[StealthRT]

Hey all. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a great sound card to be used with my A/V reciever.


This is my HTPC as of now:

Quote:
EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

LG UH10LS20 Blu-ray Disc Combo Internal SATA 10x SuperMulti Blue LightScribe

Marantz SR7005 Home theater receiver with 3D-ready HDMI switching, Internet-ready

Do i need a dedicated sound card since it seems the GeForce GTX 470 has build in DTS 7.1? Or would it be best to get a dedicated sound card? And if so, these are really the only ones i can find that output 7.1 Coaxial or TOSLINK. (i rather have TOSLINK than Coaxial)


Creative PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card

ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface 124 dB SNR / Headphone AMP Card

ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card

ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3

Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD (same as Sound Blaster X-Fi??)

?any more??


Thanks for you're time and help!

David

 

[renethx]

Sell your GTX 470 and buy a Radeon HD 5xxx/6xxx card (unless you are a diehard NVIDIA fan). Difference .

 

[StealthRT]



Quote:
Originally Posted by renethx /forum/post/19517503


Sell your GTX 470 and buy a Radeon HD 5xxx/6xxx card (unless you are a diehard NVIDIA fan). Difference .

What about HDMI 1.4?


David

 

[StealthRT]

Any other suggestions....


David

 

[Thrillho]

Don't worry about a sound card, the only thing one would give you that you don't have now would be HD Bitstreaming if you went with a Xonar HDAV. Right now you can decode HD audio in software and send to your receiver over HDMI. This does have limits as far as downsampling and what software supports which format, ie FFDShow can't decode DTSHD but can decode Dolby TrueHD.

If you downgraded your card to a a GTX460 or switched to an ATI 68xx, you would have all audio features and HDMI 1.4. I can't speak for how 3D is supported on each card but they do all have HDMI 1.4.

I would be very reluctant to drop $200+ on a soundcard unless I was running a high end analog system. The HDMI on today's Video Cards is far superior to SPDIF on any sound card and equal if not better that HDMI on any soundcard.

 

[StealthRT]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Thrillho /forum/post/19519378


Don't worry about a sound card, the only thing one would give you that you don't have now would be HD Bitstreaming if you went with a Xonar HDAV. Right now you can decode HD audio in software and send to your receiver over HDMI. This does have limits as far as downsampling and what software supports which format, ie FFDShow can't decode DTSHD but can decode Dolby TrueHD.

If you downgraded your card to a a GTX460 or switched to an ATI 68xx, you would have all audio features and HDMI 1.4. I can't speak for how 3D is supported on each card but they do all have HDMI 1.4.

I would be very reluctant to drop $200+ on a soundcard unless I was running a high end analog system. The HDMI on today's Video Cards is far superior to SPDIF on any sound card and equal if not better that HDMI on any soundcard.

Awesome thanks for the info there Thrillho

Do you think ATI is a better choice for the blu-ray/7MC setup?


David

 

[Thrillho]



Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRT /forum/post/19519421


Awesome thanks for the info there Thrillho

Do you think ATI is a better choice for the blu-ray/7MC setup?


David

If you care about 3D, I don't know, doesn't interest me at all so I haven't been paying attention. For 2D Bluray + gaming (I assume you game since you have a 470) I have been running ATI for a few years now (4850, 5750, 5870) I have zero complaints. Audio and video work and look/sound fantastic. I would go with a 68xx card as they run cooler than equivalent 5xxx or GTX4xx cards. Going to a 6870 would be a sidegrade from your 470 in terms of game performance but would give you the full gamut of audio support. If you stuck with NV, your only choice would be a downgrade in performance to the 460/450.

If you don't game, get the cheapest card that can bitstream. NV430 (I think) or ATI 54xx.

 

[StealthRT]

Not really caring about gaming. It will be a dedicated Media center PC for a LG LED 55" tv and a 125" screen with a JVC Projector. Both of which can do 3D. So i will be looking for something that is compatible with doing 3D from the blu ray and from the looks it only looks to be software enabled right now, correct?


But anyways, price is around $450 or less for the video card so thats why i asked if nVida or ATI.


David

 

[assassin]

Get a fanless 5450 for $40.

 

[sbcgroup1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Thrillho /forum/post/19519378


Don't worry about a sound card, the only thing one would give you that you don't have now would be HD Bitstreaming if you went with a Xonar HDAV. Right now you can decode HD audio in software and send to your receiver over HDMI. This does have limits as far as downsampling and what software supports which format, ie FFDShow can't decode DTSHD but can decode Dolby TrueHD.

If you downgraded your card to a a GTX460 or switched to an ATI 68xx, you would have all audio features and HDMI 1.4. I can't speak for how 3D is supported on each card but they do all have HDMI 1.4.

I would be very reluctant to drop $200+ on a soundcard unless I was running a high end analog system. The HDMI on today's Video Cards is far superior to SPDIF on any sound card and equal if not better that HDMI on any soundcard.

I am running a super high end a/v system and I want to try and add a HTPC with blu-ray and Dolby HD/DTS HD sound capability. The problem is that I need an 8 channel analogue breakout cable to run my audio that way because my preamp uses 8 channel direct in for hd audio. I will run the hdmi feed to my projector. Can the Asus Xonar Essence STX PCIe soundcard do this? Should I be looking at something else like an all in one video card? HELP