[Loud_TIGER]

what sound cards support dvd- audio? is the only one the audigy2?

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Well your problem is not gonna be the card, but the drive. No PC CD/DVD-ROM drives support DVD-Audio. Yeah, it may play, but it won't have the advanced resolution qualities that makes DVD-A unique.

 

[lan]

DVD-Audio discs use DVD discs and can be read on any DVD drive. Maybe you are mistaking it for SACD discs?

The problem is decoding the audio which is limited by the software.

One member here says the WinDVD high res addon pack works for his Revo. I thought it was only supposed to work on Audigy2. I'm not going to pay to take this chance.

 

[raif]

I am using an audigy 2, and it has full resolution stereo output, as well as full resolution surround. Sounds alot better than cd, but I am sure you could find a better-sounding cheaper stand alone player.(ie toshiba 4900)

 

[Jasper994]

As lan said, DVD-A can be read by any DVD drive. The problem is that DVD-A uses a proprietary compression called MLP (Meridian Lossless Packaging). To date, the only soundcard that comes with software capable of decoding DVD-A is the Audigy 2. You can also use Intervideo's WinDVD but it doesn't have full DVD-A support as it only supports upto 24/96 and DVD-A can produce 24/192 in stereo. I'm also not sure if the WinDVD software truely allows you to decode the MLP in full resolution or if it simply allows access to the Hi-Rez menus and then downsamples or something.

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/DVDAudio_Profile.jsp

As you can see, it's not very clear as to whether or not it will work in full resolution with cards other than the A2. And even with the A2 it only seems to support 24/96 whereas the A2's packaged software is supposed to be able to support 24/192.