Oppo BD83SE + UPnP DLNA

adydula · « **on:** 21 Sep 2010, 10:11 pm »

Well,

I have sold my Squeezebox Touch, not that there was anything wrong with or that is didnt sound good or work well.

Having a Oppo BD83SE with the upgraded analog section I have always wanted to be able to have the convience of the Touch with sorting, and not having to get up and place cds in the player physically...but until I discovered this solution I was stuck in this mode:

Having to use the DAC in the Touch, or buy a external DAC and take the digital output to this DAC then to a preamp etc...

Well I discovered that the Oppo supports DLNA and that Illustrate software the makers of the dbpoweramp program I use to make FLACS has a piece of software that supports this environment. Now I can place all my music on a laptop, run the Illustrates Asset UPnP software (free and a $26 option for some advanced features)...attach a ethernet cable from the laptop to the Oppo.

Voila, I now see the music on the laptop from the Oppo via the 58" plasma screen I have, and I can search and play all my music, the glitch with the Oppo was it doesnt natively support FLACs.....but the Asset UPnP "server" code transcodes the FLAC to LPCM and its sounds like the source AND I am now using the 'superior' DAC in the Oppo BD83SE!!

Yahoo...no more trying to read the Touch from across the room, ie from my listening chair or having to run a long cable etc..no more wondering how much better the sound from the Oppo is compared to the Touch's DAC.
(To be fair the Touch DAC sound very good as well!).

This is a technology marraige made in heaven..

Just wanted to share!

All the best
Alex

johsti · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Sep 2010, 11:00 pm »

There is a thread on avsforum with some good info on this. I tried and tried to make it work for me using Assett, but it ended up being very slow, buggy and I don't want my TV on when listening to music. Maybe they've made some progress as of lately. I sent emails to Oppo begging them to look into some type of web remote control or media renderer function as well as support FLAC files, but they have no interest and the hardware may not be able to ever support native FLAC playback. I was really hoping to simplify my system with the Oppo being the ultimate media player.

It is a great blu-ray and sacd/dvd-a/cd player, but the dlna features need a lot of work IMHO. What ever happened to the BLu-TV application from Dreamer Corp. they were going to implement? This was supposed to add apps like netflix, pandora, etc.

mchuckp · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 12:53 am »

I was under the impression that the Oppo didn't support pcm or wav files via networking or USB. Obviously I may be ill informed. Just wanting to make sure what you are doing is actually transcoding the FLAC into a lossless file.

I've been intrigued to go this route since I have an Oppo SE and love the sound of it. But having my TV on for music has always been the deal breaker for me. Some don't mind, but not for me. I did love my Oppo SE so much that I did opt for a ESS Sabre based DAC to run my SB Touch. I'm definitely a fan of that chip.

Congrats on your find. Let us know if you discover any other nifty tricks.

adydula · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 01:49 am »

hey guys...

Go to www.dbpoweramp and check the forums out there.

Also on avsforum at this link:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1215071

I have contributed at the end of this thread as well as many, many others have.

Asset UpNP is version 2.1 but there is a beta release found under the beta section of the dbpoweramp site. You can download the version 3 beta and its very much compatible with the Oppo and its ad hoc support for DLNA. Also the author of Asset is "Spoon" and he has a n Oppo BD83SE. he actually suggested I try the beta and I did and it works very nice!

He has been working with Oppo to get this stuff working as best possible.
On theTV screen from the Oppo network inteface I see the albums and songs identified as PCM...bit for bit identical to the original PCM on the CD that was ripped with dbpoweramp...

This is the heat....you can have your cake and eat it too!!

Unfortunatley there are warts but is mostly cosmetic, Oppo is not going to make DLNA any better than the ad hoc code in their firmware is, I spoke to them yesteraday and the 83 was never intended to be network aware, future products ...good chance it will get better but not for the 83..NO FLAC....not now not ever according to them...and i really cried a lot to them about this.

When you do play a FLAC from the laptop and its trancoding to PCM to play on the fly you get NO cover art or detailed artist, album info this is a OPPO issue.

If you steam MP3 etc you do get this info because the id tag is supported in this format.

That said, your technically not playing FLACS but FLACS trancoded into LPCM just like the bits on the original cd.

I like this alot!!

Alex

NOTE: I was SO close to buying an external DAC...whewwwww!! Not now!

Vincent Kars · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 07:31 am »

Quote

That said, your technically not playing FLACS but FLACS trancoded into LPCM just like the bits on the original cd.

Some even recommend this as a trick to improve sound quality.
Let the server do the job instead of the player to minimize electrical activity at the player to a minimum.
http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/p/squeezebox-touch-great-base-for-network.html

Another advantage is that LPCM is part of the DLNA standard, any DLNA compliant player support it.

