Announcement

**Wombat** · 7 January 2000, 00:27

You might be able to skim some information from this recent thread: http://forums.murc.ws/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000948.html

I haven't read all of it, but it appears to be related to your question, at least.

**Fleabus** · 7 January 2000, 13:27

Wombat:
That thread only talks about Dolby Digital and AC3 which is digital and doesn't interest me. I need info on software DVD movie audio and Pro-Logic which is analog.
Thanks anyway though.

**Morpheus** · 8 January 2000, 00:37

You can lose the dxr2 card...the quality sux!

well if u want to use yer dolby pro receicer...u can connect the receiver through yer sblive via spdif out/in. Then use software dvd player such as cinemaster or powerdvd and select spdif for sound output, that should send it to yer receiver.

i hope u understand...

**Fleabus** · 8 January 2000, 00:58

Morpheus:
The SPDIF IN/OUTs are Digital. I can't use them. I don't have a Dolby Digital decoder in my receiver. I have an analog Pro-Logic receiver.
The software player would have to process the digital audio signal to mix down a matrixed analog 2 channel audio feed that I would route via the Live's analog LINE OUT to my receiver for analog decoding. That is what my Dxr2 does for me now.
I need to know if software will do this and if so, which does ir best.

**birdy** · 8 January 2000, 09:36

the sound level from the software dvd is a little weak, so no different from the dvd card hey. personally i would never go back to just the max. The playback is sililar but i sometimes use the pc aswell as dvd and don't like the effect it has on the playback. You can also exclude the windows noises from the hifi if you run the sound direct from the dvd card.

just my 1.5 uk pence

------------------
p3 450@600. bx6 ver 2. 128mb unbranded pc100. iwill 2930u scsi, diamond pro pci modem, advansys 1505 isa scsi, SB Live!, pioneer dvd103s, hollywood plus dvd card, plextor 40x cd rom, ricoh 1420 cdr, ibm 13.5gb @ 7200rpm, G400 @ max settings. All wrapped up in a big case with loads of fans. Belinea 10 30 40 17" monitor

**Fleabus** · 8 January 2000, 14:02

Thanks for all the responses. Could someone answer the questions?

**xortam** · 8 January 2000, 15:36

Fleabus, I currently have this setup but I haven't listened to DVD much. I bought Matrix when it came out but I refuse to watch it until I buy an AC-3 decoder (have used a Fosgate surround decoder for the last 10 years) : I used Matrix as a test disk for my software DVD decoder (Matrox version w/cinemaster engine upgrade). I don't have a stand-alone DVD so I can't compare DVD via ProLogic between the two setups. I suppose I could try a CD and compare the two but that's hardly fair considering the poor D/A converters on PC CDs (especially compared to my high-end Kyrocera CD player). Oh, I guess you're interested in using the D/A on the sound card. If you're interested in CD audio, I could give this a try. I know you're interested in the analog signal, but the main attraction of DVD is the digital audio.

**Fleabus** · 8 January 2000, 22:15

xortam:
I have no interest in digital audio. Just analog Pro-Logic for movie audio and straight 2 channel stereo analog for music Cds. AFAIK, when playing a DVD movie on a PC using software, the D/A conversion is done by the software and CPU - not the sound card. The sound would just pass the analog audio to my receiver's decoder just like it now does with my Dxr2 card. The sound card only acts as a conduit.
I'm trying to find someone who has a G400Max and has tried Dolby Pro-Logic with DVD software and can tell me if and how well it works and which software player works best. If I get a ~P3 733Mhz CPU, I think that I would no longer have to use my Dxr2 to have decent movie surround with my Pro-Logic receiver. If I can dump the Dxr2 decoder card I can pick up a PCI slot and IRQ.
If someone could compare the results to a Dxr2, other decoder card or a stand alone player in Pro-Logic, that would be helpful too.

**xortam** · 8 January 2000, 22:46

Well, I'm not that educated on the DVD format. I know that digital audio is processed that way.
I do have a Max and the Fosgate along with a high-end HT/audio system. I'm just now starting to integrate digital audio into my system. I can give a good listen to the couple DVDs I have but what do you want me to compare it to? I don't have a stand-alone DVD or decoder card. Maybe I can't help you out.

