HD audio question Onkyo 605 and HTPC

[maxmcleod]

Okay so my onkyo 605 is just about setup, I have my HTPC setup the following way.

Video
DVI-HDMI -> HDMI on the 605
HDMI out on 605 -> HDMI on TV

Sound
Asus DX 7.1 analog outs -> analog in on 605

What do I need to do to the HTPC and the 605 to get the HD audio?
I'm assuming that the Onkyo will not display TrueHD or anything like that because of the analog inputs, but is there anything on the PC side that needs to be done? (i haven't gotten the soundcard yet, should arrive tomorrow, just trying to get things ready to roll when its inserted)

[un4gvn94538]

i guess they dont have cards yet. i havent heard of the analog route from a pc yet

[maxmcleod]

I'm referring to using the independent channels from a soundcard
supposed to not be different, and putting those straight into the reciever, so there is no decoding of the sound from the recievers part, just the PC

[prerich]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

i guess they dont have cards yet. i havent heard of the analog route from a pc yet

I've been doing it since I went blu Software just downsamples TrueHD and DTS-HD-Master to 48khz/16bit instead of 48khz/24bit.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

Okay so my onkyo 605 is just about setup, I have my HTPC setup the following way.

Video
DVI-HDMI -> HDMI on the 605
HDMI out on 605 -> HDMI on TV

Sound
Asus DX 7.1 analog outs -> analog in on 605

What do I need to do to the HTPC and the 605 to get the HD audio?
I'm assuming that the Onkyo will not display TrueHD or anything like that because of the analog inputs, but is there anything on the PC side that needs to be done? (i haven't gotten the soundcard yet, should arrive tomorrow, just trying to get things ready to roll when its inserted)

Go to your Sound settings in Windows and in your player and make sure you click 7.1 or 8 speaker. Make it the default setting and you should be good to go. Give me a PM if you have problems.

[maxmcleod]

Originally Posted by prerich

Go to your Sound settings in Windows and in your player and make sure you click 7.1 or 8 speaker. Make it the default setting and you should be good to go. Give me a PM if you have problems.

awesome that's what i needed to know

the sound card i have is supposed to support
24-bit/192kHz as its maximum
should i see that as an option? in the sound settings somewhere?

[maxmcleod]

i have the Asus Xonar DX
Audio chip Asus AV100
Digital-to-analog converter Cirrus Logic CS4398 (front)
Cirrus Logic CS4362A (center, rear, side)
Analog-to-digital converter Cirrus Logic CS5361
Maximum recording quality 24-bit/192kHz
Maximum playback quality 24-bit/192kHz
Signal-to-noise rating 116dB (front)
112dB (center, rear, side)
Output channels 7.1
Multichannel digital output Dolby Digital Live
Interface PCI Express x1
Street price $89.99

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

awesome that's what i needed to know

the sound card i have is supposed to support
24-bit/192kHz as its maximum
should i see that as an option? in the sound settings somewhere?

Which OS are you running?

[maxmcleod]

vista

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

vista

Yes, you should see an option under one of the audio settings tabs (I'm not at my Vista machine right now so I can't exactly tell you the name ) but its there. I have mine set for 48/24 bit (I don't have a xonar yet I just have an Audigy 2zs) but it works great - still get downsampled to 48/16bit with TrueHD and the like. It doesn't downsample native LPCM tracks on BD's I'm getting full resolution with those.

[maxmcleod]

sweet
well i have 3 of 7 speakers installed
already sounds amazing
gotta run wires in the attic for the other 4
ill post back when its all ready

[maxmcleod]

well all speakers are hooked up, calibrated, and ready to go...
I did notice that things seemed to be coming out louder from the left side than the right, I'm thinking is has to do with the crappy toslink audio right now...
I'm hoping it clears up when I get the soundcard installed and that hooked up.
I got the cables all ready, just waiting to put the card in, stuck at work right now, so in 5 more hours I'll be ready to try it out.

[maxmcleod]

its all setup... only problem is, I'm not gettin 7.1 in powerdvd ultra 7... only 5.1...
is that a program limitation?
tried rambo with 7.1 master audio, and it shows as 5.1 hd ma

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

its all setup... only problem is, I'm not gettin 7.1 in powerdvd ultra 7... only 5.1...
is that a program limitation?
tried rambo with 7.1 master audio, and it shows as 5.1 hd ma

Check your speaker set up in PowerDVD Ultra. Make sure its set up for 7.1 (I no longer have PowerDVD installed - I may install it again if they are allowing DTS HD Master) other than that - how does it sound? P.S. is this with the Xonar sound card?

[maxmcleod]

yes its with the xonar DX the one with just analog outs

works like a charm, only problem right now is the powerdvd 7 not giving me 7.1

I'm starting to think its only with pdvd8 that I'll get 7.1
i just have to buy another damn program

yes i checked, and its set to 8 speakers but im only getting 5.1 according to the info in pdvd, and the rear surrounds aren't kicking in...

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

yes its with the xonar DX the one with just analog outs

works like a charm, only problem right now is the powerdvd 7 not giving me 7.1

I'm starting to think its only with pdvd8 that I'll get 7.1
i just have to buy another damn program

yes i checked, and its set to 8 speakers but im only getting 5.1 according to the info in pdvd, and the rear surrounds aren't kicking in...

Yeah, I think for 7.1 you need PDVD8, how's the SQ to you? I'm waiting for the HDAV 1.3 it has 4 more db SNR.

[maxmcleod]

the sound is amazing, its a huge leap from my old setup, and the surround is much more accurate than the toslink optical setup...

[maxmcleod]

I wanted to add to this, that I found a feature in the asus xonar control panel that is awesome!

Basically my setup is for 7.1, but because some movies are 5.1 and my speaker placement isn't always ideal. Not having sound in the back surround channels sucks, and you don't get teh full effect since my surrounds had to be placed a little further up...

Now some movies will matrix the sound to all 7.1 channels from a 5.1 source... but sometimes it doesn't seem to work... i think its the pdvd software that isn't always doing so.

In the xonar software, it lets you switch the surrounds with the back surrounds with a simple click, which pulled the surrounds channels to the back so I can get a better feel for the movie, without having to install any kind of speaker switch to change the positions.

Very nice feature!!

[prerich]

Originally Posted by maxmcleod

I wanted to add to this, that I found a feature in the asus xonar control panel that is awesome!

Basically my setup is for 7.1, but because some movies are 5.1 and my speaker placement isn't always ideal. Not having sound in the back surround channels sucks, and you don't get teh full effect since my surrounds had to be placed a little further up...

Now some movies will matrix the sound to all 7.1 channels from a 5.1 source... but sometimes it doesn't seem to work... i think its the pdvd software that isn't always doing so.

In the xonar software, it lets you switch the surrounds with the back surrounds with a simple click, which pulled the surrounds channels to the back so I can get a better feel for the movie, without having to install any kind of speaker switch to change the positions.

Very nice feature!!

I didn't even know about that! Asus lookes like they have there act together software wise as well as hardware! Creative better do something or they will be plain out fo buisness! Still waiting for the HDAV 1.3 - come on Asus - let it go!

[maxmcleod]

yeah its really nice, i've done it with a few movies now and its great, i was so close to buying a wall plate switch that i could switch the speakers manual for movies, but the click of a button is much more appealing