OK, I've got an HP HTPC which comes with HP DVD Play HD DVD/BD which as far as I can see is some sort of cyberlink product under the HP brand name.
I've got the PC hooked up to an older 6.1 amplifier system via optical SPDIF. When a 5.1 Dolby track is available, it comes through fine and sounds fine to me.
The player gives me 2 output options-- SPDIF and SPDIF Mixer(DTS). If I use SPDIF Mixer(DTS) I get 5.1 sound reported on my amp via DTS, but the quality is not as vibrant as DD (to my ear anyway when the source is 5.1 DD). If I use plain SPDIF, then I get Dolby Digital to my amp when it is on the DVD.
So I was playing a DVD that offered 5.1 tracks of all languages but english and only TrueHD in English. Listening to the foreign language audio, the sound was as good as it gets with my humble system. However, selecting the English TrueHD track only gave me 2 channel data and Prologic II just didn't do much with it. Reading on the web it seemed that 5.1 was supposed to be available within the TrueHD (or so a dolby page I read indicated).
So I was able to watch the bluRay movie with TrueHD by selecting SPDIF Mixer(DTS). The amp reported it was receiving 5.1 and I could hear cars zinging left -to-right on the surrounds so it was better than 2 channel prologic. But it still seemed less vibrant than the 5.1 tracks (I think, but I have a horrible ear for this so who knows).
Just to be clear, here is what my ear heard:
5.1 DD source -> SPDIF Sounds right
5.1 DD Source -> SPDIF(Mixer(DTS)) Not as good
TrueHD Source -> SPDIF (two channel drek)
TrueHD Source -> SPDIF(Mixer(DTS)) Better than 2channel, but not as nice as 5.1 DD source going direct to my amp
I had difficulty comparing the 5.1 DD Foriegn tracks with the TrueHD track with all the settings I had to do in between tests so I'm not really sure how well they compared. Certainly 5.1DD source sounded better sending the data straight to my amp via SPDIF than the SPDIF(Mixer(DTS))
So I've learned that SPDIF isn't going to handle TrueHD anyway and I'm not in the market for upgrading my sound system just now. I simply want to get the best sound possible to my existing 6.1 amp.
I've read this article http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/13..._pc/index.html which clearly states that if I get the creative cable kit (I have a XiFi XtremeGamer card) and connect it to the multichannel inputs on my amp, that I will not be able to get TrueHD. But my question is can I at least get high quality 5.1 sound with this setup??
So my question for all of you is this:
What *will* I get if I get
Should the sound be as good as what I'm accustomed to hearing with 5.1 DD over SPDIF?
Should this sound better than using the SPDIF(mixer(DTS)) setting?
Am I off in the weeds here? The more I seem to learn, the more chaotic it all seems to become.
I've got the PC hooked up to an older 6.1 amplifier system via optical SPDIF. When a 5.1 Dolby track is available, it comes through fine and sounds fine to me.
The player gives me 2 output options-- SPDIF and SPDIF Mixer(DTS). If I use SPDIF Mixer(DTS) I get 5.1 sound reported on my amp via DTS, but the quality is not as vibrant as DD (to my ear anyway when the source is 5.1 DD). If I use plain SPDIF, then I get Dolby Digital to my amp when it is on the DVD.
So I was playing a DVD that offered 5.1 tracks of all languages but english and only TrueHD in English. Listening to the foreign language audio, the sound was as good as it gets with my humble system. However, selecting the English TrueHD track only gave me 2 channel data and Prologic II just didn't do much with it. Reading on the web it seemed that 5.1 was supposed to be available within the TrueHD (or so a dolby page I read indicated).
So I was able to watch the bluRay movie with TrueHD by selecting SPDIF Mixer(DTS). The amp reported it was receiving 5.1 and I could hear cars zinging left -to-right on the surrounds so it was better than 2 channel prologic. But it still seemed less vibrant than the 5.1 tracks (I think, but I have a horrible ear for this so who knows).
Just to be clear, here is what my ear heard:
5.1 DD source -> SPDIF Sounds right
5.1 DD Source -> SPDIF(Mixer(DTS)) Not as good
TrueHD Source -> SPDIF (two channel drek)
TrueHD Source -> SPDIF(Mixer(DTS)) Better than 2channel, but not as nice as 5.1 DD source going direct to my amp
I had difficulty comparing the 5.1 DD Foriegn tracks with the TrueHD track with all the settings I had to do in between tests so I'm not really sure how well they compared. Certainly 5.1DD source sounded better sending the data straight to my amp via SPDIF than the SPDIF(Mixer(DTS))
So I've learned that SPDIF isn't going to handle TrueHD anyway and I'm not in the market for upgrading my sound system just now. I simply want to get the best sound possible to my existing 6.1 amp.
I've read this article http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/13..._pc/index.html which clearly states that if I get the creative cable kit (I have a XiFi XtremeGamer card) and connect it to the multichannel inputs on my amp, that I will not be able to get TrueHD. But my question is can I at least get high quality 5.1 sound with this setup??
So my question for all of you is this:
What *will* I get if I get
- PowerDVD 8 Ultra (very difficult to know for sure if ths is an upgrade over what I have now, but I suspect it is)
- The Creative Cable Set
- Hook up 7 of the 8 multichannel analog wires from the creative cable set to my 6.1 multichannel input.
Should the sound be as good as what I'm accustomed to hearing with 5.1 DD over SPDIF?
Should this sound better than using the SPDIF(mixer(DTS)) setting?
Am I off in the weeds here? The more I seem to learn, the more chaotic it all seems to become.