# AMD HDMI Sound Card (video card)



## slyfox2151 (May 24, 2011)

hello,


im wondering if there is much difference between the 4xxx vs 5xxx vs 6xxx in terms of sound output.

are there any unique features ect....



tried Google'ing, however i cant find any specific information.


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## Peter1986C (May 24, 2011)

AFAIK, there is no difference in how the output via HDMI works.


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## slyfox2151 (May 24, 2011)

or any difference vs Nvidia?


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## freaksavior (May 31, 2011)

4xxx does pcm and 5x/6x do bitstreaming.


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## imperialreign (Jun 1, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> 4xxx does pcm and 5x/6x do bitstreaming.



I thought the audio device on the cards has been the same since the 3000 series?

TBH, I really don't know . . . never cared much to dig into the audio on the ATI cards


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## CJCerny (Jun 1, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> 4xxx does pcm and 5x/6x do bitstreaming.



This is the correct answer. If you don't know the difference between PCM and bitstreaming, now would be a good time to ask.


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## cheesy999 (Jun 1, 2011)

The 5/6 will also output in the hd formats like dts master hd


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## AsRock (Jun 1, 2011)

freaksavior said:


> 4xxx does pcm and 5x/6x do bitstreaming.



Yes using multichannel, i know the 6970 i have can get 7.1 and can do DTS an DD with sample rates upto 192KHz


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 1, 2011)

i was hoping it could be use'd to convert DTS HD / MA to PCM.


my 7.2 receiver only supports DTS / DD 5.1 or uncompressed 8 channel PCM.






my biggest issue is the fact i need to change my audio output from 7.1 / 5.1 to Stereo to get upmixing to work on the receiver.
Music i need to have it set to Stereo with no Up Mixing.
Movies with 2.0 output needs to be set to Stereo with PL2 X upmix
Blu ray / DvD with 5.1 needs to be set to 5.1 with PL2 X up Mix
Blu ray with 7.1 needs to be set to 7.1 with no upmix


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## Peter1986C (Jun 1, 2011)

CJCerny said:


> This is the correct answer. If you don't know the difference between PCM and bitstreaming, now would be a good time to ask.



Higher sample rates and/or more available sound channels? I did a quick search but only found stuff related to Bitstream Inc. (the font maker company).


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 1, 2011)

Bitstream is Compressed. it could be lossy or lossless, DD/DTS vs DD True-HD / DTS-MA.
PCM is the Raw uncompressed audio.



a receiver will at some point convert Bitstream to PCM and then output it to the amp/speakers.

EDIT:
convert is not really the right word here.... it will uncompress the Bitstream so it can get to the raw audio data.


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## Peter1986C (Jun 1, 2011)

So they relate to each other like FLAC (HQ lossless compressed audio) to Wave (uncompressed audio)?


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## slyfox2151 (Jun 1, 2011)

yeah.


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## freaksavior (Jun 1, 2011)

cheesy999 said:


> The 5/6 will also output in the hd formats like dts master hd



Hence bitstreaming 


slyfox2151 said:


> i was hoping it could be use'd to convert DTS HD / MA to PCM.
> 
> 
> my 7.2 receiver only supports DTS / DD 5.1 or uncompressed 8 channel PCM.
> ...



This would be manual each and every time but you can use Arcsoft total media theater to play it out in PCM instead of have it compressed and then decoded. 



AsRock said:


> Yes using multichannel, i know the 6970 i have can get 7.1 and can do DTS an DD with sample rates upto 192KHz



Not sure how this is realavent?



slyfox2151 said:


> Bitstream is Compressed. it could be lossy or lossless, DD/DTS vs DD True-HD / DTS-MA.
> PCM is the Raw uncompressed audio.
> 
> 
> ...




There is no difference besides the fact 
A) the computer does the processing
B) the Amp does the processing and shows DTS-HD MA on the receiver (which looks awesome)


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## Silencer1980 (Jun 21, 2011)

yes previously said in thread

only 4xxx,5xxx,6xxx with HDMI connection can passthru DTS-HDAudio...


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## freaksavior (Jun 22, 2011)

Silencer1980 said:


> yes previously said in thread
> 
> only 4xxx,5xxx,6xxx with HDMI connection can passthru DTS-HDAudio...



No, the 4xxx does PCM meaning the computer processes the audio.
5xxx and 6xxx can do pcm, or bitstreaming, so either the pc does the processing, or the video card will send the AMP/Receiver the audio and let it decode it.


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