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Building the ultimate A/V component? 47

Posted by CmdrTaco from the what-we-all-lust-after dept.
ibbey writes "The recent articles on hacking Tivo have me thinking... What would it take to assemble a combination PVR, DVD, MP3, CD, Web browsing system? Assembling the basic components is simple enough: Reasonably fast PC, ATI All-in-Wonder video card, DVD player, big hard drive, etc., all connected to a nice TV. But what about things like a remote control? Who want's a DVD/PVR without a remote? A wireless keyboard would work, but would be less then ideal. How about Dolby Digital output? Anything special needed? What other features are needed/wanted in such a system?"
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Building the ultimate A/V component? More

Building the ultimate A/V component?

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  • Does anyone even make a Stereo-component size black finish case that will fit in my stereo cabinet without hanging out either the front or back (lpx) or just being the wrong size? Height really doesn't matter, but length and width are important.

    AND doesn't cost $200 for the case alone?
  • Although there is no support for the Radeon in Linux yet, the AIW Radeon (Assuming you need the TV tuner... with Digital CABLE, Digital Sattelite, it's pretty much a useless expense, get the ViVo model instead) ATI Radeion is HDTV capable... but you will have to get an OEM version with that support which I assume isn't released yet. Just to mess with everyones minds.... Anyone notice how Intel and Microsoft are pushing Win-Soundchips? (They happen to be called AC97 codecs using AMR or CMR headers) I do hope that these atrocities go away, I want what the N-Cube is going to have... 3D sound that has it's own RAM dammit! (minor rant: If 3D Video can use memory to store textures and graphics data, why can't a sound card use it's own memory(if it had any) to store samples, music, midi's,etc? It seems anti-productive to make these stupid AC97 codecs that use the CPU. Look how long it took for Video cards to move from 2D to 2D accelerated to 3D to 3D with T&L, Take a clue from the consoles.) As far as recording HDTV goes... Wouldn't it make more sense to "download" the mpeg2 data to something... to play back later? (not LIVE recording, but just going "save this"... Live broadcasts (sports/news) might need a mpeg-2 stream download) I have yet to see anything other than the COMBO DVHS/DirectTV system in the states that can record digital and playback digital. Though the entire problem would be easier resolved if software would quit being patented... I'm sure some whacko who makes the first "MPEG-2 TV downloader" is going to patent it and screw everyone over. "Method for storage of MPEG-2 Digital broadcasts with no loss..." (I'm still waiting for when we quit using 120v - to - 12volt DC blocks and just start using DC for all our low-voltage devices.... imagine, no more power cubes to cause house fires... no more switching power supplies in computers with stupid fans that break.... 120/240V will still be around for those high-power devices (Air Conditioner,heaters,stove,microwave, etc) I just propose getting rid of the stupid cubes... after all how much energy do those things waste... not to mention all the 120v to whatever conversions... (I can count at least 50 things in my house that are just simply wasting power)) Free idea, (see above) I'd like to see someone actually do that (It's possible... might involve voiding a lot of warrenties though ^_^) ok... enough babble
  • How about..."plug-ins" for new music formats (e.g. ogg vorbis)... visualization programs (such as Geiss on WinAmp)... software-driven equalization and balancing, so I can take a microphone and cancel any echoes in my listening room... inputs galore, so I can record _anything_... You mentioned keyboards? How about a MIDI input? ... Don't forget an interface to home control systems, (e.g. X-10), so I can dim the lights and start the show.
  • I really should remember to hit the "text" button -_-;;;

  • I have the ATI All-in-Wonder. It's not the best but having all that great stuff in one card is worth it. It's a cheeper option too. It's not a Tivo but offers simular funtionalllity
    I also have a Sound Blaster Live with a daughterboard that provides among other things dolby digital i/o. Right now I've settled for A set of 6 Cambridge SoundWorks speakers but plan to upgrade to that neat little Bowse set.
    And a nice DVD drive that reads just about everything including VCD and even CDi.
    For a kind of remote I use a Gravis Xterminator. I have it programmed so it works good for TV and DVD software. however I ussually keep a crib nearby which is especcially handy when entering numbers. A better option is in the plan. There is software for Plam and PocketPC devices that let you create you own GUI interfaces and use them like universal remotes. It use the IR port on the device. There even also such software for Gameboy. This would work with my computer and every other device in the house with a remote (TVs, VCRs, Laser Disc Player)
    I have a cable/IDSN/56k hybrid modem that lets me view 300k movies from places like iFilm and AtomFilms. I doubt I'll be seeing Episode II with it, but all the great classics are fast becomming available for internet download. Just to name a few off the top of my head: Metropolis, Nosforatu and Gold Rush. Try not to read anything into it that those are all silent films, there *is* sound and color available.
    At one time I wanted a CD changer but then MP3 came along. I bought a 20gig hard drive instead. It cost me less and is a better way all arround.
    Right now I just have a normal 20inch monitor (1600x1200) but it delievers a much better picture than any TV I have, especially with DVD. Once again I have plans to upgrade to a HDTV projector when I can find a deal. I picked up a nifty set of devices from Radio Shack to beam everything from my computer to any room in the house.

    Bottom line is that I have mostly computer based entertainment system (Laser Disc and VRCs seperate) that works for me and, that believe it or not, cost less than buying traditional componets separately. But I will be the first to admit this is not for everyone. Right now everything operates through windoze and that means the blue screen of death pops up along with hardware conflicts and not enough memory errors. The plan is to eventually run it all with Linux. It is a hig maintenence system and often when your in the mode for seeing a DVD it just won't work and you have to settle for an internet film instead, or visaversa. Or other times (like right now) it's in the shop. If your looking for the highest quality and don't want to work on it every day, get the stand alone componets.
  • WinTV-HD [titantv.com]
    They're still saying they will be releasing it, but the wintv-d came out last October!
    Oh, pci bandwidth is not relevent. The HDTV-out is from the card, and all these kinds of cards use a technique called "vga overlay". The vga signal passes thru the card before going to a monitor.
  • Mmm, that looks nice... thanks for the link. Not like I would be able to afford it anyway...
  • Most sound cards Suck. Suck big time. Most are to noisy to do any actual listening to music or a video soundtrack on, IMO. It works fine for gameing, esp FPS', the noise gets lost in the hash of explosions and all of the other noise, but for *listening* to music (not as sonic wallpaper), I hate it. No sound stage, no dynamics, and all of that hiss. BLEH!!!

    The idea is good, but the execution needs to be refined before I would do it.

    For those who think I'm anal, and have some disposable income, check out HeadRoom [headphone.com]. I recommend the Sennheiser HD600's with any of their amps, plugged into any reasonable preamp.
  • Screw an irman. Too expensive/difficult to configure. If you want a cheap, easily set-up remote solution, get an X10 mouse remote and use the Max10 software (on sourceforge). It's great, it's RF, and it allows you do some really neat stuff. Not only that, but It'll control your whole home theatre system, so you can just be lazy. I've had a dvd player for quite awhile now, and never really enjoyed it till I got a remote... It's a joy to sit in my basement, press some keys and hear music from my room. It's also great for those lazy days when I don't want to get out of bed. On the DVD front; get a Creative Encore system. It'll do dolby digital out (you have to have an outboard decoder, but it's real ac3) and tv-out for dvds with a much better picture than I've seen on any other solution. But first, check out the X10 Website [x10.com]. Okay that's enough geeking out for me....
  • Check out The MP3 Server Box [mp3sb.org]. I'm in the process now of creating one of these beasts. I remember them saying that you can pump the audio to another system if you wanted. I'm not sure about the searching capabilities of it since I haven't gotten it all working yet, (not a software problem, hardware I think) but they do supply you with a choice of different clients (php3, gnome, console, etc.). All that's need for the base system is a Linux box with a sound card. There are a couple of the beta testers for it that have used the software to make one of these for the car, with directions in French I think. There are plans, or something, for an LCD interface as well. This should take care of the music side of things. As for the rest...., can't help you there.
  • does anyone know if there are any linux drivers for the video card mentioned in the story? I'm working on a similar system and this is just the video card I need. Their website says windows only drivers though. links or info, anyone?
    ---
  • I have an SB Live! with a LiveDrive II and have hooked it up with my VideoLogic DigiTheatre DTS and can confirm that it does do Dolby Digital 5.1 (Once the DVD software is properly set up the decoder clearly recognizes the 5.1 signal and handles the rest from there) I didn't have the possibility to test DTS yet because none of my DVDs has a DTS track but in theory that should be possible too. Greetings
  • I have a soundblaster live 1024, oem version and it happily outputs both PCM and Dolby Digital signals through the digital output... I have it hooked up to a Videologic Dolby decoder. I have a computer next to the TV for playing MP3's and DVD's and it runs with an ATI all in Wonder 128 for desktop output and a Hollywood Plus card for DVD playback. As for operating system, I would love to have linux on this computer but it doesn't have great support for either the ATI tv output or the Hollywood plus card, although that is on the way. (See http://hem.fyristorg.com/henrikj/em8300/ )

    Steve.
  • It's already been done, and extremely well at that. It's called Indrema. It even runs on Linux.
  • ATI has contracted people at PI to do a DRI X driver for this card. If you are interested, you should subscribe to the DRI-announce list, (I'm not sure of a link, or if it is a real list, check it out at dri.sourceforge.net). They have a couple of mailing lists. Last I heard, the drivers were in active development, so there could possible be an ALPHA release soon.

