http://www.diamondmm.com/XS71DDL.php
am I nuts, or could one reasonably build a media PC with something like this in it and use it as a standalone surround processor? The sound card has 8 analog audio outputs, Optical input and output, and supposedly does Dolby EX and DTS decoding in hardware.
I've been trying to figure out a decent solution for a DIY 5.1 system with home-built speakers and amps, done on the cheap. Seems like this could be a somewhat simple solution. Anybody play with this kind of stuff?
am I nuts, or could one reasonably build a media PC with something like this in it and use it as a standalone surround processor? The sound card has 8 analog audio outputs, Optical input and output, and supposedly does Dolby EX and DTS decoding in hardware.
I've been trying to figure out a decent solution for a DIY 5.1 system with home-built speakers and amps, done on the cheap. Seems like this could be a somewhat simple solution. Anybody play with this kind of stuff?
NO sound card does DD or DTS decoding in hardware. None. Creative where the only one that did decoding, and that was done by the main CPU with the help of the drivers. Now they stopped that.
The card that you link has something else thou - it has the ability to ENCODE the 5.1 audio streams coming from a PC application in a DolbyDigital stream in real time (DolbyDigitalLive). That means that connected via audio digital to a receiver you will have surround sound. Chipset it is provideb by CMedia and does the encoding also in software mode (via drivers).
I did have a card based on a higher version of those chipsets (it was doing DDL and DTS Connect) and I wasn't happy with the sound. For games was ok, I guess... but bo Advanced EAX.
But in my opinion Dolby Digital it is NOT recomanded for music. Dynamic is somwhere around 55dB, digital signal loosy compressed, joint stereo on high frequencies...
DTS sound a little better because of a higher samplerate, but still it has a low dynamic.
The card that you link has something else thou - it has the ability to ENCODE the 5.1 audio streams coming from a PC application in a DolbyDigital stream in real time (DolbyDigitalLive). That means that connected via audio digital to a receiver you will have surround sound. Chipset it is provideb by CMedia and does the encoding also in software mode (via drivers).
I did have a card based on a higher version of those chipsets (it was doing DDL and DTS Connect) and I wasn't happy with the sound. For games was ok, I guess... but bo Advanced EAX.
But in my opinion Dolby Digital it is NOT recomanded for music. Dynamic is somwhere around 55dB, digital signal loosy compressed, joint stereo on high frequencies...
DTS sound a little better because of a higher samplerate, but still it has a low dynamic.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.