My ultimate HD theatre

[Zelda_fan]

Ok, I did a little homework, and apparently the top-end version of PowerDVD will decode TureHD and DTS-MA. However, the only way to output it uncompressed is through the 7.1 analog outputs on your soundcard which is going to hurt the sound quality. 3.5mm audio jacks < uncompressed PCM though HDMI on a receiver.

[mullet]

Could you use PowerDVD and use the fiber of coax from a 780G chipset to z5500 5.1 and get TureHD and DTS-MA. I am lost on the audio part of a HTPC box im thinking of building. What about a good sound card with a fiber output?

[Zelda_fan]

Originally Posted by mullet

Could you use PowerDVD and use the fiber of coax from a 780G chipset to z5500 5.1 and get TureHD and DTS-MA. I am lost on the audio part of a HTPC box im thinking of building. What about a good sound card with a fiber output?

you cannot send a TrueHD or DTS-MA signal over fiber optic (optical). Best thing to do is to send it out over the 3.5mm analog outputs, but it isn't going to sound as good as a standalone/receiver setup.

[leaf_on_breeze]

okay should have come here first.

How about this. I have got £3500 ($7000) (im off to University in 2 months, so cant spend the world) but can spend more if it will make a huge difference.

Im looking for "the ultimate HD theatre" from which to watch HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies.

cheers

p.s before anyone asks, my house lives near the university so will be there for a bit of time.


p.s2 id hope to get the screen into the above budget. Have to keep some mony for beers

p.s3 ill post a picture of the room later.

[mullet]

Check this out wow.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/674/3/

Board is on display at CeBit.

Model MSI-7411

Features
RS780 family chipset
Component Video Out
Digital SPDIF In/Out
VGA Out
HDMI Out
USB/1394/LAN
3 PCIe x1
1 DAE3 slot tucked behind slot 3 PCIe x1 for Audio Add In card
1 PCIe x16 (configured as x8 only due to HDMI sharing PCIe lanes)
Line In (L/R)
Line Out (L/R) (2 channel Preamp)
Subwoofer Line Out
512MB GDDR2 Sideport Memory
D2 Audio DAE-3 DSP for Audio Processing
4 SATA
1 PATA


Add in card options from MSI
5-Channel x 100W (AAIC100-5) Card
• 100W Peak, Channel Drive, 8Ω
• THD+N: <0.1%, 1kHz, 1W
• SNR: >105 dB
• Frequency Response: ±0.5 dB (20Hz to 20kHz)
• 93% Efficient Power Amplifier

3 Channel to 7 Channel Pre-Amplifier (AAIC7) Card
• High Quality Home Theater Performance
• Line-Level Outputs, 2.0Vrms
• THD+N: <0.01%, 1kHz, -6dBFS
• SNR: >110dB

[Zelda_fan]

I recommend investing half of your budget in a solid set of quality speakers. A good set of speakers will last you 25 years whereas your player/projector/receiver will get outdated within a few years and you may want to replace it with something else.

I've heard good things about the rocket line of speakers

http://av123.com/index.php?page=shop...art&Itemid=125

I've heard SRS makes good subwolfers. Go to AVS forums and give them your budget, they'd know more about what you'd need better than I would.

You are going to get a better movie experience if you buy a projecter/reciever/standalone player (at this point I'd just buy a blu-ray player)/and speakers as opposed to a computer HTPC setup. The tradeoff is that you won't be able to do computer stuff on your HT setup (unless you want to buy another computer in addition to all that stuff).

[leaf_on_breeze]

thank you very much for your information people. So the general consensus is that I should use my pc that I have built for just gaming and the drive for watching hd-dvd/blu-ray etc on my pc etc and just use my 24" screens and get a standalone hd-dvd/blu-ray drive and get some good speakers?

[Zelda_fan]

It gets more complex than that I'm afraid.

You'll need what's called a "receiver" which is like a hub for all your audio and video I/O.

Now, here's the thing. All in all, you'll get decent picture and sound quality from a HTPC. It's a great way to save money on cost because you're HTPC is acting as the receiver, movie player, etc so you can run everything into it. HTPC is going to be the best bang for your buck.

But if you want the "Ultimate HD theatre" system, you'll need to buy some high quality speakers, a receiver capable of powering them, a projector, and a standalone player.

It all depends on what you're willing to spend and what you want the system to do.

[leaf_on_breeze]

okay, if someone gave you $7000 euros to buy a home theatre system: what would you get?

Im not the most discerning fellow, im not going to quibble ove a pixel or two looking amiss. Hell my 24" looks good on HD but is just to small

Cheers

[leaf_on_breeze]

okay it suddenly dawned on me. What will the difference be, between my proposed stuff and the below situation.

X-fi Platinum wih breakout box
Z-5500 THX connected optically.

OR

x-fi Platinum with Creative G500 THX.


I reckon the Creative would come last. They are on special offer though and I can pick them up new for around £100. The Z-5500 cost £194.

[XDanger]

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/hifibitz.asp?id=1839