**WayneHu** · 9 January 2000, 01:43

If your receiver is dolby digital ready, you can use 6-ch sound card. As I know, WinDVD supports decoding AC-3 to 6-ch sound card...

Personally, I prefer G400+WinDVD+Sound Card with SPDIF out + AC-3 decorder. Its video quality is comparable with RealMagic H+. Even with the same receiver and speakers, there is a large difference between 5.1ch and downmix 4ch. It is human speaking sound which mainly comes from the center speaker. Downmix 4ch can't reproduce it accurately.

Since your budget is enough to buy a PIII-733, I don't understand why you don't want to spend about $100~150 to buy an AC-3 decorder... It is also convenient when you want to connect your speaker system to a DVD player. Thus, your audio system won't be limited on computer...

------------------
P-II 266@412/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

[This message has been edited by WayneHu (edited 09 January 2000).]

**WayneHu** · 9 January 2000, 01:58

Another points about analog output...

I don't think x86 CPUs have the ability to output analog singal, even not by the sound processing chip... So D/A should be done by the DAC on the sound card.

Talking about the analog output quality, I think the S/N ratio of SB Live! series have no competitor at the price below $200... Even by any MPEG-2 decording cards like H+ or Dxr2.

------------------
P-II 266@412/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

[This message has been edited by WayneHu (edited 09 January 2000).]

**Fleabus** · 9 January 2000, 11:55

Geez!

I don't mean to come off sounding like an ingrate but I keep asking about apples and about all I get is comments about oranges.

I know that I have digital outs on both my Live card and Dxr2. I can't nor do I want to use them. I don't have a DD/AC-3 receiver and don't want one. I have a Pioneer 901 Pro-Logic receiver and wouldn't use a DD receiver if given to me. I have my reasons for preferring analog over digital and cost doesn't come into it at all. That is a whole other discussion and not relevant to this forum.
I'm planning a major upgrade (which may include a CPU as high as a P3 733) and if I will need the Dxr2, I would rather that it was a part of the clean, new system install. I would prefer not to have to try to uninstall it later and all the stuff that installs with it if a software player will do about as well or better. I don't want to waste a PCI slot and IRQ if I can help it.
Please. For the third time. Will the software DVD player that comes with the G400Max deliver the matrixed 2 channel stereo analog feed via my Live card to my Pro-Logic receiver that I need for DVD movie analog surround decoding? If so how is the quality? Would it likely be as good as the matrixed analog feed I get now from the Dxr2? Do other software players do this better?

**WayneHu** · 9 January 2000, 12:32

I think G400+SB Live! should beat Dxr2 both in video and audio quality. Even if you don't like G400 DVD player, you still have WinDVD option.

Moreover, you won't need so high-end CPU to do DVD decording. The speed of mine is sufficient, and load of WinDVD is around 4x~6x%...

Though you are not interested in AC-3 5.1ch, I still strongly suggest you try it if possible. I think it will absolutely give you different feeling about sound.

------------------
P-II 266@412/2.0v, P3B-F, G400DH/32MB

**Meek** · 9 January 2000, 13:28

Answer to the "Apples" question is Yes. Yes, you can get the Dolby Surround or ProLogic compatible signal out via your sound card. It is done with software, but at least to me it sounds OK (I have an analog Dolby ProLogic receiver connected to the analog output of the sound card). Also, if you have an Aureal Vortex 2 sound card with a 4 speaker setup, you can also get it downmixed to 4 channels with a suitable software player.

I am basically only using the Matrox player, my sound card came with SoftDVD, but I have not used it lately. WinDVD 2k is supposed to have the top of the class options also in this respect, though.

M.

------------------
Athlon500/MSI6167/128M/10GIBM/6GSamsung/1GSCSI IBM/AHA2940/CL2xDVD/FastMM2+MJPEG/HPPSScanner/HPPSPrinter/G400DH32M/ZIP100SCSI/Mitsumi2xCD-R/Samsung17GL/MX300/AKA Electric Classic

Announcement

G400Max and DVD audio question

G400Max and DVD audio question

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment