[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragonchi /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...they're also comparable only if they're used for the digital outputs, not the analogue...these are going to be paired with analogue 5.1 speakers.

That should answer your question... You want the card for the quality of its internal D/A, not its digital output.

I'm not familiar with HT Omega, but the Claro Plus+ seems like it should be comparable to the Prelude. It uses the same DAC chip with a different audio processor (C-Media versus X-Fi) and different op-amps. All of these cards in the $200 range should be similarly good.

 

[florin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even if you had a Blu-Ray drive, there are currently no software options that allow playback at the original lossless high-res sampling rate. Additionally, you will not be able to send HD content through the digital outputs of a sound card. So, for HD movies, no current sound card will solve that problem.

Do you think this one addresses this issue?

LE: Some more details here.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by florin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you think this one addresses this issue? LE: Some more details here.

Yep! That looks like a solution to me. They specifically mention that it's capable of receiving and decoding the new HD formats over HDMI.