[yzkbug]

 http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19123


Can somebody (Creatie, VIA, Nvidia, Hell, Heaven, etc.) PLEASE release a sound card with Dolby Digital Encoding!!! I would sell my soul for it. Or, am I stuck with my nForce 2 in my HTPC forever?

 

[EricN]

It appears Intel will fill in this gap with some new motherboards featuring the "Dolby Digital Live" they announced this summer, so at least real time DD encoding will still be available, at the cost of a new mobo and cpu, which isn't that much of a price jump over Creative's most expensive offerings, and a little cheaper for current Intel users.


This alone won't be reason enough for me to switch; that will require a need for a >2.5Ghz processor in my HTPCs. I am hoping that Intel's foray will be wildly popular, if only to convince the major players that this is a feature worth pursuing. Ideally, the MCE PC manufacturers will jump on this and move the concept beyond boutique and hobbyist products.

 

[yzkbug]

"Creative's most expensive offerings"? Did I miss anything? Does Creative have a card supporting realtime DD encoding now?

 

[EricN]

No, they don't. The price comparison was to their soundcards in general.

 

[DJRobX]

That's great that Intel plans on sticking it on a motherboard, but I find it simply shocking that nobody's put realtime DD encoding on a sound card yet. In fact, that's a feature I would expect to pay extra for on a sound card and not have included for me in the motherboard.


-- Rob