HDMI output - does it remain active?

I have the Oppo 103 with the Vanity HD AES board. I am wondering whether the HDMI and USB outputs remain active/functional? I'd rather find out by asking here than order cables and find out the hard way.

I looked at the online information and didn't see any reference to this issue. Thank you.

Hi there,
The VanityHD board has no effect on functionality of the HDMI ports (outputs). Not sure about the USB as I believe the USB ports cannot act as an output anyway. There is one catch with the HDMI and raw DSD format though. Please have look into the VanityHD settings guide where there is a full description of the whole thing.

Regards,
Pavel

Ah, right. The DSD is converted to PCM by the Oppo, not the Vanity board. The settings guide is ambiguous - if the HDMI is turned off in the Oppo settings, does the Vanity board provide the PCM conversion and output via the HDMI port? (Or does the HDMI output then carry the unconverted DSD signal?)

Or is the point that only PCM will be output via the HDMI port, and that PCM will always be generated by the Oppo (not the Vanity board) from the DSD signal?

Well,
Such behavior of the OPPO is totally undocumented and needs to be verified by trial&error case by case. The reason is that the player has to maintain HDMI compatibility and if the HDMI downstream device reports that it cannot handle raw DSD then the player automatically switches SACD playback from DSD to PCM (OPPO converts DSD to PCM itself). If you turn the HDMI outputs off, then naturally there is no reason for the player to mess with the SACD payback mode user setting.
The easiest way to confirm whether the player sends PCM or DSD to the Vanity board is to check the Vanity's onboard LEDs (see the user guide). Green for PCM and red for DSD. I am sorry, but this is the best answer I can give.
Regards,
Pavel