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  • My perfect SoundCard

    Must be able to give me A3D, EAX and 5.1 channel DVD playback through a digital SP/DIF. Which in turn will be compatible with a fairly standard dolby digital amplifier/recivier.

    I've looked at the Magic Sound Live! http://www.hardwarezone.com/reviews/...magic_live.htm

    I guess that's what I want, but it don't have any Midi...

    Also, can Matrox' DVDMax player get out 5.1 channel support through the sp/dif? (<--- the magical sentence that allows me to post this here)

    So, does it exist? will it work? can I get nice A3D effects in four of those 5.1 speakers? etc etc.

    I guess I can accept a SB live value with a Hoontec digital I/O add-on, if it can do that sp/dif thingie to my reciver.

  • #2
    This is a fantasy, right?

    My perfect soundcard would not support Soundblaster Emulation, in fact it would require only one IRQ, it would install properly the first time, not conflict with any of my other devices, not require driver upgrades to make less CPU dependant, it would power my headphones properly without the aid of speakers, and it would tell me a story before I went to sleep (with Kathleen Turner's voice).

    Oh, it should probably sound good as well. I could live without the bedtime stories, although I think they would be a nice touch and a reasonable replacement for all that midi software I'll never use.

    Paul
    paulcs@flashcom.net

    Comment


    • #3
      DVDMax uses Cinemaster engine...

      You should be able to turn on S/PDIF output by editing the registry...

      I have tried WinDVD 1.2.85, and it can use SB Live!'s SPDIF to output AC-3...
      P4-2.8C, IC7-G, G550

      Comment


      • #4
        And it worked? you got surround effects in your rear speakers? I might go for the live value then...

        Comment


        • #5
          the latest vortex 2 drivers 2040 support quad output in all modes. at least acording to the driver specs. as i have a doby digital sound system i havent tryed it althoue i do notice sound comeing out of the rear speakers on my pc when i play music cds now if a3d would get around to doinf the eax thing they have been promising it would be great.

          ------------------
          hey do you remember when it took your computer 10min to boot up into windows and we thought that was fast? or how about when you upgraded from a 486 dx33 to a dx2 66 and thought wow only 5 min to boot? those were the days now if it takes more than 1 min 30 sec we wonder what is wrong with our system.
          msi 6167 mobo k7 500 wk41 now at 650. 256 meg ram ,addtronics case w 250watt sp power supply, matrox g400, maxtor diammax 2500+ 10gig hd,10x aopen slot dvd, 3com 10/100 nic, sb live xgamer sound card, efecent networks dsl modem, dlink 701i dsl router/firewall, lots of controlers (joystick throttle rudder raceing wheel), 19in ctx monitor, logitech mouseman wheel usb, and klipsch promedia v2-400 speakers. win98 oem and win2k pro dual boot.

          noel
          it's times like this that make me think of my fathers last words....

          Don't son that gun is loaded.

          Comment


          • #6
            My perfect soundcard wouldn't use any IRQs....

            ------------------
            Cheers,
            Steve

            PS: Some or all of the above message may be wrong, or, just as likely, correct. Depends on what mood I'm in. And what you know. ;¬)


            Comment


            • #7
              Skip the Live!Value if you're looking to use SPDIF out. The SPDIF on this version is limited compared to the full Live!, or the new variations on it. I'd look for the Live!MP3+, which (according to the box I saw in CompUSA) supports SPDIF out. It was priced at $99 (the same as the Live!Value next to it on the shelf, LOL).

              As a side note- all Live! cards support MIDI, through the drivers. In fact, they're very good at it.

              ------------------
              Ace


              [This message has been edited by Ace (edited 10-01-1999).]
              "..so much for subtlety.."

              System specs:
              Gainward Ti4600
              AMD Athlon XP2100+ (o.c. to 1845MHz)

              Comment


              • #8
                Hey merchant,
                Talk about being abused
                and comeing back for more
                I use to boot windows from 2 360K floppies
                had a third disk for the bundled apps
                That was on a machine with NO hardrive
                640K and a 1MB (OHHH...AHHH) addon CARD
                and proccessor speed was not something anyone talked about (well 4.77MHZ)
                Of course Windows was 1.0x

                Now you were saying something about boot up times?

                Ah, the good old days
                now what was so good about them?

                Mark F.


