Auzentech HomeTheater HD Preview: Bitstreaming True HD/DTS-HD MA
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 2, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Let’s...Get...Busy
Pardon the early 90s reference, it’s the first thing that came to me and I didn’t want to use the word “unboxing” on this page; but that’s effectively what it is.
While the ASUS Xonar HDAV comes in a box you’d expect from a motherboard company, the Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD is a bit more polished. You’d expect it would be for a sound card that costs $250.
Inside the slipcover you have two separate boxes; one holds the card and the other has all of the cables and driver disc.
The setup works like this. You run a cable from your video card (or video output on your motherboard) to the Auzentech card. It combines the digital signal with the audio output from the sound card and sends it down a single HDMI cable from the card itself. Auzen provides a DVI-to-HDMI as well as a regular HDMI cable to aid you in this process.
You also get an analog break out cable for ins and outs.
The X-Fi HomeTheater HD is a full height PCIe x1 card:
Despite its length there's no retention notch for well designed motherboards that include a compatible clip. There's a lot on the card, including an interesting set of jumpers:
The first jumper block lets you configure how the video signal gets sent to the X-Fi HTHD: either video HDMI input on the back of the card or over the PCIe bus. Apparently NVIDIA and Auzentech have been working on a way to pass video (or audio) over the PCIe bus instead of an external cable. This feature doesn't appear to work on any NVIDIA chipsets today, but it may at some point in the future (or with a future NVIDIA chipset).
The heart of the X-Fi HTHD is Creative Labs' X-Fi audio processor. It's most definitely overkill for what we're using the card for, but you've gotta justify that pricetag somehow.
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StevenG - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
Forget sound cards, I won't be ready to build an HTPC until somebody markets a "preamp card" and allows me to ditch my receiver and use the HTPC as the true center of an A/V system.The card would need to replace all of the inputs, switching, and processing capability of a full-fledged A/V preamp: At least 3 HDMI inputs (for cable/satellite box, gaming console, etc), a few optical/coax digital inputs, and an analog input or two (yeah, some people still use cassette decks). Full Dolby/DTS decoding (including lossless codecs) for streams sourced from HDMI or internally (BluRay drive, hard drive), bass management, speaker level settings, some DSP music modes, maybe Audyssey processing. Decent DACs. 7.1 analog output to an external amplifier and subwoofer (yeah, the card would need to take up several rear panel slots to make room for all the inputs/outputs). Web-based GUI access to all preamp functions, as well as API access so users can develop simple homegrown preamp control applications and macros. And make it software upgradeable for new DSP functions and other features.
So you'd just need to hook up the HTPC to a decent 7-channel amp, and yer all set. No more receivers or preamps.
I would drop $600 easy for a card that did all this. Has any manufacturer announced such a product? Who else would buy one?
archer75 - Friday, September 4, 2009 - link
Yes, there are cards with the preamp. The Asus HDAV with the daughter card.You aren't going to get all those inputs though.
But you plug it straight into an amp and go.
Though I don't know why you'd want all that in a computer. A receiver can do it for cheaper. Doing all that in a computer just introduces too many variables. Too much to go wrong. Software that can monkey with your audio.
No, i'd rather just have it bitstream to my receiver.
crimson117 - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
With your home theater setup, could you tell the difference? Was the audio noticeably different?Anand Lal Shimpi - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
Did I notice the difference from higher bitrate audio? Tough to tell.Where you actually notice the difference is that True HD and DTS-HD MA give you 8 discrete channels of audio, whereas the best you get with DD/DTS core is 6. If you have a 7.1 setup the extra pair of surrounds are derived from the other surrounds; with True HD/DTS-HD MA you get 8 discrete channels, and it sounds better.
If you don't have a 7.1 setup then I'm not sure if most people would notice a difference. It is a significant increase in audio bitrate (> 20Mbps uncompressed?!?) but as with most things in the AV world, you really have to train your ears. I am more likely to notice issues with video than audio it seems, perhaps it's different for other people.
Take care,
Anand
Zorlac - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
This reminds me of all the problems there were when DVD playback initially came to the PC. It was a freaking nightmare!Hence the reason I did not even try for Blu-Ray on the PC this time. Instead I went with a PS3, then a Bitstream capable dedicated player and now probably back to a PS3 Slime (since it can now bitstream).
HTPC has always been too much of a headache for me. I will just stick to dedicated A/V equipment for movies and PC for gaming, head-fi, etc.
Zorlac
http://www.MyPortableLifeStore.com">http://www.MyPortableLifeStore.com
sprockkets - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
And it wasn't until stuff like xine, mplayer or vlc came along that gave us easy dvd playback via analog or digital means.I can understand why Apple doesn't want to touch BluRay. Needing firmware updates for players, receivers and tvs to get it working is not only annoying but is BS. Paying $400 for a player or around $300 for a bluray drive plus software to decode it is also ridiculous.
RubberJohnny - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
Who's TV or reciever ever needed a firmware to play a bluray?...that statement is BS.There's a $60 sata bluray drive on new egg at the moment...where did you pull this $300 figure from?...more BS?
sprockkets - Thursday, September 3, 2009 - link
"Who's TV or reciever ever needed a firmware to play a bluray?...that statement is BS. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the previous Anandtech article about his receiver needing a firmware upgrade to talk properly to the computer?
"Gary tried the Denon AVR-3808 and got the same error: HDCP failed until a firmware update from Denon although the unit worked fine with competing solutions. His situation was slightly different with the Pioneer VSX-94TXH as it worked properly (finally) after the latest updates from ArcSoft and Corel. However, Cyberlink's PowerDVD 8 Ultra still does not have G45 repeater support at this time."
Fun shit huh? Oh, btw, how fun is it that you need a firmware upgrade every time Fox decides to change keys? What if your player is not worth upgrading anymore?
Also read about how certain TVs needed firmware updates to properly talk to HDCP bluray players; there were times where the TV would all of a sudden be treated as a "illegal" or "unauthorized" device by the player. Even if this issue is not around anymore, it still is stupid to begin with that I would have to upgrade my TV to play movies. That never happened with DVDs.
Btw, unless things have changed, and I doubt they have, those bluray drives come with crippled versions of software, and require you to pay for the $70-90 version for all the features that blu ray offers.
Well, if you want to keep feeding the MAFIAA, go right on ahead.
Zorlac - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
PS3 Slim that is (gotta love the edit button) =Ptaltamir - Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - link
"Piracy shouldn’t be easier, it should just be cheaper."This is why those industries are failing and they don't understand why. When people buy your product, put it on the shelf, and use a pirated version of what they just bought because the pirated version actually WORKS, then you have a huge problem.