Interesting HDMI Problem: OPPO UDP-205


I have a McIntosh MX122, OPPO UDP-205, and a Sony Bravia OLED.   The OPPO is connected to the MX122 through both an HDMI connection (BluRay "in") and RCA patch cables (CD "in") so that I can use the OPPO DACs for listening to audio CDs.

The Sony is connected to the MX122 through the Monitor 1 output.

I've been having intermittent audio dropouts when using the analog connection to listen to audio CDs on the UDP-205.   I've finally traced the problem to the Sony Bravia.   The Sony implementation of Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is called "Bravia Sync."

In the Bravia Sync menu, Sony does not provide an "OFF" setting.  They have "Enable" and...nothing to turn CEC "OFF."  What they have you do is delete the HDMI equipment list from the Sony CEC sub-menu.   This does NOT turn CEC "OFF" - it simply hides the expanded CEC menu as you no longer have an equipment list to control, while leaving the CEC feature / circuit active.

The CEC is active even when the Sony is turned "OFF," because, in reality - the Sony is on standby and only the screen has been turned off.  The electronics are still active because the Sony can be programmed to automatically turn itself "ON" when it senses a different piece of equipment turn on through the CEC / HDMI circuit.

What happens with the Sony turned "ON" or "OFF" is that the Sony constantly looks for equipment through the HDMI connection.   It's randomly looking for a friend and sending out a handshake signal.  This disrupts the UDP-205 as it's processing audio through its DACs and it momentarily times out to send a "Yeah stupid, I'm still here" response back to the Sony.

Haven't quite figured out where to go from here...as I don't have a resolution to the problem - but, I thought this might help someone else if they're having the same type of problem.



buckhorn_cortez
It seems as though others have also found trouble getting Sony TV's to play nice with the Oppo 205. Here are some suggestions that might (?) work for your. When changing HDMI inputs/outputs unplug the devices, the reboot can sometimes help. Try first selecting the PCM and then the Bitstream audio modes on the Oppo. If the main objective is to get the Apple streamer to play through the Oppo's DAC; if the Oppo's HDMI input is not already used, try running the Apple streamer through the Oppo's HDMI input and then outputting that signal to the Sony TV. 
Hello unsound,Thanks for your feedback. Yes Apple TV connected through Oppo’s HDMI input works fine. However the picture quality of it when connected directly to Sony TV is comparatively better. But the audio output using this approach is way better than what I am getting from the optical/toslink connection. My idea is to connect all devices supporting HDMI 2.0 and above directly to the new Sony OLED TV such that I get the best picture quality using Bravia video processor and get the audio out of Oppo’s DAC/analog output which performs best compared to any other pre processor that I currently have in my system. I was really close to making it work but the ARC issue threw a big monkey wrench to my plan…










I’m surprised you find the Oppo’s video processing unsatisfactory. Many might consider it amongst the finest. Perhaps if you could calibrate one input setting on the Sony to optimize compatibility with the Oppo’s video output?
Hello unsound,
I agree with you on Oppo's video processing capability which is indeed the very best. However I am using the HDMI Bypass input of Oppo which allows me to set up the Apple TV video display as Dolby Vision instead of 4K UHD. I don't get that option if I use the regular HDMI IN input in Oppo. The HDMI IN input of Oppo might not support Dolby Vision organically. The Dolby Vision picture is significantly better than the regular 4K display even when it is processed by the very best video processor inside an Oppo player. I am very new to this 4K/Dolby Vision display stuff, never been a videophile. It appears to me that the Dolby Vision output when I connect Apple TV directly to the Sony HDMI input is relatively better than the output of Oppo HDMI bypass mode. It might be because the HDMI in input in my Oppo has never been used before and it is currently breaking in. I would let Apple TV/Oppo combination run for 100/150 hours and look for improvements. If affirmative my issue would be handled gracefully else I would have to go back to connecting Apple TV directly to the Sony TV and then get the audio using Optical interface.
I have got the Spears and Munsil UHD video calibration disk. I will try to calibrate the Apple TV/Oppo combination and see if that brings any improvement in the video performance.
Thanks for your feedback.