                ------------------
                OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a CD

                Mark F. (A+, Network+, & CCNA)
                --------------------------------------------------
                OH NO, my retractable cup holder swallowed a DVD...
                and burped out a movie

                Comment


                • #9
                  I bought the daughter card of SB Live! value from http://www.hoontech.com

                  In fact, most functions of this daughter card are for Digital Recording ... And you only can use Coxial RCA to output SPDIF ...


                  I have a Amplifier with AC-3 decorder built-in, and it will show the audio format of the signal coming from SPDIF... AC-3 format doesn't mean it is 5.1 Ch. I have some movie clips, and they use 2 Ch audio encoding...

                  Unfornately, SB Live! only does AC-3 transparent output, it can't mix its sound signal with AC-3 format. Therefore, to get 4 speaker mode, I still have to use Analog output. (My Amplifier doesn't support separate SPDIF-in of Front and Rear CH)

                  Anyway, its SPDIF with AC-3 output works!



                  [This message has been edited by WayneHu (edited 10-02-1999).]
                  P4-2.8C, IC7-G, G550

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Creative is due to come out with yet ANOTHER daughter card (I've run out of bracket slots long ago...). Both hardware AC-3 Decode from DVD, and DirectX DirectSound 5.1 channel support via S/PDIF (Optical or Coaxial). Now when this thing is supposed to be released is anybody's guess.
                    Hey, Donny! We got us a German who wants to die for his country... Oblige him. - Lt. Aldo Raine

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      There are 3rd party addon cards that can be used with creative live cards, I do not have the afddresses right now, but I think they are easy to find, you are not limited to only what creative and Diamond have to offer, as these other companies have products to add on your system and sound cards for very reasonable prices too.

                      ------------------
                      Home:
                      Server:
                      I run a Matrox Mystique G200 AGP with an:
                      Abit BE6
                      Win98
                      Adaptec CD Creator 4
                      Pentium III 450
                      128 MB Ram
                      SB Live
                      Maxtor 13 GIG HD
                      2 3com Nic cards
                      Wingate 3.05
                      1 Symbios SCSI for my HP Photo Scanner
                      Boca 56K Int. Modem
                      Mitsumi 4801-TE CD-R
                      MS Precision Pro Joystick
                      Surfboard SB1200 cable modem
                      Shamrock 17" Monitor
                      HP OfficeJet Pro 1175Cse 4/1 printer/Scanner/Fax/copier
                      -------------------
                      Client1:
                      AbitBX6 MB
                      Win98
                      Celeron 300a
                      Maxtor 6.4 GIG HD
                      128 MB Ram
                      Netsurf NIC
                      SB Live sound card
                      Teac CDRom
                      Hercules Thriller AGP Video Card
                      Boca 56K Int. Modem
                      MS Precision Pro Joystick
                      Shamrock 15" monitor
                      ----------------
                      ------------------
                      stevenscott
                      (ramstein@virtualairforce.com)
                      http://www.virtualairforce.com/
                      -----------------------------
                      My Photo Website (they really clipped the free goodies, badly):

                      http://community.webshots.com/user/skialps/
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                      Home:
                      Network
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                      Computer #1
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                      HP Photo Scanner
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                      Video Camcorder (digital):
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                      ----------------
                      Computer(s)
                      #1
                      8-17-03

                      my computer profile:

                      =========

                      Ramstein
                      F4, IL-2FB, EAW, CFS2
                      http://www.virtualairforce.com/
                      -------------------
                      Ramstein's Computer:
                      Asus P4P800 Deluxe 800 FSB
                      P4 2.4c 800 FSB CPU
                      256 PC3200 Kingston DDR Ram
                      PowMax case with 400 Watt Power Suply
                      ATI Radeon 9000 64MB
                      Saitek X36 USB Flight Control Stick
                      Windows XP Pro
                      Shamrock 17" Monitor (old but still working perfect).
                      Mitsumi 4801TE 4x8CDRom Drive Burner
                      Panasonic 32x CDRom Drive
                      2Cool PC Cooler (Fan)

