Sound card choices

[Zato]

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on my sound card adventure.

I was able to get it working by creating a hybrid of drivers. What a pain in the arse. I used a combination of CMedia and Auzentech drivers, simply switching out the dlls that blew up with the other. Fun fun...

The only problem I'm having is with the passthrough. When I'm playing a DVD, my receiver does not receive a dolby stream as expected, unless I turn on the DDL feature, which I assume the card is re-processing the sound which is totally unnecessary any most likely degrading the quality. I tried setting the sound card to "loopback" (the only option that wasn't DDL or stereo), but then no sound came through at all.

Any ideas on that one?

Also getting some occasional popping on the speakers, but not sure that's anything I can fix.

EDIT: I just read that I need to change the audio output to passthrough in the DVD player app... I'll try that tonight.

[wab]

Newbie at the bottom of the HTPC chain.

What sound card and decoder is recommended for best audio sync?

Here is where I'm at.
Snagged an Electroline EDA 2100 cable amp for $20 on Ebay, and ran it through a dual splitter(-3.5db x 2) > tuner card + modem. No issues with modem return. The difference in video quality was amazing.

The Video capture (TV Wonder elite - 550 pro chip) far exceeded my expectations.
No joke it’s DVD quality, using the basic ATI CyberLink PowerCinema decoder.

Test-
I tested the capture using Nero Vision Express to convert to VIDEO_TS (DVD standalone format) and burned it. Nero audio/video sync has always been spot on with everything I’ve thrown at it, so I’m assuming Nero is not the issue.
I played the DVD on a Panasonic high end player and the audio sync is pretty bad.

Is this problem purely software(decoder) related, or does the sound card play a role?
I currently have no card, just cheap onboard Realtek.

For Theatre only, is onboard hardware decode a must have?

Any thoughts on the low priced Audigy 4?

[elite]

Newbie at the bottom of the HTPC chain.

What sound card and decoder is recommended for best audio sync?

Here is where I'm at.
Snagged an Electroline EDA 2100 cable amp for $20 on Ebay, and ran it through a dual splitter(-3.5db x 2) > tuner card + modem. No issues with modem return. The difference in video quality was amazing.

The Video capture (TV Wonder elite - 550 pro chip) far exceeded my expectations.
No joke it’s DVD quality, using the basic ATI CyberLink PowerCinema decoder.

Test-
I tested the capture using Nero Vision Express to convert to VIDEO_TS (DVD standalone format) and burned it. Nero audio/video sync has always been spot on with everything I’ve thrown at it, so I’m assuming Nero is not the issue.
I played the DVD on a Panasonic high end player and the audio sync is pretty bad.

Is this problem purely software(decoder) related, or does the sound card play a role?
I currently have no card, just cheap onboard Realtek.

For Theatre only, is onboard hardware decode a must have?

Any thoughts on the low priced Audigy 4?

You would get more responses if you started a new thread

The sound card won't have any affect on the audio sync on a burnt dvd

Is the playback ok before you burn to dvd?

- If so the problem is when you generate the dvd image

- if not the problem is with the capture

[wab]

I just checked the capture, and it is slightly off, but it is more profound after the dvd conversion. I've never had a problem with Nero in the past, but it did make it worse.
Back to the capture, what is necessary in a sound card to improve the sync?

[Zato]

Hey there Wab.

The sound card is only used during playback. Your capture card handles the video and sound recording.

Though I've never experienced it from my recordings, I've downloaded some videos that had this issue and was able to work around it by playing around with a setting in the DVD conversion for audio offset. I think it was DVDSanta I used, but I'd think Nero would have something similar.

I have a similar setup with a cable amp. What is this "modem return" issue you speak of? I wonder if I'm having that issue, my picture quality isn't as good as I'd like.

[wab]

Thanks Zato,
I’m going to try different decoders when I have the time, I hope it’s not my card/encoder, cause I love the video quality.

Cable amp-
Some amps are not bi-directional, and the ones that are, have passive return, or active return.
Active return is very expensive and unnecessary.
Obviously your return is working, or you wouldn’t be able to post/send info back through the internet.
I’ll post the links below that explain all this stuff.
The return path, sending info back through the cable will get blocked if there are too many splits, or the amp is poor quality.

If your picture quality is a problem, it is either too much power through your line or not enough.
Your amp could be a dud.
The simple test I did for best quality was to try different splitters to my tv.

I did not want to damage anything, so I did not run a direct line from the amp to the tv.

I started with a dual -3.5db split(modem + tv) and the signal was too strong for the tv, but perfect with my modem – no slow down + return was working.
My tv however was freakin out, so I switched to a triple split (modem -3.5db, tv1 -7db, tv2 -7db). The picture was perfect, except for tv2 which isn’t working right anyway.
My final setup is two splitters. Triple split (tv1 -7db, cap#2, computer -3.5db).
The feed going to my computer has a dual split (modem -3.5db, tuner card -3.5db).
Everything works great.

I initially found the info from csy here

Info Overload: 1 2
Blue Label, Don't Buy see Q&A #8: Red Label
Modem connection - the right way.
Splitters I used: 2-way 3-way

[Zato]

Awesome Wab, thanks for the links... great stuff.