Here is an explanation from my DAC distributor explaining the same thing to another question like this: https://www.kitsunehifi.com/?attachment_id=9181
1 Like
Youâd think if AVM 90 supported I2S for some incomprehensible reason, youâd think Anthem would be talking about it non-stop. They do talk about Roon Ready all over the place, which it doesnât have (and at this point probably never will). But not a single mention of I2S, although itâd be a great marketing point, worldâs only AV Processor with the worldâs most pointless two-channel inputâŠ
Not that the idea of connecting RS-130 with AVM90 made any sense, other than taking two random expensive toys and throwing them together for the sake of expensivenessâŠ
1 Like
Hi joyofmind, as HMANAZ explained, I2S is a protocol for audio transport over a HDMI cable/connectors. A first basic and direct laymanâs question to Anthem could be: does the AVM 90 accept the PS Audio I2S standard (or deviates from that and how)? To be sure, they may share their pin connection scheme to show how to make a good and working I2S connection, even if it were a bespoke one (with all itâs risks for you and your equipment).
@Jobbie Thank you for your suggestion.
BTW, Iâm still emailing Anthem for my proposal to add an i2s port on the AVM 90.
1 Like
Please let us know if it works to your expectation!
Oppo (I have one) outputs HDMI not I2S. The response from Anthem does not show that you can plug an I2S device into an HDMI AVM. Check @BorisM point above. You are going to break one or both if you do!
@BorisMâs âuncleâ shares more about I2S vs. HDMI â https://youtu.be/hY3uxXEJ9bA?si=yzy9Qn68nvDFB4Zg @joyofmvid FYI
HDMI cables can transfer I2S signals but that does not mean I2S is part of the HDMI Spec. If so, can you find any mention of it? I donât think so⊠If it is why donât other AVM manufacturers market this?
WowâŠ
She probably asked them the same thing 50 times, and they finally wrote something, anything, to get it to stop 
I2S (the real thing) is an electrical and signalling specification for internal traces on a PCB, for moving digital data on an internal boards, and does not (can not really) have anything to do with HDMI. I2S as an external connection canât be part of HDMI spec, because HDMI is a real, professional standard, and I2S does not have any standards at all.
Really, of all the terrible things to come from BS Audio, putting I2S on HDMI cable is probably the second most terrible, right after pushing I2S as an external interface itself. I can understand why theyâd do it â the entire company does not have engineering resources to design a working connector of their own. And now we get all the people who obviously have no idea what HDMI, I2S and all those other funny abbreviations mean and what they are used for going around demanding that someone get it working for them because the cable obviously can be plugged from Point A to Point B.
2 Likes
A standard is a standard if everyone accepts it as such. To say only hdmi is professional is your opinion and disregarding of efforts of Indeed a small company of establishing a new connection type using an industry standard. This is economically sensical, although potential confusing, like in this case. Alternatively, alternative are also available, commonly usb and xlr.
However, there are lots of people unbothered and happy users of I2S, whatever your opinion of its founding company.
Hi to everyone who has been commenting about i2s.
I am still in progress of âProposing Anthem to support iÂČs on AVM 90sâ.
I know the i2s protocol is not an HDMI protocol: In fact, i2s transmission is as follows:
For full details regarding the i2s communication protocol, see https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/tutorials/2023/what-is-the-i2s-communication-protocol#:~:text=I2S%20is%20a%20synchronous%2C%20serial,audio%20in%20a%20serial%20fashion.
I know Iâll need an i2s cable with a custom pin configuration on each end of the cable (one end is for the RS130 pin configuration and the other end is for the AVM 90 pin configuration). Both ends of the i2s cable will have an HDMI CONNECTOR.
Now regarding Anthem AVM 90: Anthem has emailed me again. They said theyâve assigned Specialists to look into the matter. They said, please wait.
In turn, Iâm asking everyone hear to be patient. As soon as I get a response from Anthem, Iâll let you know.
Good thing about standards is that there are so many of them
Something that does not even have a defined pin-out over the same (HDMI) wire is not a standard. Let alone professional, but then nothing from BS Audio is professional.
Nothing in this sentence makes sense. And there is no standard, either.