                      =====

                      My New computer
                      Ramstein
                      F4, IL-2FB, EAW, CFS2
                      http://www.virtualairforce.com/
                      -------------------
                      Ramstein's Computer:
                      Asus P4P800 Deluxe 800 FSB
                      P4 2.4c 800 FSB CPU
                      256 PC3200 Kingston DDR Ram
                      PowMax case with 400 Watt Power Suply
                      Matrox Marvel G400 Video Card (old but good).
                      Saitek X36 USB Flight Control Stick
                      Windows XP Pro
                      Shamrock 17" Monitor (old but still working perfect).
                      Mitsumi 4801TE 4x8CDRom Drive Burner
                      Panasonic 32x CDRom Drive
                      2Cool PC Cooler (Fan)

                      ==============

                      Newegg.com

                      Asus P4P800 Deluxe MB
                      P4 2.4c 800 FSB CPU
                      Windows XP pro Full
                      = $455 shipped

                      Kingston PC3200 Daul DDR Ram 128 MB x (2) = $70 shipped

                      Maxtor 120 GB Hard Drive $120 - $60 in rebates = $60

                      PowMax case with P4 400 Watt Power Supply = $30 out the door.


                      Total = $615
                      -----------
                      the rest I already had..


                      ======
                      ====

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        TYVMFCTM.

                        This is what I will do:

                        buy a live! value and a <A TARGET="top" HREF="http://www.hoontech.com/product/digitalIObrakets/sbliveio.htm">hoontec digital i/o card</A> and connect the coaxial sp/dif to the digital input on the recivier. Then, for games and MP3, I use the analog inputs at the recivier for left right front and left right surround.

                        Then I get 4 channel sound in games, and 5.1 channel support for DVD-movies, right?

                        too bad about the A3D, but I read some reviews saying it wasn't that good after all...

                        [This message has been edited by tish beta2 (edited 10-03-1999).]

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          If you're getting a sound card and speakers at the same time, you may want to check out the SB Live! (full version) and the DeskTop Theater DTT2500.

                          I do full digital out to the DTT2500 with my Live! via the proprietary Digital DIN cable, AND run SP/DIF out from my Dxr3 in the second computer. Both come into the DTT2500 at the same time, and are output to the speakers at the same time - it automagically mixes the two feeds together.

                          I've not yet found a soft DVD player that does AC-3 properly. I'm still looking. I'm not a fan of the Matrox player - no bookmarks, and what seems to be limited playback functionality on the control panel.




                          ------------------
                          Primary System: PIII-540 (450@4.5x120), Soyo 6BA+ III, 256MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, G400 MAX in multi-monitor mode. V2 SLI rig. Two Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 900u monitors, 3Com 3C905, SoundBlaster Live!, DeskTop Theater DTT2500 DIGITAL Speaker System (Sweeeeeet!), 2nd Parallel Port, WD AC41800 18GB HD, WD AC310100 10GB HD, Toshiba SD-M1212 6x DVD-ROM, HP 8100i CD-RW, Epson Stylus Pro, Sharp JX-9400 LJ-II compatible, OptiUPS PowerES 650, MS SideWinder Precision Pro USB joystick, Logitech 3-button mouse, Mitsumi keyboard, Win98 SE, Belkin OmniCube 4-port KVM

                          Secondary System: PII-266, Asus P2B BIOS 1008, 128MB PC100 ECC SDRAM, Millennium II, 3Com 3C590, ADSL Modem 640kbit down/90kbit up, 3Com 3C509, Mylex BT-930 SCSI card, Seagate 2GB Hawk, NEC 6x CD-ROM, Linux distro S.u.S.E. 6.1 (IP Masquerade works!)

                          Tertiary System: DFI G568IPC Intel 430HX chipset, P200MMX, 96MB of non-parity RAM, Millennium II, Intel Pro/100+ client NIC, SoundBlaster 16 MCD, Fujitsu 3.5GB HD, WD 1.2GB HD, Creative Dxr3 DVD decoder card, Hitachi GD-2500 6x DVD-ROM, Win98 SE

                          All specs subject to change.

                          The pessimist says: "The glass is half empty."
                          The optimist says: "The glass is half full."
                          The engineer says: "I put half of my water in a redundant glass."

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                          • #14
                            Hey, my perfect sound card wouldn't even be hooked up to the computer, it would just watch the monitor and spit out ooh and ahh sounds.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              WinDVD 1.2.85 does work with SB Live! S/PDIF...

                              At least my amplifer shows me ...
                              (Sony DE-635)

                              P4-2.8C, IC7-G, G550

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