If you put media sharing on in Win (Vista or higher) you also get a DLNA server.
MS is member of DLNA
Any reason to use Asset instead?

adydula · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Sep 2010, 01:16 pm »

You will need a computer running UPnP or DLNA streaming server software that can support transcoding to LPCM in order to use this feature

Asset UpnP does the FLAC to LPCM part and acts as a 'server' running as a 'service' under WIN7.

You ought to post on the avsforum link I provided earlier their are many other solutions for different Operating Systems, server, control point software etc. Seems everyone under the sun is writing code in this area.

Been there done that with all the 'do this' and your Touch will sound better stuff....including no wireless, stnd enet cable, disable LCD screen and three external modded power supplies!!

All to get to better sound..when the UPnp DLNA solution I have now works well, is efficient and I am using the best hardware that I have, my Sabre DAC Oppo BD83SE.and not having to 'squint' across the room to see the display or have a 30 foot cable running around in my listening room!!

Back to the music!

All the best....

Alex

sac8d4 · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Sep 2010, 02:21 am »

My understanding on the lack of FLAC support is, its a limitation of the mediatek chip. Supposedly, mediatek dopesnt have the greatest support, unlike OPPO

azhtnut · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 Sep 2010, 10:21 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 22 Sep 2010, 01:49 am

When you do play a FLAC from the laptop and its trancoding to PCM to play on the fly you get NO cover art or detailed artist, album info this is a OPPO issue.

So on playing FLAC are you selecting what to play from the PC and not using a plasma or monitor?

I am currently programming an IPAD as a remote using IRule and want to be able pick from the library, cover art, song titles, etc. displayed on the IPAD. If I can see the library from a PC, I should be able to see it on the IPAD. If so, I'll be going back to streaming with the BDP-83SE using your method. If not, I'm probably going to a Dune type player + DAC option.

Thanks,
Marty

adydula · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Sep 2010, 02:59 pm »

Hi,

Playing FLACs from the Oppo, I look at the plasma screen, I have the oppo connected via HDMI cable to my AVR, so its on and I select the hdmi input from that the oppo is connected to, so i can see and use this as my 'selection menu'.

The laptop is connected via a Cat 6 enet cable to the oppo that runs Asset UpnP.

Its all magic!

Alex

azhtnut · « **Reply #9 on:** 1 Oct 2010, 02:56 pm »

Thanks Alex,

I have my projector hooked up this way currently. The Oppo is Cat5'd through a ethernet hub and is on my network. Content streams from my office PC, but will probably move to a Hard drive at some point.

I see the Oppo menu, which is improved from prior versions. I like the Alpha options for artist, that saves time scrolling. It still lacks album art and a glossy UI.

The streaming of FLAC to LPCM using Asset UpNp works and sounds great, much better than prior attempts with TVersity.

I'll be implementing the IPAD with IRule next weekend, if time allows, and we'll see if that changes the UI at all. I'm kinda doubting that it will, but we'll see.

Marty

adydula · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Oct 2010, 04:47 pm »

Hello,

I wish Oppo would provide support for FLACS on the DLNA side, I have given up waiting for native FLAC playback. At least get aupport the ID tags in FLAC. The the interface would be awesome..

Oh well at least we are able to use FLACS to the SE side of our Oppos and its pretty good at that.

Alex

jmanalo · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 Oct 2010, 04:44 pm »

Is there something I'm missing on my set up?

Here is what I did so far: I've downloaded Asset v3, then connected the USB cable to Oppo83 SE to Laptop, I don't see any sign that the Oppo recognized anything. When I plugged the Thumb drive to Oppo, it shows on the TV screen different selection (Icons) and the USB.
Is there something that I need to change on the configurations?

Joe

Vincent Kars · « **Reply #12 on:** 9 Oct 2010, 05:03 pm »

Asset is a UPnP server.
This works on the network only.
So connect both the Oppo and the PC to the home network

http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/stream.htm

adydula · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Oct 2010, 08:58 pm »

jmanlo,

To play audio from a PC, desktop or laptop, you can attach an ethernet cable from the pc to the Oppo...or your pc (s) to a home network and add an ethernet cable from the Oppo to your network where your audio files reside.

A USB cable for your pc to the Oppo does nothing.

The Asset UpnP running as a service on your pc lets the Oppo see it from the Oppo main menu, you select NETWORK and when you search you should see the music library on your pc that has the music and Asset running on it.

