I have had my HTPC for a while now and I am on the waiting list for a Ceton InfiniTV card from Fluid Digital, which is right down the street from me. My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H with Nvidia 9400 IGP and Realtek ALC889a. I know that the Nvidia 9400 IGP is not capable of bitstreaming HD audio, so I plan to install a ATI 5450 card as soon as I recieve my Emotiva UMC-1 A/V Processor. I am using the latest version of TMT with Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit.
My main concern is that I am not sure if the Realtek ALC889 chip on my motherboard will have anything to do with the audio signal after I install the ATI 5450?? Both the ATI 5000 series and the Realtek ALC889 are on the same "HD Audio Compatible Sound Card and Codec List" seen below (I believe the list comes from PowerDVD). However, ALC889 is apparently limited to 2-Channel 24bit/192khz while ATI 5000 series cards support lossless pass-through (??bit/???khz). What happens when you combine the two?? Will the ATI 5450 take over all audio processing or will I only be able to bitstream 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels??
Do I need to buy a new motherboard with the new Realtek ALC892 chip and then install the ATI 5450 to get 24bit/192khz 8 channel bitstreamed to my reciever through HDMI??
I know the Core i3/i5 H55/H57 Intel chipsets can also bitstream HD audio, but there still seems to be problems with 24p playback. Hopefully Sandy Bridge will fix the issue and I will upgrade to another IGP solution. The Nvidia 9400 IGP does 24p playback just fine for me and I hope the ATI 5450 will do the same (not sure??). I am using a Pioneer Elite 60" Plasma for the display, which outputs at 72hz for 24p playback (correclty triples the refresh rate to reduce slow pan judder). I have also heard about the Nvidia 430 cards supporting HD audio bitstreaming, but they are more expensive and only offer 3D/1.4 HDMI spec over the ATI 5450.
Realtek Website for ALC889:
HD Audio Compatible Sound Card and Codec List
My main concern is that I am not sure if the Realtek ALC889 chip on my motherboard will have anything to do with the audio signal after I install the ATI 5450?? Both the ATI 5000 series and the Realtek ALC889 are on the same "HD Audio Compatible Sound Card and Codec List" seen below (I believe the list comes from PowerDVD). However, ALC889 is apparently limited to 2-Channel 24bit/192khz while ATI 5000 series cards support lossless pass-through (??bit/???khz). What happens when you combine the two?? Will the ATI 5450 take over all audio processing or will I only be able to bitstream 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels??
Do I need to buy a new motherboard with the new Realtek ALC892 chip and then install the ATI 5450 to get 24bit/192khz 8 channel bitstreamed to my reciever through HDMI??
I know the Core i3/i5 H55/H57 Intel chipsets can also bitstream HD audio, but there still seems to be problems with 24p playback. Hopefully Sandy Bridge will fix the issue and I will upgrade to another IGP solution. The Nvidia 9400 IGP does 24p playback just fine for me and I hope the ATI 5450 will do the same (not sure??). I am using a Pioneer Elite 60" Plasma for the display, which outputs at 72hz for 24p playback (correclty triples the refresh rate to reduce slow pan judder). I have also heard about the Nvidia 430 cards supporting HD audio bitstreaming, but they are more expensive and only offer 3D/1.4 HDMI spec over the ATI 5450.
Realtek Website for ALC889:
- Ten DAC channels support 16/20/24-bit PCM format for 7.1 sound playback, plus 2 channels of concurrent independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel output
- Three stereo ADCs support 16/20/24-bit PCM format, multiple stereo recording
- All DACs supports 44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/176.4k/192kHz sample rate
- All ADCs supports 44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/176.4k/192kHz sample rate
- Primary 16/20/24-bit SPDIF-OUT supports 32k/44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
- Secondary 16/20/24-bit SPDIF-OUT supports 32k/44.1k/48k/88.2k/96k/192kHz sample rate
HD Audio Compatible Sound Card and Codec List
- Realtek ALC885 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
- Realtek ALC889 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 2-channels or 96kHz/24bit 4-8 channels)
- Realtek ALC669 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 6 channels)
- Realtek ALC670 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 6 channels)
- Realtek ALC892 (support up to 192kHz/24bit 8 channels)
- VIA EnvyHD Vinyl VT1818S codec (support up to 192kHz/24bit 8-channels)
- VIA EnvyHD Vinyl VT1828S codec (support up to 192kHz/24bit 8-channels)
- VIA EnvyHD Vinyl VT2020 codec (support up to 192kHz/24bit 8-channels)
- Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD (supports HDMI 1.3a bit-stream lossless pass-throughMore Info)
- NVIDIA GT2xx series graphics cards
- ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics cards supporting lossless pass-through
- Intel Core i3/i5/i7 with integrated audio and graphics