[mythtv-users] Digital sound; ALC650 versus nForce2

[Hamish Moffatt]

Hi all,

Sorry to ask yet another hardware question but I need some advice.

I'm building a MythTV box for digital TV and I want digital audio
output. The two main options seem to be boards with the nForce2 chipset
and boards with the Realtek ALC650 chipset.

I want stereo PCM output from regular TV programs but I also want AC3
output from TV programs that have it.

Is one of these chipsets preferable to the other? Do they both have good
drivers? Will I have to use the non-free nVIDIA driver to get the
nForce2 audio working?

The ALC650 option is cheaper. I don't want to buy a high-end board if I
have to (I don't need gigabit LAN, serial ATA, Firewire etc!) but I do
want digital output.

I'm actually looking for optical output. For the archives, the Gigabyte 
7N400 Pro2 nForce2 board has it, and their "audio connection kit"
accessory for their ALC650 boards provides it too. Some of the Intel
chipset boards also have it.


thanks,
Hamish
-- 
Hamish Moffatt VK3SB <hamish at debian.org> <hamish at cloud.net.au>