[mythtv-users] Pundit SIS video goodness and audio question

[Scott]

On Aug 7, 2004, at 8:27 PM, Jon Whitear wrote:

>>> I know the onboard audio is limited to 48kHz and I'm wondering if
>>> going with a SB Audigy 2 ZS card would be better as it provides
>>> 92kHz/24bit surround hardware. The other issue is that if I do go
> with
>>> the Audigy how do I get a working S/PDIF out the rear of the pundit?
>>> Obviously I cannot use the SB supplied front panel I/O connections
> as
>>> I would have to remove the DVD drive in the Pundit :)
>
> If you're passing your audio out of the SP/DIF, surely it doesn't 
> matter
> what sampling rate your sound card has - you're doing no processing on
> the sound, just passing out of the SP/DIF for your A/V receiver to
> decode.

Having done more research, a couple of quick things. Above where I 
claimed 92kHz/24 I should have stated 96kHz/24.

In researching DVD-Video audio it seems as if while it is possible to 
do up to 192kHz/24 in 2 channel DTS/DD most (as in nearly all US stuff) 
seems to use 48kHz sampling. I did come across a "DTS 92/24" standard 
in my A/V receiver manual and after some quick online research learned 
that this is a competing audio format to DVD-Audio/SACD only for 
DVD-Video.

I picked up the Queen's  Greatest Video Hits 1 which contains DTS 96/24 
tracks on the first DVD and played it both in my DVD player and via 
MythDVD. The good news is that Jon was on the mark and xine / alsa 
passed the 96kHz/24 digital stream from the intel8x0 sound chip right 
to my A/V receiver for processing. Awesome, fantastic, incredible 
sound.

So, in a nutshell if you're going to use an A/V receiver for DTS/DD 
decoding the onboard optical out on the Pundit has no problem passing 
up to 96kHz/24bit audio streams. If however you want to hook your 5.1 
(6.1 / 7.1) speakers directly to your Pundit I would go with a higher 
end audio card that can process 96kHz24 audio data rather than the 
onboard intel8x0.

--
Scott