The Guide to HD Audio with a HTPC - How to Get TrueHD and DTS HD Master

[iieeann]

I am thinking to buy a Yamaha v765 AVR only for TrueHD decoding. However I am not sure whether the setup will work or not. I have not decided which speaker system to buy yet and will continue with normal PC 5.1 speakers.

1) If I connect my X-Fi soundcard to AVR through HDMI, and then from AVR preamp output to 5.1 speaker, am I getting TrueHD sound when watching BD movie? PowerDVD HDMI out.

2) If at the same time I connect from X-Fi soundcard analog 5.1 output to AVR multichannel in, will EAX 5.0 gaming sound works still from the AVR preamp output to 5.1 speaker?

3) I am using normal PC monitor. Should I :-
a) connect HDMI from nvidia display card to X-FI soundcard and output to AVR then only to monitor (as per soundcard instruction)
Or
b) is it better to bypass the soundcard & AVR and connect from display card straight to monitor through DVI cable? How is nvidia purevideo quality compared to AVR video quality?

4) I use 5.1 headphone too (barracuda HP1), how is the music quality if i connect to X-Fi soundcard (5.1 analog out) compared to optical out to the AVR and then preamp output to the headphone?

Sorry if my question is confusing, because I am new to audio world and confused on all these signal/decoding stuffs.

 

[s162216]

That will not really work as PC speakers have amplifiers inside them, they are not designed to be used with an AVR. The AVR is not just a preamp, it amplifies all the channels, so it does not need the amplifier for each speaker. With PC speakers usually low quality, it is pretty pointless using truehd anyway, get a decent 5.1 system with separates or a good speaker package.

Read the original guide (the first few posts in this thread) that I wrote and this will explain to you why you will not be able to get truehd from that soundcard anyway due to HDCP and PAP.

Unless you have an up to date graphics card and monitor that is HDCP compatiable, you won't get HD video either, even if you use HDMI, it will be reduced to DVD quality. The AVR does not affect the picture quality generally, it handles the multi channel sound. It would be better to put it straight to the monitor by HDMI.

With the headphones, it will depend on the quality of the digital decoding DACs as to whether the soundcard or AVR is better, but it is likely the AVR.

Hope this helps