# PC Sound Card capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD signals?



## suraswami (Jan 21, 2008)

Is there a Sound Card that is capable of Decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD signals?  If so where can I buy it?


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## kwchang007 (Jan 21, 2008)

I think they only way you can do this is pass through hdmi 1.3 to the reciever which has to decode it.  I'm looking, but don't see any.


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## suraswami (Jan 21, 2008)

Some motherboards specify that it has in-build high definition audio.  Will this do DDHD and DTSHD decoding?


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## kwchang007 (Jan 21, 2008)

suraswami said:


> Some motherboards specify that it has in-build high definition audio.  Will this do DDHD and DTSHD decoding?



I doubt it, probably will read of the dolby digital and dts tracks.


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## niko084 (Jan 21, 2008)

TrueHD can't be sent over standard SPDIF, you need balanced TLS or alike cables for it.

NO HDMI will NOT work either, as HDMI is nothing short of slightly more bandwidth then Component Video with standard SPDIF audio.

So as far as outputting decoded TrueHD, I highly doubt there is a internal sound card that will do it.

Honestly your much better off letting your receiver do the decoding anyways.
If you are trying to use computer speakers for TrueHD, you shouldn't even both
as there are no computer speakers around that will make you able to notice the
difference.


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## kwchang007 (Jan 21, 2008)

niko084 said:


> TrueHD can't be sent over standard SPDIF, you need balanced TLS or alike cables for it.
> 
> NO HDMI will NOT work either, as HDMI is nothing short of slightly more bandwidth then Component Video with standard SPDIF audio.
> 
> ...



I imagine he wants to use this as an HTPC.  Also, HDMI 1.3 can send HD sound formats along with the video, and the sound can also be in bit stream I believe.  Oh and SPDIF....if you do use that, it will still sound better than dvds due to the high stream rate (or w/e its called) of HD DVD and Blu-ray.


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## niko084 (Jan 21, 2008)

kwchang007 said:


> I imagine he wants to use this as an HTPC.  Also, HDMI 1.3 can send HD sound formats along with the video, and the sound can also be in bit stream I believe.  Oh and SPDIF....if you do use that, it will still sound better than dvds due to the high stream rate (or w/e its called) of HD DVD and Blu-ray.



True I forgot about that, HDMI 1.3 will allow fully unpacked TrueHD

Other than that they require they require transcoding.

But then again we are back to square one where it cannot be done by a sound card *yet*.
I don't know if a standard PCI slot would have the bandwidth for it.

I don't know a ton about HTPC design in the ultra high end, but you should check out
AVSforums.com they have a lot of people that are entry level to extremists there.


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## Steevo (Jan 21, 2008)

Few capatalised on DTS over Dolby, despite DTS having better sound performance. Very few used SPDIF fiberoptic, and too many people gobbled down HDMI too soon.




Now we are getting Display Port, but all HD Digital cable boxes must have a FireWire port on them by law to transfer media.........




Ahh the crap we put ourselves through.


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## niko084 (Jan 21, 2008)

SPDIF optical  vs SPDIF cable makes no difference, except cost and distance ability.

There have been many rumors of optical having less SQ and standard coax having no bandwidth... It's all crap, all depends on the quality of your cable, and in the low end - top end, they match up.


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## suraswami (Jan 21, 2008)

Ya I am trying to use my HTPC to connect to my new receiver.  Unfortunately the Video card doesn't have straight HDMI, I am using DVI to HDMI.  So I am loosing the Audio codec thru HDMI (I tried to save money and now it sucks).  New receiver (once againt low on budget so couldn't afford for HD decoding receiver) will do 7.1 channel output. The receiver will still be good if I can a audio card that does HD decoding and transfers thru anolog ports so it will go into my receiver's anolog ports.


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## suraswami (Jan 21, 2008)

I am currently using Coaxial digital cable for digital output from my sound card into the receivers coaxial.


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## kwchang007 (Jan 21, 2008)

Based on what you've been saying, I don't think you really can do anything better than what you have right now....


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## niko084 (Jan 21, 2008)

Sounds good.

I can't wait to pick up another 1212M so I can TLS into my studio monitors again.


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## Steevo (Jan 21, 2008)

niko084 said:


> SPDIF optical  vs SPDIF cable makes no difference, except cost and distance ability.
> 
> There have been many rumors of optical having less SQ and standard coax having no bandwidth... It's all crap, all depends on the quality of your cable, and in the low end - top end, they match up.



