audio concerns with spdif

[abhishekk89]

hi every one...
i'm building a htpc... or should i say a pc that's be in my ht...
now i have decided on a core i7 processor and the asus rampage ii gene mobo..
i'll connect to the receiver through my graphic card using a hdmi cable for the video part..
for the audio i'll connect to the receiver from my mobo through spdif with an optical cable..

once this is done can i use my pc as i do everyday back in my room...u know to play a movie jus open it with windows media player(i have the required codec pack installed) or should i make special settings so that the pc understands that it is supposed to play through spdif..
plz help me...i'm new here

 

[jayad08]

there are lots of choices here..
Use whichever you like..
1) AC3Filter
2) DScaler
3) ffdshow

Download any of these, and check that while playing ur video, these are selected.
All 3 let you choose the audio thru SPDIF route..
If somehow you are not able to select the correct audio decoder, then install ZoomPlayer, it lets you configure the audio decoder.
Anyways if ur AV receiver processes audio through HDMI(1.3), and ur mobo is capable of passing raw audio stream thru HDMI, then u dont need to pass audio thru SPDIF, let the receiver pick it from HDMI in..

 

[abhishekk89]

Thanks for a quick reply...it was kind of u...

ok i get...say i wanna play blu ray rips..with dts true hd...or pcm uncompressed audio...then ??

 

[abhishekk89]

i dunno about the mobo...but my marantz sr7002 certainly does support...

how is audio routed through the hdmi by the graphics card ?? does the mobo and the graphics card work in tandem to pass the audio automatically....or are special settings to be made ?

 

[thevortex]

If your question is related to the software part of things then the best solution is to install a player like Videolan (VLC) or TheKMPlayer. There are settings which help the player understand SPDIF sound output.

Your amp will support all these technologies like DTS and Dolby Digital.

However if you have a nice sound card installed (which I dont see in your item list) you would do well to take analog outs from the PC. That would make for higher sound quality. But do try out both ways and see what you prefer. If you do not have plans of installing a sound card then the SPDIF way would be the best.

 

[vishanv]

Thanks for a quick reply...it was kind of u...

ok i get...say i wanna play blu ray rips..with dts true hd...or pcm uncompressed audio...then ??

i had been doing some reading on pc audio lately and this what i gather....

AFAIK, protected audio path (PAP), which ensures transimission of hi def audio without downsampling, is not very common. all other soundcards (without PAP) downsample True HD or DTS HD MA.

also with optical connection, i believe you cannot get multi channel uncompressed pcm audio. HDMI will be required for that.

so it looks like you need additional sound card for full fledged audio options or have to settle with DD / DTS pass through via optical with your onboard s/c.

 

[ashishkesarwani]

You have to have a sound card with HDMI Out and your display card should be able to take the Hdmi input from the sound card, by doing this you would be passing through audio through your Display Card's Hdmi output to your amp i.e Marantz 7002 in this case. So 1 HDMI cable running from your Display card out would carry both AUDIO and VIDEO signal here.

 

[abhishekk89]

ok !! now i'm getting the picture.. so i can easily pass dts and dolby digital through optical spdif.. but when it comes to dolby true hd or dts hd my optical out will downsample..

ok...listen guys i'll tell u more about my setup.. i have decided on an asus rampage ii gene motherboard...with SupremeFX X-Fi built-in.. about the graphics card i have thought of the nvidia GTX 275... it has two dvi outs... and with the box they will give an dvi to hdmi adapter...

so if i connect an hdmi cable from the graphics card to the receiver and leave out the spdif optical cable..will the sound be automatically passed on to the graphics card and through the hdmi will it be sent to the receiver ???

if not what else should i do ?? i can't afford the sound card now.. but i want the true hd and master hd audio.. is it possible with the setup i have jus mentioned..

 

[ashishkesarwani]

ok !! now i'm getting the picture.. so i can easily pass dts and dolby digital through optical spdif.. but when it comes to dolby true hd or dts hd my optical out will downsample..

ok...listen guys i'll tell u more about my setup.. i have decided on an asus rampage ii gene motherboard...with SupremeFX X-Fi built-in.. about the graphics card i have thought of the nvidia GTX 275... it has two dvi outs... and with the box they will give an dvi to hdmi adapter...

so if i connect an hdmi cable from the graphics card to the receiver and leave out the spdif optical cable..will the sound be automatically passed on to the graphics card and through the hdmi will it be sent to the receiver ???

if not what else should i do ?? i can't afford the sound card now.. but i want the true hd and master hd audio.. is it possible with the setup i have jus mentioned..

As I have explained earlier you have to have a sound card with Hdmi out and also capable of outputing raw bitstream audio through it to enjoy the Lossless Audio format like True HD or DTS master Audio, in your case too HDMI audio out would be connected to your AVR directly or through your Display card which would take the input signal of your sound card's HDMI and would in turn pass out HDMI with both audio and video to your AVR.

 

[abhishekk89]

ok... which sound cards have hdmi out..

and is there no way out without buying a separate sound card..