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
The skipping issue is the same for me with the UP-205 (AU) teamed with the Toshiba 65U775. So frustrating. You would have thought they would have a firmware fix for this. The best fix for me is to either switch the TV off or have it on at the same time I am playing my CDs but with "Pure Audio" from the Oppo remote.

Apart from this issue that could not be fixed or emulated by the seller (Apolllo HiFi) or the distributor, I find the Oppo an excellent player.
I have the same issues with the Sony OLED and my OPPO 203. Every time I stop, or start the Oppos playback, whether it's a pause or whatever,, my Marantz 8805 switches to "TV audio" as if I was firing up the Roku. Which is exactly as it should for running the Roku, but not the OPPO. The Oppo’s sound comes from a dedicated HDMI straight from the Oppo to the Marantz. Why it switches that input is beyond me.
Good evening all,                  5/29/2021

I have also experienced the same 5 second  audio cut out problem with CD playback and have come up with a work around (but not a true root cause solution).  It would also randomly switch off the AVR in the middle of a CD track.

Over the winter we did some upgrades and put in two dedicated 20 amp circuits and split up the AV components between the 2 separate sources. 
Each feed has a Furman PC Pro power conditioner.

The CD playback was fine when played back on the main circuit with both the Oppo 103D and the Panasonic BPD U 9000, through an Integra DRX-R1.

The problem occurred when the second circuit was energized which fed a SVS powered Subwoofer, and a Sony OLED XBR AG9 TV.

Both the OPPO and the Panasonic 9000 have the 5 second cut out problem, with the second circuit on which has the TV connected. This happens with the TV off or on.

I checked for all firm ware updates and had good quality HDMI Cables.

 I tried several old and brand new CD's, and switched the output connections. Even upgraded various HDMI cables. But nothing solved the problem.

In researching the culprit it appears the problem is with the EARC HMDIn circuit that is connected to the Sony TV via HDMI..

For now during CD music playback I have simply unplugged the EARC HDMI cable from the back of the AVR and the CD now play the entire recording without the 5 second skip...

I will have to study some of the solutions listed above but for now pulling the EARC HDMI has allowed uninterrupted CD playback 

Hopefully the TV design engineers can revisit this EARC HDMI circuit and provide a default solution to prevent this problem.

Thank you all,

Dan

  
Hello folks,
I am trying to connect my UDP-205 to a Sony OLED TV (XR-65A80J) which I bought a few days back. I am not able to get audio returned  through eArc/ARC HDMI port on the Sony TV. Here is my set up.
1. UDP-205’s main HDMI out is connected to HDMI port-3 (eARC/ARC port) on the Sony TV
2. I have turned on HDMI CEC control on UDP-2053. Oppo connects to a 5 channel Emotive amplifier using unbalanced cables. I am using it in 3.1 channel configuration (with front /center/subwoofer speakers)
4. I have connected an Apple TV 4K streamer and a cable box to the two other non eARC/ARC ports on the Sony television
5. Sony Bravia synch is turned on on the Sony Television to activate the eARC/ARC functionality
6. The objective is to get the audio returned back to Oppo when watching Apple TV 4k and Cable
7. After turning on Oppo I do see that Sony Bravia sync instantly identifies Oppo as a player and also as an audio devise in its list. It displays two line items for UDP-205 in the list, one as a player and the other one as an audio device on the same HDMI port (port-3) as the player
8. Then I go to input-3 on the TV to the blue Oppo home screen and select the HDMI ARC: Out option on the input menu of UDP 205.
9. The screen shows that it is connected and displays a message that you are now ready to move to an input on the TV for watching cable. etc.
10. However when I try to change the input on the TV to either Apple TV 4K streamer or Cable, the TV shows a message Audio system is unavailable and it is switching back to TV speaker. The screen flickers and it takes me back to the blue Oppo home screen.
11. I tried resetting Sony TV to its factory default but it didn’t work
12. I ensured that UDP-205 has the latest software version. I tried resetting UDP-205 to its factory default but it also didn’t work
13. The only time the ARC channel worked with UDP-205 is when I had only one external input, cable box connected to the Sony TV and the CEC control was turned off in the UDP-205. But the moment I added the Apple TV 4K streamer to another HDMI port on the TV, the screen flickers and it brings me back to the blue Oppo home screen with the error message Audio system is unavailable and it is switching back to TV speaker.
14. I am currently using an optical cable to connect UDP-205 to the Sony TV and I am getting audio with all inputs connected to the TV, absolutely no issues
15. I tried using an Emotiva pre-processor UMC-200 with an ARC compatible HDMI main port and it was able to get the sound back through the ARC channel for both inputs w/o any issue.
16. I troubleshot the issue with Sony technical support team and they couldn’t find anything wrong with eARC/ARC port on the TV
I e-mailed Oppo support team about this issue an hour back but I am not sure if they would reply at this point. 
Any help from this forum would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

I didn't read your entire post but it seem like you should connect the Oppo to an HDMI on the TV that is NOT the ARC return and connect the ARC return HDMI to the Emotiva HDMI input to get sound. Sorry if I'm totally off base...