From Computer to Home Theater!

[Joeteck]

It would seem they have changed this...finally. But its only 5.1..

 

[alexwakelin]

No...it does not do Dolby digital. only 2.0 via optical. You'll need to use the 7.1 analog outs on the card to the 7.1 ins on your receiver to get 7.1. One of the down falls of the X-fi... One of the reasons why I got the HT claro +.

If that is the case then I don't think the receivers I linked will not work, you will need a receiver with analog inputs. The Yamaha RX-V665 has this feature.

http://store.audioholics.com/product/2363/69/yamaha-rx-v665-surround-receiver

 

[Raptor22]

If that is the case then I don't think the receivers I linked will not work, you will need a receiver with analog inputs. The Yamaha RX-V665 has this feature.

http://store.audioholics.com/product/2363/69/yamaha-rx-v665-surround-receiver

My eyes were pretty big when I saw the price of that receiver 0_0

Kinda makes me want a new sound card. I see that home theater sound cards are hard to find and tend to be expensive right? How does the HT Claro perform?

 

[Joeteck]

My eyes were pretty big when I saw the price of that receiver 0_0

Kinda makes me want a new sound card. I see that home theater sound cards are hard to find and tend to be expensive right? How does the HT Claro perform?

I love it. DOes Dolby digital Live, DTS, Dolby Digital, everything you need. for a HTPC.... the DDL is for playing games and is what I needed it for.

 

[Raptor22]

I love it. DOes Dolby digital Live, DTS, Dolby Digital, everything you need. for a HTPC.... the DDL is for playing games and is what I needed it for.

I read Newegg reviews on that... seems like a lot of people agree with your opinion!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271002

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271003

But I'm assuming you still need a receiver to hook up home theater speakers heh... well obviously.

Now I have to sell my X-Fi to get this jewel grrrrrrr

 

[krzywica]

Scratch all that....just upgrade your video card and use the onboard audio controller from one of the ATI 4 Series Cards. Most of those cards have a built in audio card that outputs over HDMI right from the video card. That way you get both an upgrade in the audio, and video department. The onboard on my HD4870 1GB actually does all the surround decoding for my games as well and is output to my receiver in PCM. It does up to 7.1. Sorry but still no HD audio format support....as there is nothing currently on the market that will do DTSHD or Dolby True HD.

 

[Joeteck]

Scratch all that....just upgrade your video card and use the onboard audio controller from one of the ATI 4 Series Cards. Most of those cards have a built in audio card that outputs over HDMI right from the video card. That way you get both an upgrade in the audio, and video department. The onboard on my HD4870 1GB actually does all the surround decoding for my games as well and is output to my receiver in PCM. It does up to 7.1. Sorry but still no HD audio format support....as there is nothing currently on the market that will do DTSHD or Dolby True HD.

Um...are you sure about that??

 

[krzywica]

Um...are you sure about that??

Yup I am sure.

If you look closer you will find that Asus does not have drivers for this yet and you have to use their proprietary player to get the HD formats. They are liars....

 

[Raptor22]

I have a high end video card... eVGA GTX 295... It has HDMI.

Hmmm... suppose that could work too eh?

 

[krzywica]

I have a high end video card... eVGA GTX 295... It has HDMI.

Hmmm... suppose that could work too eh?

Yes I believe the new Nvidia cards have that as well....not sure how well they perform or how easy the functionality is to get working but.....ok dude....list your system specs and we can help you out a lot better.

Actually......looks like only the ATI cards do that......

 

[Raptor22]

Cool, don't mind selling my X-Fi for that HT Claro anyways. Gaming wise my GTX 295 beats all ATI anyways

My specs are as follows:
Asus Rampage Formula X48 Mobo
Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz never OCed
4GB PC6400 RAM
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-e
Win XP Pro 32bit and Win Vista Home Premium 64-bit dual boot

Anything I'm missing out?

 

[krzywica]

Cool, don't mind selling my X-Fi for that HT Claro anyways. Gaming wise my GTX 295 beats all ATI anyways

Oh boy here we go....this is the first ATI card I have bought in about 6-7 years and it performs amazingly well for the money and has the added benefit of onboard audio. It plays everything I play at 60FPS or greater average frame rate @1920x1080 all settings max. I used to be into the whole FRAPS scene and seeing how high I could get my FPS with this setting and that rez and that game....but in the end as long as it plays silky smooth and stays silent I am more than happy.