Sure. We have happy users of audiophile fuses, $1000 USB cables, and God knows what else here, too. They are happy, as people of low IQ often are, because they do not know any better, but it has nothing to do with any alleged performance benefit of their little doodads.
Oh, and BS Audio did not âfoundâ anything (that would require some technical competency, and Uncle Paul will not pay for that). Theyâve created a Rube Goldberg monstrosity of an internal transmission mechanism and a common (i.e. they could get them cheap) external connector to make something that has only one function, to sell more BS Audio products.
No offense, but instead of reposting pictures that you obviously do not understand, you should just sit down and read up on digital audio a little bit. Just because there is an HDMI connector meeans absolutely nothing. Anthem has HDMI inputs, it expects HDMI signal on them, with video and everything. If Anthem had somehow made a transceiver that can handle both, and somehow stuck it on one of the HDMI inputs (probably technically possible, but not at AVM90 price point), they would advertise it left and right. They already advertise even things that their receivers do not do.
There is no point in doing what you are trying to do anyway, because there is a correct way of connecting 130âs digital output to Anthemâs digital input â using a plain old HDMI cable ($15 at the nearest Office Depot) from 130âs HDMI output to Anthemâs HDMI input. Nothing else is needed.
Boris, let them believe in you!!!
To err is human and people err as long as they live.
Let them all do it until all their houses 
explodeâ:boom:
The boxes donât even cost 100đ”.
Let them do it, youâve tried everything. Many people let others think and no longer think for themselves.
Stay 
peaceful with each otherâ:v:t2:and also accept the opinion of Boris, who really speaks frankly
and tries to enlighten you. Donât fall for the HiFi & High End Mafia.
With that in mind, Bonteâđ»
Honestly,m I prefer not to care what terminally stupid people might think about⊠anything, really.
Your problem isnât that you know nothing about this stuff. Most people do not, and do not really need to. Your problem is that you somehow got it into your pretty little head that you do know something, and keep insisting that people tell you what you want to hear instead of listening to multiple people, not just me, telling you that it does not work this way.
Good luck burning out more than $10K worth of electronics.
1 Like
May the force be with themâŠ10,000 dollars will go up in smokeâŠbut I think there will be a big outcry then.
âŠwhy did I listen to the hi-fi mafia and not to the people who tried to enlighten me here.
Boris! Youâre just cool. I like it when someone speaks frankly and you donât give up and keep answering. That shows your effort to educate people. Unfortunately, itâs rarely accepted.
Itâs a shame, actuallyâŠif people would educate themselves, the world would look completely different because people wouldnât let themselves be manipulated like that.
*thatâs my opinion and Iâm not attacking anyone personally and I hope it wonât be interpreted that way.
Never could have thought B&B joined and wishing the both of you a happy future! 
Re: My request for Anthem to support i2s communication
Anthem made a decision. This is what they said in their email:
We have the final word on this project you are attempting, and its not possible, unless there were actual internal hardware changes to the Anthem itself in how it would accept the i2s data stream. So I guess you could say theoretically possible but not feasible.
I agree with Anthemâs decision. If i2s support was possible with only software changes then they might of considered my proposal for the near future. I thank Anthem for their efforts. IMO, they are a great company & have always considered my requests seriously.
âŠ
How is it then that the LAiV Dac can have software configurable I2s connections?
BTW, I also own an Anthem preamp and consider their support excellent and itâs a great piece of kit.
StandardModel
Because LAiV is a DAC, not a home theater processor, and it has an I2S input, not an HDMI one. You pretty much have to make it pin-configurable due to external I2S, and even I2S over HDMI cable specifically, being a stupid hack with no standards.
For Anthem (or any other receiver manufacturer; AFAIK no receiver, even a top of the line Trinnov, has I2S inputs) to implement this ask, they would have to make a completely custom module which would take whatever (drastically different) signal is coming from the âHDMIâ cable and route it to either I2S or HDMI processor. Which would cost a lot of money while having as much practical benefit as an umbrella would to a fish.
Whatâs interesting, just like in the other thread, the final answer is exactly what multiple people here were saying for a few days, but somehow weâre the means ones and donât know what weâre talking about :smh: