Hi
This is first post here and I have not done much reading here. So if this topic exist or answered before, please bear with me.
I have a lot of BD collection on a NAS as well as on the PC. I am trying to turn the PC into a hi-fi audio source from BD (mostly concerts, Musicals etc.). The audio include TrueHD/DTS MA often in resolutions of 24/192 7.1 channels.
The plan was to take audio stream (24/192 7.1) to an external 24/192 DAC and then to a headphone amp. Now problem is that only HDMI or Firewire can actually carry such bandwidth. S/PDIF can maximum manage 5.1 at much lower bit rate. It does not help that DAC with HDMI or Firewire are rare or very costly.
Eitherway since DAC cannot downmix or decode TrueHD/DTS MA, I am assuming this has to be done at the PC using a BD player like PowerDVD.
So my question is this.
Will PowerDVD decode a 24/192 7.1 True HD/DTS MA audio stream, downmix it stereo or a headphone optimized two channel audio and send it bypassing the PC sound card DAC to the external DAC via USB or S/PDIF?
This will solve a lot of problems for me. Or is there any alternatives?
Thanks in advance.
Will PowerDVD decode a 24/192 7.1 True HD/DTS MA audio stream, downmix it stereo or a headphone optimized two channel audio and send it bypassing the PC sound card DAC to the external DAC via USB or S/PDIF?
PowerDVD likely has downmixing functionality, yes. Then set PowerDVD (or Windows, I don't know which) to downsample to 24/92 or even 16/44.1 for your USB DAC.
Thanks Skamp
Basically I would like to know the sequence of audio processing done by PowerDVD if want to listen in stereo or a headphone optimized two channel audio..
Is audio flow like this:
TrueHD/DTS MA sound --> DTS/Dolby decode --> Downmix --> Sound processing (optional) --> DAC (sound card or external) --> Headphone
Is PowerDVD able to bypass the internal DAC of the PC/Sound card or bypassing the DAC is the function of windows driver provided by the external DAC?
Secondly is it possible to pass a downmixed two channel 24/192 audio (without downsampling) to external DAC bypassing the soundcard DAC over S/PDIF or USB?
Don't worry about the downsample to 24/96. This will make no audible difference.
Thanks pdq, I was not worried about the loss in quality, but about any possible distortions. But it is halving the sampling frequency and should come out unscathed.
Just want to point out that I have not invested in any DAC or AMP at the moment. I have more or less shortlisted a Hifiman HE500 for headphone. I am open to 24/192 DAC, but the multichannel audio had me stumped.