800T soundbar via optical, and the test sound will only work at 24bit 96kHz as the highest. Playback is fine at this setting, I'm using Audivarna running Qobuz/Tidal. But the Wiim just won't work at 24bit 192kHz. I've tried two different optical cables.

"The Q800T supports Hi-Res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz, along with the AAC, MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, ALAC, and AIFF file formats." (I wonder if this is only via HDMI and not optical?)

Samsung HW-Q800T Soundbar Review

Review of the Samsung HW-Q800T Soundbar which includes Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based audio formats as well as eARC and Amazon Alexa support.

www.avforums.com

My TV is an LG OLED55C9PTA, and before I got the Wiim I connected straight to the TV via UPnP in Audivarna, which says the device is capable of PCM 44.1 to 192 (sometimes this isn't accurate)

So should I continue using the Wiim or go back to the TV?

 

[onlyoneme]

I haven't found anything about supported resolutions over toslink for that soundbar. 192 is always tricky so I can imagine it's limited here to 96.
BTW do you really need 192?

 

[nostraduckus]

Thanks for looking. Not sure if I "need" it...just trying to get the best possible sound from my setup without spending too much.

 

[pieterv1]

When you were using the TV as UPnP point, it probably reported to the Audivirna app that it "supports" up to 192/24 - to receive a stream in this quality. However, the audio sent through the optical output of the TV is always resampled to 48Khz.

The use of a smart TV to access hi-res audio is not considered a requirement when they are designed and I don't believe manufacturers are going to care anytime soon.

So with the WiiM, you're already getting an upgrade, even if it's capped "only" at 96/24

I wouldn't worry about it too much for now and maybe consider an upgrade to some nice bookshelf speakers later! I started with a soundbar & sub, but having separate speakers gives a much better stereo image!

I have connected the Wiim to my Samsung HW-Q800T soundbar via optical, and the test sound will only work at 24bit 96kHz as the highest. Playback is fine at this setting, I'm using Audivarna running Qobuz/Tidal. But the Wiim just won't work at 24bit 192kHz. I've tried two different optical cables.

"The Q800T supports Hi-Res audio up to 24-bit/192kHz, along with the AAC, MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, ALAC, and AIFF file formats." (I wonder if this is only via HDMI and not optical?)

Samsung HW-Q800T Soundbar Review

Review of the Samsung HW-Q800T Soundbar which includes Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based audio formats as well as eARC and Amazon Alexa support.

www.avforums.com

My TV is an LG OLED55C9PTA, and before I got the Wiim I connected straight to the TV via UPnP in Audivarna, which says the device is capable of PCM 44.1 to 192 (sometimes this isn't accurate)

So should I continue using the Wiim or go back to the TV?

 

[nostraduckus]

When you were using the TV as UPnP point, it probably reported to the Audivirna app that it "supports" up to 192/24 - to receive a stream in this quality. However, the audio sent through the optical output of the TV is always resampled to 48Khz.

The use of a smart TV to access hi-res audio is not considered a requirement when they are designed and I don't believe manufacturers are going to care anytime soon.

So with the WiiM, you're already getting an upgrade, even if it's capped "only" at 96/24

I wouldn't worry about it too much for now and maybe consider an upgrade to some nice bookshelf speakers later! I started with a soundbar & sub, but having separate speakers gives a much better stereo image!

So I have the sound bar connected to the TV via eARC, not optical. The sound bar has an optical in, which is where I have the Wiim mini plugged in. Doing some reading, apparently "eARC can carry up to 32-channel audio, including eight channels of 192 kHz, 24-bit uncompressed audio, thanks to its 37Mb/second bandwidth."

So I need to find a way to connect the Wiim straight to the TV? There's no optical in on the TV, just optical out.

I only just got the sound bar

 

[pieterv1]

Aha makes sense!

No I think that seems like the ideal setup tbh: TV with hdmi (with all the benefits of CEC and possibly switching samplerates) and the WiiM via optical, perfect for stereo audio. Although the soundbar probably doesn't show an indication of the incoming samplerate, I'd just assume it is bit-perfect up to 96/24!

 

[onlyoneme]

So I have the sound bar connected to the TV via eARC, not optical. The sound bar has an optical in, which is where I have the Wiim mini plugged in. Doing some reading, apparently "eARC can carry up to 32-channel audio, including eight channels of 192 kHz, 24-bit uncompressed audio, thanks to its 37Mb/second bandwidth."

So I need to find a way to connect the Wiim straight to the TV? There's no optical in on the TV, just optical out.

I only just got the sound bar

You can connect WiiM directly to the soundbar via optical to get 96/24 as you've said, or you can try to use toslink-to-hdmi converter and use hdmi input in the soundbar.

 

[kenilElk]

You can connect WiiM directly to the soundbar via optical to get 96/24 as you've said, or you can try to use toslink-to-hdmi converter and use hdmi input in the soundbar.

It is a good but quite expensive way, the feature you referenced, called as an 'hdmi audo embedding' (aka hdmi audio inserting, hdmi audio merging). I am on the same situation like @nostraduckus with Samsung Q930 soundbar that has no independent but only shared with its 'hdmi out' toslink port. Toslink SB port automatically became disable when SB 'hdmi out' is connected to TV. Also it is a big question what bitrate samples SB supports at their tv toslink, I am on 24/96 max I can get it working.

So, the only known solution for 'hdmi audo embedding' with support of 192 / 24 toslink hdmi embedding input at reasonable price is Lindy HDMI 18G Audio Embedder, or Lindy two way audio embedder / extractor. I wish to buy and test with Wiim in some future.

https://www.huss-licht-ton.de/images/products_download/User_Manual_43048_1.pdf

View attachment 3413

Other hdmi audio embedders I know, support only up to 96/24 bitrate.

 

[kenilElk]

I could confirm Sonos HDMI eArc Toslink audio adapter is not working for audio embedding, at least with Samsung soundbar Q930B and Wiim Pro Plus/ Wiim Mini
Instead, good news is that Lindy HDMI 18G Audio Embedder is working being happy with Wiim 192/24 audio embedded (toslink) stream and Samsung Atmos soundbar.

 

[kenilElk]

Hopefully your cable management does not make the writing on the TV stick true once

Indeed it is not . Audio embedding HDMI chip it seems, is Sil9396 (Lattice Semiconductor now)

 

[kenilElk]

I have got and tested [with Wiim Pro+] another promising 'toslink to hdmi' audio embedder, a 'no-name' Chinese little brother of German Lindy HDMI Audio Embedder.

Even if it looks quite identical to Lindy embedders, and it seems, it uses same Sil9396 chip (its system board is deeply glued to the alloy case and cannot be removed for inspection), the max audio stream for embedding into HDMI data is limited to 24/96 only.

So, Lindy 'toslink to hdmi' audio embedders are alone helping us when we have a problem with soundbars with only one hdmi direct input, they do support 24/192 audio stream embedding.