30' SPDIF 5 strand optical for $15 off fleabay. There is always the chance of a bit of noise getting in to a wired cable. But regardless it was cheaper than 99% of cables.


And you are right, there is no difference besides the remote possability of interfereance in a coaxial cable. 

There is a thread around here where I used the optic loopback to check my cable (s) for signal loss among other things. There is no loss. There is no difference. There is no problem man.


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## Darren (Jan 22, 2008)

suraswami,

To my knowledge there is no card currently that will encode through TrueHD or DTS HD on the fly. However if your willing to settle for encoding Dolby or DTS on the fly via SPDIF there are a few soundcards that do this.

Auzentech X-meridian (out of production, but most reliable can find on ebay)
Auzentech  X-Fi Prelude (If your willing to deal with Creative's crappy support)
Auzen X-Plosion 7.1 DTS Connect (cheapest)

http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-meridian.php#xtension_din
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_prelude.php
http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-plosion.php


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## Steevo (Jan 22, 2008)

Turtle Beach Montego.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118109&Tpk=Montego


Dump the drivers on the disk, download the C-media drivers and enjoy better sound, and fiber output.


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## suraswami (Jan 22, 2008)

I do have 7.1 channel decoding Diamond PCI sound card.  It has both coaxial input and output.  I am using opensource drivers and the sound is awesome.  I just finished setting up my Denon Receiver and Infinity Sorround speakers.  Watched Spiderman3 and the sound is hair rising.


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## btarunr (Jan 22, 2008)

HT Omega Striker 7.1 Plus is tailor made for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001


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## Hawk1 (Jan 22, 2008)

Head-fi is a great place to learn about computers and audio, and for if your are/become a serious Audiophile. Some great information there.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

Darren said:


> suraswami,
> 
> To my knowledge there is no card currently that will encode through TrueHD or DTS HD on the fly. However if your willing to settle for encoding Dolby or DTS on the fly via SPDIF there are a few soundcards that do this.
> 
> ...



As far as DTS is concerned my Audigy 2ZS will do that...


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## Darren (Jan 22, 2008)

niko084 said:


> As far as DTS is concerned my Audigy 2ZS will do that...



I was under the impression the Audigy 2Zs only did a upmix of DTS-ES and Neo:6 and only decodes but doesn't encode. DTS and DD is only via pass through on real DVDs via SPDIF.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

Darren said:


> I was under the impression the Audigy 2Zs only did a upmix of DTS-ES and Neo:6 and only decodes but doesn't encode. DTS and DD is only via pass through on real DVDs via SPDIF.



Eh you might be right, I don't use it.


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## suraswami (Jan 22, 2008)

btarunr said:


> HT Omega Striker 7.1 Plus is tailor made for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271001



Thanks.  That looks good and little expensive for now.  May be I will upgrade later.  But currently have this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829111001

The drivers from diamond are crap.  I connect the Coaxial out to my receiver and when playing a movie there will be occasional 1 sec slip in audio.  So I downloaded from the website everybody is talking about that card in newegg.  Its great now.  Sound is very clear, never breaks or cracks.  As far as my knowledge this one is good.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

This is another good card...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829121006

But they can be a pain, but once you get them working they are beautiful.
HT Omega is also a great card for the price though.


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## suraswami (Jan 22, 2008)

Thanks all.  For now I will live with this card.  I am going to wait for next generation cards that will do Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD signals and upgrade at that time.


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## btarunr (Jan 22, 2008)

Yup the VIA Envy24....I hear many people endorsing this chipset _when digitally connected_ to the output, but if you use the analogue connections (3.5 mm jacks), the thing sounds very ordinary. The Diamond card looks good for its price especially I never expected a <$30 card to come with Dolby decode.


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## AsRock (Jan 22, 2008)

Just buy a amplifier that has it ?..  Better than those PC speakers and amps..


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## kwchang007 (Jan 22, 2008)

AsRock said:


> Just buy a amplifier that has it ?..  Better than those PC speakers and amps..



Doesn't matter, he can't get those signals from the computer to the receiver.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

kwchang007 said:


> Doesn't matter, he can't get those signals from the computer to the receiver.



And the fact that here is Yamaha's CHEAPEST receiver that will do TrueHD.
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=558291
$1300 msrp...


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## kwchang007 (Jan 22, 2008)

niko084 said:


> And the fact that here is Yamaha's CHEAPEST receiver that will do TrueHD.
> http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=558291
> $1300 msrp...



