[vaan]

Hello! I want to improve my 5.1 equipment with a new sound card. I'm going to use it for music, games and for watching movies on Blu-Ray 5.1. I need to use always analog connections (for multichannel input > Marantz SR6300) because I want to have a significant improvement in the DAC.

I need to know if the card can play DTS-HD and Dolby-True, with lossless and no downsample. I do not want to use another card with HDMI, instead I want to use the DAC of Essence ST and so get too the new sound formats in movies. Is this possible?

Can I play Dolby True and DTS-HD with lossless and no downsample with Essence ST? Or always have to pass the audio > FLAC first?

If not... can ¿I play? "Asus HDAV 1.3 Deluxe" in analog?not HDMI. I want to improve my DAC >_>

Thanks in advance!!!

Edit: Of course I'm talking about Asus Essence ST Deluxe (with H6 extension card when it is available)

 

[sonci]

HA HA HA
You think dac section of the soundcard is better than the Marantz receiver???

 

[mojave]

Only a card that supports Protected Audio Path (PAP) can play the lossless formats without downsampling. These are the Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe and the Auzentech X-Fi Hometheater HD. With these cards you are limited to playing the Blu-rays on just one software player in order to comply with the PAP requirements.

I have an Essence ST with the H6 card. I purchased the H6 from a Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe user. I rip my Blu-rays with Another EAC3to GUI-Plus and convert the lossess to FLAC. It takes about 45 minutes for me.

I feel that the H6 is exceptional for the surround, center, and bass channels. The bass is excellent and sounds very tight.

I haven't yet listened to to downsampled audio, but some have found it difficult to discern from the original lossless audio. Remember, you are still getting a much higher bitrate for the audio even though it is downsampled.

 

[leeperry]

remux and convert to FLAC, problem solved!

 

[Ra97oR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif HA HA HA You think dac section of the soundcard is better than the Marantz receiver???

No, I know that my Essence DAC out is clearly better than the Marantz receiver downstairs. I don't think that, I knew that.

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif HA HA HA You think dac section of the soundcard is better than the Marantz receiver???

Actually it would depend on the receiver. Many did test at AVS forum and other places putting modern soundcards up against receivers and they found in many cases the Receivers S/pdif input section used a low quality DAC in comparison to the soudncards being tested. This doesn't mean the card soudn betetr then the receiver. It means if you conenct the card to the receiver through digital you will get lower qulaity sound then if you conenct through analog.
It depends on the receiver though and the card. I usually have people try both if they ask which is better for their setup and deicde with your ears.

 

[ROBSCIX]

@Vaan, Mojave is 100% correct Dolby Digtial +, Dolby trueHD and DTS-HDMA are all protected and you need a card that uses the PAP within Vista..etc. There are only to consumer cards that will allow you to play those trakcs form a blue ray/ One is the HDAV 1.3 and the other is the Auzen HTHD 7.1. They both allow you to have full resolution tracks over analog though so you do not need HDMI for the audio. Although you can use it. There was a posting awhile ago about using some software ahcks to try and get the same thing but they involve recoding the audio on the fly or some other idea.

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ra97oR /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, I know that my Essence DAC out is clearly better than the Marantz receiver downstairs. I don't think that, I knew that.

Even the cheapest Marantz, would blow away pc audio,
its not a matter of the DAC chip,
its everything else..

 

[leeperry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even the cheapest Marantz, would blow away pc audio, its not a matter of the DAC chip, its everything else..

ph34r the LME49720

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even the cheapest Marantz, would blow away pc audio, its not a matter of the DAC chip, its everything else..

If you read the posting you would see, I said it has nothing to do with the sound of the receiver. It has to do with the quality of the DAC and components used in the S/Pdif input section. With many low/mid grade and even some high end receivers, they use lower quality DAC's and other components for the S/pdif sections.

So when connecting a modern high spec PC soundcard to the receiver, using an analog connection will usually give you better sound with the same system then going digital. Again, it has nothing to do with the sound of the receiver, it is the quality of the S/Pdif input section and in many cases they are low to mid quality to say the least. This depends on the receiver also...if your ever in the situation to try either analog or digital, try them both out and use your ears to be the final judge.
In many cases using an analog connection from the soundcard to the receiver will sound better as the DAC in the card is better then the DAC in the receiver.

 

[gurubhai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even the cheapest Marantz, would blow away pc audio, its not a matter of the DAC chip, its everything else..

Have you ever tried or are you just speculating?

I have a Marantz 4003 & Xonar STX & I can tell you that STX DAC section is a notch above the Marantz.

 

[ROBSCIX]

@gurubhai, Tell me, if you connect the STX to the receiver, do you get higher sound quality by using the analog or digital connection?

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you read the posting you would see, I said it has nothing to do with the sound of the receiver. It has to do with the quality of the DAC and components used in the S/Pdif input section. With many low/mid grade and even some high end receivers, they use lower quality DAC's and other components for the S/pdif sections. So when connecting a modern high spec PC soundcard to the receiver, using an analog connection will usually give you better sound with the same system then going digital. Again, it has nothing to do with the sound of the receiver, it is the quality of the S/Pdif input section and in many cases they are low to mid quality to say the least. This depends on the receiver also...if your ever in the situation to try either analog or digital, try them both out and use your ears to be the final judge. In many cases using an analog connection from the soundcard to the receiver will sound better as the DAC in the card is better then the DAC in the receiver.

So, yo`re saying the best Dac the best SQ, what about power suply, Emi noise, jitter correction, audio capacitors,

You can put the best Bur Brown Dac on a soundcard, it wont sound as good as 10 years separate, with a 20 bit dac,
I also use pc audio, but I know its limitation, and don`'t have to lie about sound quality,
yo`re right about analog being better than digital, sometimes, but this has nothing to do with low quality components, the signal has to be converted with dolby or dts which are lossy, so degrades,

To the people who say, that the soundcard sounds better than a 1000$ cd player,
well, probably, you dont know whats the right sound should sound

 

[sonci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurubhai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you ever tried or are you just speculating? I have a Marantz 4003 & Xonar STX & I can tell you that STX DAC section is a notch above the Marantz.

what do you mean by Dac section, how do you judge it?

 

[ROBSCIX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonci /img/forum/go_quote.gif So, yo`re saying the best Dac the best SQ, what about power suply, Emi noise, jitter correction, audio capacitors, You can put the best Bur Brown Dac on a soundcard, it wont sound as good as 10 years separate, with a 20 bit dac, I also use pc audio, but I know its limitation, and don`'t have to lie about sound quality, yo`re right about analog being better than digital, sometimes, but this has nothing to do with low quality components, the signal has to be converted with dolby or dts which are lossy, so degrades, To the people who say, that the soundcard sounds better than a 1000$ cd player, well, probably, you dont know whats the right sound should sound

No, you seem to be missing the point. What I said, is based on the tests I have done, others have done.... AVSforum is full of such tests using the X-Meridian 7.1 and other higher spec'd cards.

In many cases when using a modern soundcard and receiver you will get better sound quality connecting that card to the receiver through analog then the same receiver and soundcard connected through digital.

I am not saying the sound card sound betters then the receiver..nothing like that. Do you have a receiver there?
Try connecting your card to it through digital then through analog and see which sound betters. Chances are analog will sound better because the cards DAC is of higher quality then what is used in the receivers S/Pdif input section. Again, I never said anything about the sound of the receiver or a soundcard sound better then a $1000 CD player...

If you are still missing what I am saying then I am at a loss...