Questions about RME HDSP9632

TheCrow

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Hi Guys & Girls.

I have seen this card suggested as a very high quality option for audio playback in a HTPC.
I have a few questions I hope someone can answer for me.

I have an ESI Juli@ sound card which can auto set its sample rate to match that of any playback audio. Does the 9632 have a similar feature or do you need to manually switch sample rates when switching between music @ 44.1k and video @ 48k. If it auto senses does it do it reliably?

Does the card pass-through AC3/DTS/WMA to an external decoder via SPDIF?
I see no mention of this on RMEs site for the 9632 whereas it is mentioned for the DIGI96/8 PAD.

If not what are the other differences between these two cards?

Does anyone use either card with Windows MCE?

If so does it do bit perfect playback of music files within the MCE interface?
i.e. will it play a 44.1k DTS CD via SPDIF to an external decoder?

Playing a DVD with AC3 pass-through via my Juli@ in MCE I get an unstable timeline. i.e. occasionally I will see the picture speed up or short jumps in playback.
I don’t get this when using my onboard chipset (C-media 9880).
Can anyone confirm whether the 9632 works correctly in MCE for DVD playback with AC3 pass-though?

Thanks
 
Hi,

i'm using the RME to do two things

1. Analogue out to a pre for audio
2. SPDIF out to a processor

Once set up there is nothing to change, it works fine.

I use XP so cant comment on the other points.

Hope this helps

Chris
 
So that would be a yes to AC3/DTS SPDIF passthough then.

Anyone using this card with MCE?
 
the 9632 is probably overkill for digital passthrough. otehr cards will do this as well for a lot less money. analogue output is a different ballgame altogether.
 
owain_thomas said:
the 9632 is probably overkill for digital passthrough. otehr cards will do this as well for a lot less money. analogue output is a different ballgame altogether.

It's the ability to bypass kmixer and output bit perfect 44.1k without ASIO that appeals to me.
 
why without ASIO?

as an example the Revo can do this with kernel streaming and costs about 1/6 the price.
 
owain_thomas said:
why without ASIO?

Because I would like to use it in MCE which AFAIK doen't support ASIO or Kernal Streaming.

How do you select a sample rate on the 9632?
Do you have to switch it manually between 44.1k for music and 48k for DVD and DVB T?
 
How do you select a sample rate on the 9632?
Do you have to switch it manually between 44.1k for music and 48k for DVD and DVB T?

I don't use the digital output on mine but AFAIK it just does it automatically for you.

Because I would like to use it in MCE which AFAIK doen't support ASIO or Kernal Streaming.

I still think this is an incredibly expensive way of getting round this problem. another options you may consider is ditching MCE and going with something a bit more flexible. some suggestions would be meedio, xlobby or mediaportal. these allow you to use their own or external players to give ASIO/KS playback.

Or consider using the analogue outputs of an RME card, they have been compared very favourably to a number of high end processors and may do a better job of the DA than your current setup.

just some thoughts,
owain
 
TheCrow said:
Playing a DVD with AC3 pass-through via my Juli@ in MCE I get an unstable timeline. i.e. occasionally I will see the picture speed up or short jumps in playback.
I don’t get this when using my onboard chipset (C-media 9880).
Thanks

Probably mce (windows media player to be exact) problems (Mark my words, you ll get the same with rme :) )
I own juli@ and I pass through every signal to my amp, and no such problems mentioned

as I had RME for testing purposes, I can tell that its much less user friendly solution than esi's cards :)

os winxp pro

oh, and finally
may I suggest dumping mce and installing other frontend
that is if you want fronted that much, check here
http://htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3166




good luck
 
owain_thomas said:
I still think this is an incredibly expensive way of getting round this problem. another options you may consider is ditching MCE and going with something a bit more flexible. some suggestions would be meedio, xlobby or mediaportal. these allow you to use their own or external players to give ASIO/KS playback.

I appreciate you are trying to save me some money but personally I don't think £275 is outrageous for a quality piece of hardware.

I am not a die hard Microsoft fan and I have tried other frontends including Meedio and Media Portal (I even wrote some of my own source code for Media Portal) but I have to admit personally I think MCE is way ahead of the others regarding stability and user experience. It's just music playback via kmixer that is my problem.

rmask said:
Probably mce (windows media player to be exact) problems (Mark my words, you ll get the same with rme :) )
I own juli@ and I pass through every signal to my amp, and no such problems mentioned

I do believe my Juli@ issues are a MCE specific problem. MCE uses DirectX 9 for everything and I think it is the way Juli@ handles Directsound that is the issue. As I said I have no problems when using my onboard HD Audio chip.

The way Juli@ auto selects sample rates is great and I am happy with the way it sounds via SPDIF but it's not 100% reliable in MCE. I am beginning to think you are right in that the RME card is not as user friendly and will have similar issues in MCE. That is why I was hoping someone else may have tried it in MCE already.
 

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