Well yamaha is an expensive brand, if your looking for a reciever that can do those kinda things, I would recommend this onkyo http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/onkyo-tx-sr605-black/4505-6466_7-32430579.html?tag=pdtl-list .  Imo onkyo's are great, $450 got us a kick@$$ system that can get loud enough to hurt without distorting and is just amazing.  But enough about receivers...the ops just gotta wait for sound cards that come out with what he wants.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

kwchang007 said:


> Well yamaha is an expensive brand, if your looking for a reciever that can do those kinda things, I would recommend this onkyo http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/onkyo-tx-sr605-black/4505-6466_7-32430579.html?tag=pdtl-list .  Imo onkyo's are great, $450 got us a kick@$$ system that can get loud enough to hurt without distorting and is just amazing.  But enough about receivers...the ops just gotta wait for sound cards that come out with what he wants.



I know yamaha's are expensive, but they are so nice too...

Onkyo isn't bad for the price though, that one looks particularly amazing...

Personally I wont use a receiver in any part of my audio or video system but thats just me being over picky about my extremist SQ requirements


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## kwchang007 (Jan 22, 2008)

niko084 said:


> I know yamaha's are expensive, but they are so nice too...
> 
> Onkyo isn't bad for the price though, that one looks particularly amazing...
> 
> Personally I wont use a receiver in any part of my audio or video system but thats just me being over picky about my extremist SQ requirements



lol receiver...I usually associate those with amps, all we use it for, I mean the tv already has enough inputs.


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## niko084 (Jan 22, 2008)

kwchang007 said:


> lol receiver...I usually associate those with amps, all we use it for, I mean the tv already has enough inputs.



I buy seperate component amps, pre-amp, processor, dynamic range compressor, real eq's, and later on I would like to buy a seperate Digital to Analog converter.

My cd player is a JVC Super Define, it has a 24bit digital to analog converter, weighs about 30lbs and has spdif and optical outputs, and it was made is 1992! This is when companies were heavily advertising a 1 bit D/A converter. Sadly enough, 24 bit d/a is still rare.


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## kwchang007 (Jan 22, 2008)

niko084 said:


> I buy seperate component amps, pre-amp, processor, dynamic range compressor, real eq's, and later on I would like to buy a seperate Digital to Analog converter.
> 
> My cd player is a JVC Super Define, it has a 24bit digital to analog converter, weighs about 30lbs and has spdif and optical outputs, and it was made is 1992! This is when companies were heavily advertising a 1 bit D/A converter. Sadly enough, 24 bit d/a is still rare.



lol that's alot of stuff.  I think we should stop thread jacking lol.


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## suraswami (Jan 22, 2008)

I love Yamahas.  They are one of the best and people who know stuff buy them.  Not the crappy Sonys.

So I bought this Yamaha at Bestbuy

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8251456&type=product&id=1169512521608

Its was an openbox and with tax and extended warranty was around $550.

Next day I went back to exchange the remote because they gave me the wrong one.  Then the guy showed me this

http://www.usa.denon.com/ArchivedAV...Model=AVR-1907&imageField.x=10&imageField.y=7

This one was floor model.  Just pulled out since it was discontinued and Bestbuy no longer carries it.  Original price was $550.  Reduced to $180.  So with Extended warranty and tax came to $205.  Good Deal.

So took it home and set it up with new Infinity speakers.  Bought this but Charcoal color.
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=12700&i=108TSS450P&c=4&tp=184&avf=N

Denon+Infinity = awesome.

I am missing HDMI from the Yamaha, but I can live without it considering I am saving $345.


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## niko084 (Jan 23, 2008)

Denon is very nice stuff, right up there with Yamaha kinda a green apple / red apple thing there.

HDMI in a receiver makes things nice but..

That should sound pretty decent for a theater.


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## Franklinwallbrown (Jan 23, 2008)

I didn't read the whole thing, but did anyone suggest the AuzenTech card that was suggested to me?


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## niko084 (Jan 23, 2008)

Franklinwallbrown said:


> I didn't read the whole thing, but did anyone suggest the AuzenTech card that was suggested to me?



Its way more than he is looking to spend and it will not do what he wants it to do...

Currently what he wants doesn't exist.


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## markm75 (Jun 10, 2008)

This thread is kinda old.. figured id throw in some new info..

Now it appears ATI will offer HDMI audio via its upcoming 4850 and 4870 series cards..

Also.. you can get the Yamaha Rx-V663 receiver for $355 street.. which isnt bad.. if you still need TrueHD decoding.

