Anyone here use a Windows Media Center PC in their HT?

nick_danger

nick_danger

Audioholic
I'm building a new PC right now and I'm going to install XP WMCE on it and try to integrate it into my HT. I'm going to get a newer ATI graphics card for HD DVI output directly to my future HDTV, but my biggest concern is the audio card.

Naturally, there's always the Sound Blaster Live series of cards which are supposed to be the best quality for the best price, but computers always seem to give off unwanted noise. Has anyone here used high-quality "pro" audio cards that have optical output/input?

Additionally, this goes out to those that use WMCE, have you ripped DVDs to your hard drive for playback? What's the quality like compared to the actual DVD? I can imagine that the appeal of having a library of DVDs in addition to MP3s from one source is so nice that it can outweigh some of the quality issues.

Feedback please! If no one has done it, then I'll let you all know how it works out for me. ;)
 
Rob Babcock

Rob Babcock

Moderator
nick_danger said:
Additionally, this goes out to those that use WMCE, have you ripped DVDs to your hard drive for playback? What's the quality like compared to the actual DVD? I can imagine that the appeal of having a library of DVDs in addition to MP3s from one source is so nice that it can outweigh some of the quality issues.

Feedback please! If no one has done it, then I'll let you all know how it works out for me. ;)
I'm shocked at your suggestion! :eek: Don't you know that ripping your DVDs is a heinous violation of applicable laws, and probably an act of treason under the Patriot Act? ;)
 
Mudcat

Mudcat

Senior Audioholic
nick_danger said:
..... but my biggest concern is the audio card.

Naturally, there's always the Sound Blaster Live series of cards which are supposed to be the best quality for the best price, but computers always seem to give off unwanted noise. Has anyone here used high-quality "pro" audio cards that have optical output/input?
Turtle Beach Catalina. But I do not know if it has optical/digital IOs.
 
A

av_phile

Senior Audioholic
The Creative Audigy LS or PRO sound cards are excellent for the job. High S/N ratio. You may want to check them out in their website or some reviews. I think the PRO has DTS decoding abilities. Just not sure.
 
A

av_phile

Senior Audioholic
nick_danger said:
Additionally, this goes out to those that use WMCE, have you ripped DVDs to your hard drive for playback? What's the quality like compared to the actual DVD? I can imagine that the appeal of having a library of DVDs in addition to MP3s from one source is so nice that it can outweigh some of the quality issues.

Feedback please! If no one has done it, then I'll let you all know how it works out for me. ;)
There are any number of DVD-rippers out there downloadable as freeware or shareware from the net. They certainly can make mincemeats of all those silly macrovision and region codings that the labels have. The video and audio quality seems the same to me. Though I hardly ever have any interest comparing the two. But that's for single layer DVD5 ripped into the PC HD. I'm not so sure if you can rip above 4.3Gb. Most DVDs are DVD-9s or dual layered and may not be ripped properly by these rippers. There are, however, excellent rippers out there than can squeeze a DVD9 down to DVD5 so you get the entire film but at half or lower mpeg2 bitrates - that means compromised video quality. (But good enough for screens below 27", still head and shoulders above SVHS quality)

You may want to have at least 120Gb if you want to make a jukebox DVD player out of your PC. That's only good for around 25 DVD5s max. Maybe if you don't rip the special features, you could squeeze more.
 
D

docferdie

Audioholic
The m-audio transit is a nice little card that sends out bit-perfect PCM which is pretty nice to have if you want to have a CD library and not just an MP3 library on your PC. Unfortunately it is not as good for games and such. There are probably other USB sound cards that bypass the Windows Kmixer as well.
 

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