Is Dolby True audio and Uncompressed PCM worth a new receiver?

[yoda313]

Ok I am thinking about what to spend my upcoming tax rebate stuff on. One scenario is and HDMI receiver capable of the uncompressed audio and Dolby True audio.

However I have two reservations about it -

1 - I don't believe I can decode the higher audio off of my xbox hddvd addon drive - is it true you can only get 5.1 off the 360 drive?

2 - I have a usb live 5.1 Soundblaster for my pc which has bluray and I don't believe it can decode the newer high def audio

Are these both true? I do have a pci audigy but its the older cheaper model not the xfi series. Is that firmware upgradeable for high def audio?

I really don't need a new reciever. My old Sony 5.1 system works just fine. I haven't personally heard bluray or hddvd in full uncompressed mode. It sounds great in plain 5.1.

I believe I have asked this before but wanted newer opinions. I don't know if its worth spending 300.00 or more on a new receiver if I won't tell that much difference over 5.1. Also I don't really have a free pci slot to reinstall my audigy if it was able to be updated. That's why I'm still using my usb live soundblatster for coax digital out to the receiver.

Opinions are welcome.

However I will add this, it would be nice to have an hdmi swithcer with a receiver. Though my tv does have two hdmi inputs I might end up eventually getting a ps3 someday and would need to get a switcher. Also I bought a used xbox 360 so it may one day give me the ring of death, which would give me the excuse of buying a hdmi 360 (mine is component but I actually use a vga cable to get 1360x768 output for my lcd tv).

This might be also beneficial to other readers who might also be considering a reciever upgrade.


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Please note I am more likely to buy a new powersupply and a nvidia 8800 rather than a new receiver. I am just gathering options right now. (by the way I will be saving about half of the rebate and spending the other half so as not to totally blow it )

[Midzuki]

AFAIK a sound card does not have to decode the Hi-Def audio ---
what it needs to do is support the higher resolutions (24 bits/32 bits) and
the higher sampling rates (anything above 48kHz). For now, I can only
advise you to go get anything better than a Fraudigy ^_~ the name says it all

There is also a difference between "uncompressed" and "losslessly-compressed".
The quality is the same, but the filesizes are not.
Hope the actual gurus can help you more than I can. Good luck!

[yoda313]

AFAIK a sound card does not have to decode the Hi-Def audio ---
what it needs to do is support the higher resolutions (24 bits/32 bits) and
the higher sampling rates (anything above 48kHz). For now, I can only
advise you to go get anything better than a Fraudigy ^_~ the name says it all

There is also a difference between "uncompressed" and "losslessly-compressed".
The quality is the same, but the filesizes are not.
Hope the actual gurus can help you more than I can. Good luck!

Is this what you mean?



That is what my usb soundblaster can do right now.

Thanks for the insight.

[Midzuki]

yoda313 wrote:

Is this what you mean?

More or less. I mean, if you have no plans of becoming an audiophile
(not even a wannabe audiophile ), I'd say you can live with that.

EDIT:
Making things clearer: only HDMI can output unpacked multichannel PCM-audio,
or a pure undecoded bitstream; S/PDIF cannot do the same without transcoding
(read: loss of quality). So... either a new digital audio amplifier && a PS3, or...
save your money for things more important. Choice is yours, don't be late.
P.S.: make sure the speakers and the room are acoustically-decent too

[yoda313]

Can the high def dolby go out through spdif? Is that high def dolby on bluray now? Or is bluray only the lossless pcm? I can never remember which is which.

Actually I could always just hook up my 360 hddvd drive to my pc and test it out that way. I do have powerdvd ultra.

EDIT - I was able to get 96khz out to the receiver. The receiver reads it as 96khz through the spdif. HOWEVER it is in two channel mode only. Is there any way to get it to read the surround info in 96khz mode? ISn't that the high def level? I have the xmen 3 bluray disc going at dts master audio but it is only outputting stereo in 96khz mode. I get full surround dts if I output at 48khz at dvd audio level (normal 5.1). Is this a limitation of the soundblaster drivers or my receiver? It is a SONY STR DE475.

Now i do have multi channel in as an option. What I can do is I can take the headphone out front center rear from the soundblaster and go to the mult channel in on the sony. Would that give me the ability to go 96khz surround sound?

[Midzuki]

I was able to get 96khz out to the receiver. The receiver reads it as 96khz through the spdif. HOWEVER it is in two channel mode only. Is there any way to get it to read the surround info in 96khz mode? ISn't that the high def level? I have the xmen 3 bluray disc going at dts master audio but it is only outputting stereo in 96khz mode. I get full surround dts if I output at 48khz at dvd audio level (normal 5.1). Is this a limitation of the soundblaster drivers or my receiver? It is a SONY STR DE475.

More probably, it's a limitation of any software legally-licensed by DTS, Inc.
If you don't want to use HDMI for getting full-quality unscrewed audio ,
you should be allowed to use your sound card to produce a multi-channel analog output ---
which of course will require an adequate multi-channel analog amplifier.

[yoda313]

Well I did mention I have multichannel in on my receiver. I have it hooked up to my soundblaster front rear center/sub outputs. I am able to get surround sound this way. However I can't seem to confirm if this is 96khz or not.

IT sounds good but I'm not sure if its any different then the spdif output. My receiver only says multi in when using that mode. I don't know how to confirm if it is outputting at 96khz through the multi in.

Of course power dvd shows dts at 1500 or whatever extreme rate the hd audio is at.

Is there any monitoring software I could use to verify if 96khz surround is being outputted? I may leave the multi channel as it is right now. This is simply because older games don't have an spdif output choice and this might be my best option for games to choose 5.1 analog.

THanks for the suggestions/tips midzuki. I probably won't be buying a new receiver than if I can get this close to "officially" having high def audio.

Are there sample trailers or audio clips I can download somewhere to prove that I am outputting at high def audio levels and processing them properly?

EDIT 1 - Ok I popped in my bluray disc for FINAL FANTASY. It has lpcm 5.1 uncompressed audio on it in addtiion to dd5.1. I selected the lpcm 5.1 and it seems to play just fine. Very nice sound. Now initially I seemed to get some popping noise but it went away after a few moments. I am hesistant to call it a complete success but so far it seems like my older sony 5.1 stereo actually can handle high def audio despite its lack of hdmi inputs. I am going to test an old POLICE 5.1 dts audio disc I still have. I was able to get surround sound off of it with my cd recorder that has an optical output. I am going to see if I can do the same with my mulitchannel output and powerdvd ultra (it says it supports super audio cds I believe so this should be the same thing).

[Midzuki]

I presume the copyright whores do not want nosotros
to get their 96kHz "artworks" floating freely on any "pirate-friendly"
device such as an "evil" sound card. Besides, I do not believe Creative Labs
have finally learned how to do an actually-decent digital-to-analog conversion.
And AFAIK, even eac3to is unable to get a perfect FLAC-copy of a DTS-HD track.