My specs are as follows:
Asus Rampage Formula X48 Mobo
Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz never OCed
4GB PC6400 RAM
X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-e
Win XP Pro 32bit and Win Vista Home Premium 64-bit dual boot

Anything I'm missing out?

If I were you, I would bridge the SPDIF to your video card from your audio controller, whether that be your motherboards audio or an add on card. Most of the add on audio cards are 90% hype especially compared to how good the onboard audio has gotten. Especially as you will be sending an unencoded digital signal to your receiver anyway so your PC will not be doing any audio processing and will be just spitting out the audio for your receiver to decode.

There should be a jumper on your GTX right next to the two PCI-E power connectors on the card. Your card should have also came with the required cable for SPDIF connectivity. I would try and connect either your motherboard jumper to it or your X-FI card and see which works better for you. Let me know if you need some help with this and good luck.

 

[Raptor22]

I looked at the HT Claro cards and they got me pretty hooked. Most likely I'm gonna sell the X-Fi and get one of those. I have some dislikes about X-Fi, and that is because of software and its strong point in mostly gaming. I use USB headsets for games, and that puts the sound card outta use.

Already ordered the Klipsch S-1 surrounds and they should be coming in this week. So for the next few weeks I'll be selling and buying until it is time to save up for the final big buy

And of course, I'll be needing help setting it up once it's complete! Where would I be without this forum?

 

[alexwakelin]

Nice, are you getting the SVS sub as well? Post some pictures for us when you get it all set up.

 

[Raptor22]

Nice, are you getting the SVS sub as well? Post some pictures for us when you get it all set up.

SVS PB12... yeah. Good performance increase over the PB10 eh? I'll post pics after getting them to motivate you guys to help me set it up LOL.

May also post a vid after it's all hooked up. Sure excited about this!

 

[Joeteck]

I looked at the HT Claro cards and they got me pretty hooked. Most likely I'm gonna sell the X-Fi and get one of those. I have some dislikes about X-Fi, and that is because of software and its strong point in mostly gaming. I use USB headsets for games, and that puts the sound card outta use.

Already ordered the Klipsch S-1 surrounds and they should be coming in this week. So for the next few weeks I'll be selling and buying until it is time to save up for the final big buy

And of course, I'll be needing help setting it up once it's complete! Where would I be without this forum?

I'm happy I could help. Setting up the HT Claro is cake!. You'll love the audio demo it has...

 

[Raptor22]

Ok... so I have officially planned out my home theater with the following components!

Klipsch Synergy F-1 Front speakers
Klipsch Synergy C-1 Center channel
Klipsch Synergy S-1 Surrounds
SVS PB12-NSD Woofer
YAMAHA RX-V365 5.1 Receiver
HT OMEGA CLARO Plus+ 7.1 Sound card

http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/f-1.aspx
http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/c-1.aspx
http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/s-1.aspx
http://svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb12nsd.cfm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115193
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829271003

Think this is a good choice? Everything should be smooth compatibility and sound wise eh? Can't wait!!

 

[alexwakelin]

Everything looks good, but you are dropping a pretty good chunk of change. Why not get a receiver that decodes hd formats? Blu-ray drives for computers are getting cheap, most video cards with hdmi output will pass the audio as well.

 

[Raptor22]

Everything looks good, but you are dropping a pretty good chunk of change. Why not get a receiver that decodes hd formats? Blu-ray drives for computers are getting cheap, most video cards with hdmi output will pass the audio as well.

I believe the GTX 295 will not pass along audio on the HDMI. Only ATI Radeon cards will.

Purpose of this system is not for mostly movies. I want to buy this whole setup so I get good overall sound. I spend 99% of the time in front of the PC with the music on... some gaming with speakers blasting, and very little movies. So no need for Blu-ray yet I wouldn't be buying the receiver if the speakers somehow were self powered or are able to connect directly to the sound card.

 

[alexwakelin]

I believe the GTX 295 will not pass along audio on the HDMI. Only ATI Radeon cards will.

Purpose of this system is not for mostly movies. I want to buy this whole setup so I get good overall sound. I spend 99% of the time in front of the PC with the music on... some gaming with speakers blasting, and very little movies. So no need for Blu-ray yet I wouldn't be buying the receiver if the speakers somehow were self powered or are able to connect directly to the sound card.

I see, I wasn't aware only the Radeon cards had that feature. It would cost you about an extra $100 if you wanted to get a receiver that decodes hd audio over HDMI. There's no reason to pay for a feature you know you won't use, but if you think you might add a blu-ray player in the future it would be a nice feature to have. Your system will be amazing for gaming and movies