springtide
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Thanks for all of the advice so far! I'm slowly getting there...
I'm looking at replacing my DVD and CD Player with a HTPC I'm building.
So, I'm looking for a soundcard that will provide:-
- Provide AC3/DTS Pass-though to my A/V Amp (Coaxial SPDIF)
- Output CD Quality analogue to my stereo (as the DACs on my Marantz 7300 A/V Amp aren't as good as my CD Player) via unbalanced (phono) connectors.
The DVD-RW Drive I've been looking at (Plaxtor SATA) appears to have digital out.
I'm not too worried if the card has a external box as long as it's not the 19" rack size (The main point is to consoladate boxes)
The obvious choice appears to be the M-Audio 1010LT as this seems to do all that I'm asking (but is a little below my budget)
I've been looking though the Forums and everyone seems to rate the RME Hammerfall cards - although these don't appear to do AC3/DTS Pass-though and also appear to need additional cards/modules. I've downloaded the manual and it all looks rather complicated to setup.
Also, I'm looking for ease of use. Setup once and forget kind of thing.
I've been thinking whether it wound be better to pushing the Digital Out of the DVD-RW Drive into an external stereo DAC. Or even into the digital in of the soundcard and backout of the analogue output, bypassing the "Windows Mixer". Anyone tried this? Or is better to go via the IDE/SATA transfer route?
Do I save my money and get the M-Audio 1010LT?
What do people think of the Creative EMU 1820M cards? (do they do AC3/DTS Pass-though?) One review talked about them using the same DACS as the Lynx 2 cards (http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/creative-emu-1820/)
Or has someone else have any better recommendations?
Thanks
I'm looking at replacing my DVD and CD Player with a HTPC I'm building.
So, I'm looking for a soundcard that will provide:-
- Provide AC3/DTS Pass-though to my A/V Amp (Coaxial SPDIF)
- Output CD Quality analogue to my stereo (as the DACs on my Marantz 7300 A/V Amp aren't as good as my CD Player) via unbalanced (phono) connectors.
The DVD-RW Drive I've been looking at (Plaxtor SATA) appears to have digital out.
I'm not too worried if the card has a external box as long as it's not the 19" rack size (The main point is to consoladate boxes)
The obvious choice appears to be the M-Audio 1010LT as this seems to do all that I'm asking (but is a little below my budget)
I've been looking though the Forums and everyone seems to rate the RME Hammerfall cards - although these don't appear to do AC3/DTS Pass-though and also appear to need additional cards/modules. I've downloaded the manual and it all looks rather complicated to setup.
Also, I'm looking for ease of use. Setup once and forget kind of thing.
I've been thinking whether it wound be better to pushing the Digital Out of the DVD-RW Drive into an external stereo DAC. Or even into the digital in of the soundcard and backout of the analogue output, bypassing the "Windows Mixer". Anyone tried this? Or is better to go via the IDE/SATA transfer route?
Do I save my money and get the M-Audio 1010LT?
What do people think of the Creative EMU 1820M cards? (do they do AC3/DTS Pass-though?) One review talked about them using the same DACS as the Lynx 2 cards (http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/creative-emu-1820/)
Or has someone else have any better recommendations?
Thanks