HD Audio for HTPC

[dolfin]

I want to build HTPC with Blu Ray drive. Can anybody advise me any hardware to pass through DTS-MA and Dolby True HD to the receiver through HDMI? I am aware of Asus XONAR HDAV, Auzentech HomeTheater HD and newly released AMD 5870. But these solutions are really expensive at this moment.

 

[spirovious]

I want to build HTPC with Blu Ray drive. Can anybody advise me any hardware to pass through DTS-MA and Dolby True HD to the receiver through HDMI? I am aware of Asus XONAR HDAV, Auzentech HomeTheater HD and newly released AMD 5870. But these solutions are really expensive at this moment.

I can suggest 2 things,

1.Intel CPU + Gigabyte G45 MB which outputs aud via onbrd HDMI & its realtek aud codec can accept HD aud too.

2.Asus has other slim SC which can bistream HD aud.

 

[aneelr]

I want to build HTPC with Blu Ray drive. Can anybody advise me any hardware to pass through DTS-MA and Dolby True HD to the receiver through HDMI? I am aware of Asus XONAR HDAV, Auzentech HomeTheater HD and newly released AMD 5870. But these solutions are really expensive at this moment.

Hi,

Dose Intel's MB(D-975XBX2) support ATI Radeon HD 5870

thanks.

 

[Gurudristi]

Dear Dolphin,

I am also building a HTPC with something similar stuff in mind:

Do look at the following:
Gigabyte GAMA785G MT -UD-2H Mother board
AMD Phenom II X2 - 550 Processor
Bundled price around Rs 12000/=:lol:

RAM =1GB x 2 ,1333Ghz DDR3
Around Rs 4000/=

Sony BR Reader Combo:
Around Rs 6500/=
The mother board has a slew of connection and it passes HD audio directly on Board thru it Realtek 889A chip and video is thru on boad graphics also.
In addition to above, you can look to buy a 1TB HDD and you are on eway to oewn a HTPC.
:clapping:
I am currently collecting the stuff and would be assembling it anyday....

 

[TechHead]

Dear Dolphin,

I am also building a HTPC with something similar stuff in mind:

Do look at the following:
Gigabyte GAMA785G MT -UD-2H Mother board
AMD Phenom II X2 - 550 Processor
Bundled price around Rs 12000/=:lol:

RAM =1GB x 2 ,1333Ghz DDR3
Around Rs 4000/=

Sony BR Reader Combo:
Around Rs 6500/=
The mother board has a slew of connection and it passes HD audio directly on Board thru it Realtek 889A chip and video is thru on boad graphics also.
In addition to above, you can look to buy a 1TB HDD and you are on eway to oewn a HTPC.
:clapping:
I am currently collecting the stuff and would be assembling it anyday....

The 785G cannot do any HD audio over HDMI. You're better off with an nVidia 8200/8300 chipset board.

 

[anm]

what player do you use/ intend to use to play br? Is there any encryption/ region issue?

 

[Gurudristi]

The 785G cannot do any HD audio over HDMI. You're better off with an nVidia 8200/8300 chipset board.

I am not sure what you are claiming, since most reviews suggest the opposite. This is one of the most reviewed motherboard for HTPC.

The motherboard has on board High defination audio thru the Realtek ALC 889A codec, it has support for 2/4/5.1/7.1 -channel audio, support for Dolby home theatre, support for SPIDIF In/Out.
while the Video is supposed to be the best thru AMD chips which also owns ATI and is thru the ATI Radeon HD 4200.

 

[dolfin]

I am not sure what you are claiming, since most reviews suggest the opposite. This is one of the most reviewed motherboard for HTPC.

The motherboard has on board High defination audio thru the Realtek ALC 889A codec, it has support for 2/4/5.1/7.1 -channel audio, support for Dolby home theatre, support for SPIDIF In/Out.
while the Video is supposed to be the best thru AMD chips which also owns ATI and is thru the ATI Radeon HD 4200.

@Gurudristi

As far as I know AMD 785G platform does not support HD Audio (Dolby True HD and DTS-MA). At present there are only 3 hardware solutions (refer my first post) and all of them are well beyond 15k range. I suggest you see couple of more sites for this. If any review mentions of its ability to bitstream Dolbly True HD and DTS-MA, please post link here.

 

[Gurudristi]

@Gurudristi

As far as I know AMD 785G platform does not support HD Audio (Dolby True HD and DTS-MA). At present there are only 3 hardware solutions (refer my first post) and all of them are well beyond 15k range. I suggest you see couple of more sites for this. If any review mentions of its ability to bitstream Dolbly True HD and DTS-MA, please post link here.

