[nerdydave]

I just installed the latest version of XBMC and love it! able to decode using my video card fixed all my play back problems thank you for the update.

I have the money now to move to surround sound and I am trying to find out what i need and what the player built into XBMC supports for audio.

my Videos are MKVs with 1 HD video Track 1 HD Audio Track eather DTS-MA or TrueHD, 1 AC3 audio Track ad 2 subtitle tracks. The player says it is decoding the HD Audio and the bit rate it is showing is right. How do i know if it is down sampling my HD audio tracks or not. Does it make any difference letting the built in player Decode the audio tracks or Receiver do it? I am going to be buying a sound card soon and if i need a sound card with HDMI i will get one if i don't need a sound card with HDMI i wont bother with it. my current video card does not support bit streaming GTX 465. my media center is also my living room gaming computer. my creative labs X-Fi no long will work with windows 7 and i blame creative for not updating the drivers. my onboard audio sucks. ATM i am using the HDMI from my video card to my TV for video and audio. i tried my onboard audio to my TV and even my wife thought it sucked.

any ideas would be good.

[steelman1991]

At the moment xbmc does not support bitstreaming HD Audio (DTS-MA or TrueHD). Currently you will get the DS Core stream, or an LPCM stream (decoded from the TrueHD track)

HD Audio bitstreaming can however be achieved by using the DSPlayer branch - see thread on this page, or by using an external player.

To future proof and if your buying a receiver, the likleyhood is it will have hdmi so makes sense to buy a card with hdmi output - one of the ATI 5xxx series or Nvidia GT 4xx will do the trick.

[nerdydave]

is there a difference between letting XBMC decode the audio or send it to the receiver?

i was thinking of :

Video card connected to TV

Sound card connected to receiver via RCA or analog. let XBMC decode the audio and use the receiver just to pass the analog signals to the speakers. if that wont keep the HD quality of the audio then my choses are limited.

only Certain Nvidia cards support Bit streaming my GTX 465 for example does not support it but the GTX 570 and GTX 580 does. which is a pain to be honest because my GTX 465 is an awesome card and is not even a year old yet. the Asus Xonar and the Auzetch with the HDMI are pricey too.

[mlbblitz]

don't run RCA outputs for your sound if you want to bitream you will need either a hdmi or optical connection.. By the way RCA is analog

[nerdydave]

it is analog once the reciver passes the audio to the speakers right? if i just hooked up an amp to my analog out would be the same as bit streaming to a reciver?

computer bit streams the audio to the reciver and the reciver passses the decoded analog signal to the speakers.

so if you take the reciver out and used the computer to decode the signal and added an amp for the speakers it would be the same.

has anyone even tried or tested it to see if there was a difference? once i get my reciver and surround sound setup i will mess with it. i have decided to buy a GTX 570 for the graphics updrade for games i play and for the bit streaming ablity. soon as i get it setup i will run some test and see if i or anyone who comes over can tell the difference between the bitstream to the reciver or computer concted to the speakers and an amp.

[natethomas]

Even the most masterful audiophiles can't tell the difference in a double blind test between boring old DTS and higher codecs. Following that fact, you should be able to assume that the sound quality difference between hooking your amp up to your analog outs and actually allowing your amp to decode will be negligible to the extreme.

If you are going to buy a GTX 570, do it for the game playing. And if you are REALLY concerned about the difference in quality between bitstreaming and analog outputting, you'd be better served first having a professional configure your speakers so that they are performing optimally. That MIGHT be something a normal person could perceive.

[phunqe]

I'll compress my multi line rant into stating the apparent fact that 570 and 580 does NOT do bitstreaming.

[Bigstevesmith]

anyone know for 100% sure which HDMI GPU's currently on the market do do bitstreaming please?