Setting up a home theater with computer and headphones.

[DrGamut]

Hi, I'm working on a home theater using my computer as the source and headphones instead of speakers. I'm particularly interested in "virtual surround sound" for stereo headphones. I'm currently using a Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer which has the "CMSS-3D" technology. I like it but I don't have anything to compare it to. I was thinking of upgrading and a few sound cards seemed noteworthy.

- Asus Xonar D2, Sondigo Inferno (Dolby Headphone)
- Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude (CMSS-3D)
- M-Audio Revolution (SRS TruSurround XT)

Any wisdom on how these technologies fair in a home theater setup using headphones? My current sound card does support bit matched playback through S/PDIF, so I could buy standalone processing hardware instead but I wouldn't know where to start.

Thanks!

[Oublie]

Originally Posted by DrGamut

Hi, I'm working on a home theater using my computer as the source and headphones instead of speakers. I'm particularly interested in "virtual surround sound" for stereo headphones. I'm currently using a Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer which has the "CMSS-3D" technology. I like it but I don't have anything to compare it to. I was thinking of upgrading and a few sound cards seemed noteworthy.

- Asus Xonar D2, Sondigo Inferno (Dolby Headphone)
- Creative X-Fi Elite Pro, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude (CMSS-3D)
- M-Audio Revolution (SRS TruSurround XT)

Any wisdom on how these technologies fair in a home theater setup using headphones? My current sound card does support bit matched playback through S/PDIF, so I could buy standalone processing hardware instead but I wouldn't know where to start.

Thanks!

Hi,

If you look at my sig you will see my setup. Cyberlink power dvd comes with dolby headphone and its own technology. I also use srs sandbox for games and sometimes movies. I'm currently trying to find some way of passing spdif from my ps3 through the computer for processing of blueray audio but may have to go with an external decoder such as the ones sold at audiocubes. I''m at a point where i'm about to purchase a good dac and am trying to decide on the best output from my pc to use so just one step ahead of you.

[DrGamut]

Originally Posted by Oublie

Hi,

If you look at my sig you will see my setup. Cyberlink power dvd comes with dolby headphone and its own technology. I also use srs sandbox for games and sometimes movies. I'm currently trying to find some way of passing spdif from my ps3 through the computer for processing of blueray audio but may have to go with an external decoder such as the ones sold at audiocubes. I''m at a point where i'm about to purchase a good dac and am trying to decide on the best output from my pc to use so just one step ahead of you.

Are you using a video capture card in your computer? If so, what kind?

What do you think of Dolby Headphone? Compared to alternatives?

[Oublie]

Originally Posted by DrGamut

Are you using a video capture card in your computer? If so, what kind?

What do you think of Dolby Headphone? Compared to alternatives?

Yeah i'm using a hauppauge card linked to a sky box but plan to replace it with a hauppauge satellite viewing video card (free view only) - i'm in the uk.

As for dolby headphone, i went this route due to having kids in the house so watching transformers at 90db on my surround at 10pm was no longer an option. Dolby headphone does it's job and does it fairly well. It won't replace a well setup and designed surround system but will be better than an off the shelf 5.1 system in a box if you use the right settings and decent headphones. SRS is also a very capable alternative and can make a lot of music recordings really come to life. Lots of settings and tweaks in srs whereas dolby only has 3 settings.

I used to run my system with windows xp media centre installed but really didn't find it all that much use. I haven't tried vista premium but it is essentially the same thing. I prefer to use a custom modified version of windows xp with all the junk removed (74mb of memory use when fully loaded) and run the programs i need. This gives me far more control over configuration and i think my setup is pretty well sorted at least regarding software.

[Nocturnal310]

CMSS-3D is quite good for Movies & Music..but yes there are better options.

BUT CMSS-3D is MUCH better than SRS Sandbox (which is only a software anyway).