Phew Thanks a lot..I still have not bought the mobo with the AMD 785Chipset. The earleir reviews when this chipset was launched had suggested that its passes multichannel LPCM audio output.

As you correctly pointed out, the chipset on the retail boards and with the current driver set that an audio block exists which limits LPCM output to two-channels. However, I am still debating whether the output which is multichanned(5.1)thru the SPDIF audio output would be good enough?

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=629
Please also see the above link..... which discusses the 785G chipset.

Need advise...

I did not want to buy a seperate card for the Graphics or HDaudio, but I think now I might need a sound card.

 

[Gurudristi]

@ Dolphin,

All your solutions for htpc are expensive since they are all based to have add on sound card..
Maybe, I am digressing from your subject of finding HD Audio at a reasonable price,
But, I am looking to build a new htpc where I can get the solution (both sound and video) from the motherboard itself. Maybe later when one wants to upgrade, then could look at expensive sound cards....
:indifferent14:

 

[cmsajith]

@ Dolphin,

All your solutions for htpc are expensive since they are all based to have add on sound card..
Maybe, I am digressing from your subject of finding HD Audio at a reasonable price,
But, I am looking to build a new htpc where I can get the solution (both sound and video) from the motherboard itself. Maybe later when one wants to upgrade, then could look at expensive sound cards....
:indifferent14:

As far as I know there is no mother board with true HD audio decoder or bitstream support. For the time being, what you can do is to get a good motherboard that can do the HD video with LPCM audio out (optional) or stick with DTS through spdif. Later when the prices come own or else you can get HDAV slim for bitstreaming and a good 2 channel sound card \ a DAC to get the best of movies and music.

 

[Gurudristi]

As far as I know there is no mother board with true HD audio decoder or bitstream support. For the time being, what you can do is to get a good motherboard that can do the HD video with LPCM audio out (optional) or stick with DTS through spdif. Later when the prices come own or else you can get HDAV slim for bitstreaming and a good 2 channel sound card \ a DAC to get the best of movies and music.

Thanks,
I think I tend to agree with you. I am a movie buff and for me good DTS/5.1AC3 sound is good enough for my home theatre. SPIDIF should do the trick with the receiver doing the decoding.

For stereo, I will still stick to Analog thru a good stereo amplifier and high-end floor standers.:indifferent14:

 

[chirag007]

see if zotac combo helps :

ZOTAC IONITX-A-U Atom N330 1.6GHz Dual-Core 441 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo

It has HDMI port too!!

 

[dolfin]

I think the biggest advantage of HTPC is its flexibility. Of course they are expensive than stand alone media players like Popcorn Hour, Xtreamer etc even for that matter some Blu Ray players, but their power and versatility is unmatched.

Other point is that unlike a consumer electronic devices, HTPC can be upgraded in future. At the moment there are very few Blu-Ray titles with HD Audio. When there is wide support, a solution like stand alone sound card or video card can be added. What's more, there is an assurance that any format you throw at it is playable!

@Gurudristi I appreciate your approach of sticking to DTS/AC3 for the moment.

 

[Gurudristi]

I think the biggest advantage of HTPC is its flexibility. Of course they are expensive than stand alone media players like Popcorn Hour, Xtreamer etc even for that matter some Blu Ray players, but their power and versatility is unmatched.

Other point is that unlike a consumer electronic devices, HTPC can be upgraded in future. At the moment there are very few Blu-Ray titles with HD Audio. When there is wide support, a solution like stand alone sound card or video card can be added. What's more, there is an assurance that any format you throw at it is playable!

@Gurudristi I appreciate your approach of sticking to DTS/AC3 for the moment.

@Dolphin,
I totally agree with you.
In addition to the HTPC which I am also planning. I currently also have a NAS(Network attached Storage D-Link DNS 323 which has currently a capacity of 1.5TB. This can stream files/videos/photos/music to UnUp devises.It also can act as an FTP server and can act alone without the need for a computer and it works like any other server on the network.
To my home theatre, I have attached a media player from D-Link DSM 320, it can recieve all the music/photos/video on my hard drives wirelessly as well as with a wired LAN connection.:licklips: and play it on AVR. This can currently do standard resolution and has some restrictions. But, I understand that D-Link's HD model of Media Player DSM 520 can do HD video.

So instead of going for the D-Link DSM 520( which cost approx $200), I am thinking of going the HTPC dedicated way which can be upgraded in the future.