Now i'm hoping nvidia will offer a similar feature on future cards, as for now, i have an SLI motherboard, not crossfire.

Cheers


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## suraswami (Jun 10, 2008)

so if I dump my Denon and get this Yamaha and still use my $30 card can I get TrueHD thru spdif to the receiver without using HDMI?


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## Darren (Jun 10, 2008)

markm75 said:


> Now it appears ATI will offer HDMI audio via its upcoming 4850 and 4870 series cards..
> 
> Also.. you can get the Yamaha Rx-V663 receiver for $355 street.. which isnt bad.. if you still need TrueHD decoding.




No chipset even the future 4850 and 4870 will not support encoding. Decoding DD TrueHD on sound cards with HDMI is a scam to unload money out of pockets. HDMI is just a digital connection just like fibre and coaxial all your paying for is more bandwidth which wouldn't benefit the listener much for 5.1 tracks. Most DVDS are encoded in 5.1 and not 7.1 and hence making HDMI redundant right now.

Welcome to the forum markm75


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## will (Jun 10, 2008)

Darren said:


> No chipset even the future 4850 and 4870 will not support encoding and decoding DD TrueHD on sound cards with HDMI is a scam to unload money out of pockets. HDMI is just a digital connection just like fibre and coaxial all your paying for is more bandwidth which wouldn't benefit the listener much for 5.1 tracks. Most DVDS are encoded in 5.1 and not 7.1 and hence making HDMI redundant right now.



What about the upcoming Asus soundcard/hdmi thingy? That decodes TrueHD and sends it via LPCM over HDMI, which could then be decoded by an amp that accepts multichannel LPCM over HDMI (quite a lot of new amps)... Obviously then the extra bandwidth would be used and would give much better quality than SPDIF, even if it was just 5.1... Also I think the new Nvidia 8200/8300 chipset-based motherboards can do this...
Or were you just talking about graphics cards?


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## Darren (Jun 10, 2008)

suraswami said:


> so if I dump my Denon and get this Yamaha and still use my $30 card can I get TrueHD thru spdif to the receiver without using HDMI?



Any crappy soundcard with SPDIF whether coaxial or fibre can *decode* DD 5.1 and DD 7.1. However it's the TrueHD of 5.1/7.1 variation that requires HDMI.



will said:


> What about the upcoming Asus soundcard/hdmi thingy? That decodes TrueHD and sends it via LPCM over HDMI, which could then be decoded by an amp that accepts multichannel LPCM over HDMI (quite a lot of new amps)... Obviously then the extra bandwidth would be used and would give much better quality than SPDIF, even if it was just 5.1... Also I think the new Nvidia 8200/8300 chipset-based motherboards can do this...
> Or were you just talking about graphics cards?



I was talking about the graphics cards with HDMI specifically. I'm not familiar with ASUS's upcoming soundcard however I do believe their ASUS Xonar D2 supports encoding of DD/DTS over SPDIF I'm not too sure if it has an HDMI extension board though.

Edit: 



markm75 said:


> I was under the impression it would pass the signal along, allowing your TrueHD / DTS MA decoding receiver to do the decoding.. which is what i will want to do



Assuming you have an DD True HD complaint receiver watching a Blu Ray DVD pre-encoded in 7.1 over SPDIF the sound should down mix to regular DD 5.1. However if your watching a Blu Ray DVD pre-encoded in 7.1 over HDMI you should theoretically get the full quality of True HD as it's only pass through.

Bare in mind I haven't actually had personal experience with Dolby True HD so all that I'm saying is theoretically according to what I've read int he past. So please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not a guru.


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## markm75 (Jun 10, 2008)

Darren said:


> No chipset even the future 4850 and 4870 will not support encoding. Decoding DD TrueHD on sound cards with HDMI is a scam to unload money out of pockets. HDMI is just a digital connection just like fibre and coaxial all your paying for is more bandwidth which wouldn't benefit the listener much for 5.1 tracks. Most DVDS are encoded in 5.1 and not 7.1 and hence making HDMI redundant right now.
> 
> Welcome to the forum markm75



I was under the impression it would pass the signal along, allowing your TrueHD / DTS MA decoding receiver to do the decoding.. which is what i will want to do.. 

IE:  Bluray content on PC Bluray .. play via Cyberlink.. get trueHD in via the receiver.

I'm not sure based on sketchy info, though, if the 4850 will downsample the bit rate or not though..


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