You need to set up Asset on your PC, the default work, good thing the default for playing FLACS to LPCM is on from the start..this allows us to play FLACS (which are not supported by the Oppo) to be trancoded and played as LPCM files, just like the source files on the original cd!

Hope thie helps.

Alex

jmanalo · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 03:49 pm »

Thanks guys for the help..

Alex,

I used the ethernet cable the first time I tried it and did not succeed.

I will check it again.

Joe

jmanalo · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Oct 2010, 04:50 pm »

Ok, I tried again with the Ethernet Cable, still got nothing, then I plugged in the USB thumb drive (ethernet cable still hook on both units) to Oppo, finally it showed the main menu on TV screen.
I only have a few tracks of music from my laptop. It all showed up on the TV screen.
My only problem now is there is NO sound when I press play. The blue arrow (play sign) won't stay on specific track that I've selected.
Are there some steps to do before pressing play button?

Joe

adydula · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Oct 2010, 11:29 pm »

jmanalo,

First thing did you update the firmware on your Oppo BD83 to the latest firmware?
There are some versions on the firmware that do not support this DLNA stuff.

Make sure you have Beta 3 of the Asset UpnP code on your pc that has your music files.
I have FLAC files and the Asset trancodes these into a supported LPCM format that the Oppo sees and can play.

When I first tried this I didnt know how to select the Main Menu on the Oppo. There are (2) buttons on the remote that will bring up the menu where you select Network and then select My Network and search and you should see the pc where Asset is running, then you can drill down to the stuff to find what you want to play.

You do not need a USB key in the Oppo to bring up the menu...and I thought I saw an item in the Illustrate support forum that indicates the issus you have so get the latest beta 3 Asset, check the firmware on the Oppo and update to the latest public firmware, there are 2 on the Oppo site, 1 public and one a public beta, I have used both and both work ok.

The only other thing if the song selected by the Oppo once you connect from the Oppo main menu is to make sure your transcoding a file type that is natively supported by the Oppo or it will not play.

I would just have an ethernet cable from the oppo to the pc, leave the wireless network and USB key out of the picture until you get this working...

All the best
Alex

jmanalo · « **Reply #17 on:** 15 Oct 2010, 02:26 pm »

[quote author=adydula First thing did you update the firmware on your Oppo BD83 to the latest firmware?
Make sure you have Beta 3 of the Asset UpnP code on your pc that has your music files.
I have FLAC files and the Asset trancodes these into a supported LPCM format that the Oppo sees and can play.

You do not need a USB key in the Oppo to bring up the menu...and I thought I saw an item in the Illustrate support forum that indicates the issus you have so get the latest beta 3

I would just have an ethernet cable from the oppo to the pc, leave the wireless network and USB key out of the picture until you get this working...

Thanks Alex,
I made it to work last weekend. I think it’s the code that gave me problem initially. I changed the audio settings on the Oppo and some on the Asset config code settings and the sound came out of the speaker.
But I still have a problem with the main menu, it won’t come up unless I insert the USB thumb drive. Once I plug in the USB thumb and menu comes up I can unplugged it and the main menu is accessible until I shut off the power.
Yes, my Oppo have the latest firmware and Asset is Beta 3. I’ll re-install them again. I still need to do a lot of readings to get familiar with this.
I changed my hook up this time by connecting the Oppo to the router, so I don’t have any cable connected to my laptop anymore, it is still working, the same as with the Oppo hook to Laptop with the Ethernet cable.
My other problem is the the song that I downloaded on my laptop with individual song in a folder, I can see the song title on the tv screen streaming but I can’t open the folder to make it to work/sound.

Joe

Bear · « **Reply #18 on:** 15 Oct 2010, 04:15 pm »

I have UPnP DLNA working on my Oppo BD83, using Asset and Illustrate. I installed PlugPlayer on my iphone and it recognized Asset and the library at some point however, it will no longer let me select Asset UPnP on my iphone as the server. I can select other Windows Media player libraries that do not contain Flac files on them.

Anyone have any experience with this?

edit: I can see the Asset UPnp library on the iphone plug player but it is a light grey(ghost) and will not allow me to "check" select it.

adydula · « **Reply #19 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 09:05 pm »

jmanlo,

Having to have the USB key in the Oppo for you to see the menu is really strange. I would do two things here, 1. Try resetting all settings in the frimware and re set up your stuff, its not that hard to to..u can write down the settings, I have mine memorized!!

2. Call Oppp support and ask them why?

There are 2 buttons on the Oppo that bring up the menu. Try both if u already have not.
Try changing the name of you music file location from the Assed advanced config screen and try again.

Have you tried FILE FOLDER browse selection on the TV screen that is displaying the Oppo interface?

Try this and see if this works.
It should
Alex