Good, bad and indifferent: The WD TV Play will playback FLAC 88.2, 96 and 192 kHz 24 bit files down sampling to 44.1 and 48 kHz respectively via the optical connection. While I can understand support for optical AV Receivers the growth in use of standalone stereo audio DAC’s for higher quality sample rates when streaming music via optical connections is still absent. I would welcome addition options to pass-thru the digital bit stream for FLAC files over optical connection similar to the options that exist with WD TV Live to support AV Receivers.
Test Method: Connect the WD TV Play via HDMI and optical connections to a Yamaha RX-V671 AV Receiver selecting the Digital pass-thru via Optical and HDMI options in Settings | Audio/Video Output | Audio Output. Played sample FLAC files and noted values for Format, Channel and Sampling from the On-screen | Information | Audio Signal dialogue in the RX-V671 menu. Bitrate values are dashed out ‘—‘ for all readings and bit values are not shown, so unsure if samples get down sampled to 16 or 24 bit depths.
Results
Via Optical pass-thru:
FLAC 2ch 16 bit 44.1kHz → PCM 2ch 44.1kHz
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 88.2kHz → PCM 2ch 44.1kHz (muted on WD TV Live)
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 96kHz → PCH 2ch 48kHz
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 192kHz → PCM 2ch 48kHz
Via HDMI pass-thru:
FLAC 2ch 16 bit 44.1kHz → PCM 2ch 44.1kHz
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 88.2kHz → PCM 2ch 88.2kHz
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 96kHz → PCH 2ch 96kHz
FLAC 2ch 24 bit 192kHz → PCM 2ch 192kHz
Conclusion: The WD TV Play has support for FLAC playback via optical but down samples 88.2 kHz 24 bit audio to 44.1 kHz which is an improvement over the WD TV Live which simply mute output. I would welcome additional configuration options to pass thru a perfect digital bit stream untouched for FLAC sources over optical connection without down sampling. Maybe implemented similar to configuration options that already exist with the WD TV Live when selecting Dolby, DTS and AAC support for AV Receivers but also for when playing back FLAC files to support higher quality 88.2 kHz 96 kHz and 192 kHz sample rates for standalone DAC’s.
