[Roelio]

10.1 does decodes TrueHD but no DTS-MA.

Still finding out if I will go for a ION2 or ATI solution... Time will hopefully make things clear.

[Boudin]

I'm using a E350 with gentoo. Everything works fine, VAAPI included.

The only cons against this platform is that it didn't worked out of the box for me with gentoo due to the fact that GCC < 4.6 is kind of buggy with E350.

You also need to use a unstable version of XBMC in order to have correct VAAPI support.

Anyway, I had no problem with fglrx, libav and xvba installation with a standalone XBMC. It runs very well with Sickbeard, CouchPotato, nzbget, nginx, php, mysql in background.

Because it has better performances for lower consumption, I think E350 is a better.

[Roelio]

@Boudin You got DTS-MA working ?

[Boudin]

@Boudin You got DTS-MA working ?

Didn't test this one yet, I'll check this tonight or tomorrow

[Boudin]

I just watched a movie with a DTSHD MA soundtrack directly decoded by the htpc, it works great.

[Roelio]

OK nice, did you had to set up a config file or setting to let it decode to PCM ? And was it 7.1 ?

[Boudin]

I didn't set anything special for DTS decoding.
The only thing I did is set internal audio chip has default in alsa.

I can't tell if it's 7.1 because I only have 2 speaker plugged in front audio output.

[Roelio]

OK thanks for your feedback.. I think I'm going for a E-350 system with a HD 3610 graphics card in it..

update: On second thought I'll wait for info if the Next generation ION system will bit-stream DTS-MA.. And go for the Shuttle XS35GT...

[Boudin]

If you want to add a graphic card, AMD e350 loose interest (unless you were talking about the integrated hd6310 part of the apu).

There's also a slightly better version coming out that may be interesting, the E-450. There's no hudge difference, just a little higher frequencies for the GPU and CPU and support of 1333 Mhz DDR3.

[Roelio]

Yeah I was talking about the AD02 or AD03 from Zotac.. It has it integrated.

I will be a dedicated XBMC machine so I don't need more power

[quotaholic]

I am curious as to what decoded means exactly for DTS-MA. For XBMC the proper handling would be to pass it through while keeping video in sync with the audio. I have a e350 board and would love to pass TrueHD and DTS-MA to my capable receiver however 10.1 does not support this as of yet.

For all other watchers the ION will not pass these formats through. It will "decode" them to other formats. TrueHD gets sent out as a pcm digital 5.1 or 7.1 depending on your set up. DTS-MA gets sent out as a straight DTS to your receiver.

I love nvidia and hate ATI but given the core capabilities I side with E350 on this question on the surround formatting alone. I would rather wait patiently for Gnif to merge audio engine branch and get full bluray audio support than to change the way it gets sent to my receiver. I think the devs are great for being able to make the ion as capable as it is however its not my taste.

For e350 owners openelec is about the only way I am getting any joy from my htpc now. Boudin I would love to know more about what audio formats you are passing out as well as more about your setup. Gentoo? Impressive. Any how to's you can link to?

Also I contacted Asus on the E35-M1-Deluxe. Turns out anything put in the PCIE slot would only run at 2x and supplemental video cards are out. I asked about adding a GT430 as I was getting trigger finger on DTS-MA and TrueHD.

quotaholic

[KeithLM]

So the ION won't bit-stream DTS-HD? Is there a way to convert it to LPCM? Frankly I don't care which method I use, so long as I get the audio. I've found some other threads that involve downloading a bunch of code and recompiling things to get DTS-HD, but I don't know if that's still current or if it's hopeless with the ION chipset.

I've considered moving my XBMC to my Ubuntu server instead of my Zotac HD-ID11. If I did that I could put in any video card I want. Currently I have a 7900GT in it. Will I need something more than that? Would a 520 work?