    In terms of video capture, the ATI Radeon uses a very similar setup as the Rage 128 All-in-wonder. Im not sure, but I do believe it is if not the same chip, a very close one to the Rage 128 All-in-Wonder, which is currently supported by gatos, so it is possible that the Radeon All-in-Wonder, will be supported by gatos almost out of box.

    So, there is no support right now, even though almost all features on the card seem to have possible/plausible support, except perhaps MPEG decoding. (But its not even on sale yet, so its kindof neat talking about it almost like their was...) In fact, the Radeon 64/32mb ddr cards are both sold out on shopati, and I haven't found ANY in stores yet. So, you'll have to wait till early-mid september to get one most likely.

    For more information, check on the ATI lists, and gatos/dri lists and homepages.

  • The speakers by themselves are decent, the subwoofer adds a lot (I think that the surround system has a better sub). The main advantage of it is that it used the (unfortunitly) propriatary miniDIN output, and splits it into 5.1Ch format (basically, it has 5.1 output, and just comes with 5.1 speakers). Nothing says you have to use those speakers (though you do have to pay for them).
  • (hmm, do they make 200-disc DVD changers or anything like that?)

    Yes. Sony DVP-CX850 [sony.com]. 200 CD/DVD changer, nice on-screen catalogue, loads of different outputs on the back, very good quality audio and video playback, PC keyboard input (though it's not clear if you can CONTROL it like this, or just use it to enter names of tracks and discs)

    As far as I know, it's the only DVD changer that manages anything like that number of discs.

    Lovely-looking beastie - I have one on order through staff sales! :-)

  • Pick two:
    Cheep,
    Fits your needs,
    Right here, right now (eg, not building it yourself)
  • is a P200 (should get a faster one) with a 6GB drive (should get a bigger one), remote control via LIRC and a cheap-ass remote control, video in via a BT848 TV tuner and video output via an external scan converter hooked up to a 27" Sony Video Monitor (ie a TV without a tuner - should get a proper TV).

    I also have a remote mouse which came with the scan converter, but unfortunately no remote keyboard - though i would suggest one of those keyboards with the mouse built-in.

    This meant i could watch TV fullscreen or in a window via the BT848, play MP3s with mpg123 & LIRC (remote buttons worked for stepping through tracks and selecting playlists) and surf the web/chat on IRC at the same time on the same screen. I also had the playstation plugged into the BT848s composite input so i could play PSX on the same screen or in a window with the click of a mouse.

    Was fun, great for the 'wow factor' but somewhat fiddly without extensive desktop and application customisation to increase font sizes etc.

    I've since torn the setup apart, and just use the P200 as a general purpose PC.

    But this stuff is all quite doable, a lot of fun, and linux is a great platform to do it on.
  • > Most modern ATX motherboards have IR pins on them. Just get an IR reciever and you're good to go.

    You're right that most of them have IR headers, but this is IRDA. It is not compatible with normal consumer IR signals like those found in remote controls.
  • Get the $300 Cambridge Soundworks digital home theater system (which I have, excellent speaker set) and you've got digital sound.

    This had been part of the plan until I got my FPS2000 speakers a couple months ago. The FPS 2000 is the four-speaker equivalent of the system you mention, and built from the same components, just without the Dolby Digital decoder. Unfortunately, they suck. They sound notably inferior to the FPS 1000's, which cost about half as much. Just goes to show you, paying more doesn't mean you get more, even from the same company.
  • Anyone know of any affordable hardware MPEG encoders with support for linux?

    I once purchased the Dazzle DVC encoder, which only does MPEG1, but does it in realtime in hardware, which actually makes it usable on a normal basis. [Capturing 2 gigs of raw video, only to spend 6 hours compressing it, is too much work except for something very special]

    Unfortunately, there is no linux driver for the Daz DVC, (which is why I rarely if ever use it anymore, sadly). It plugs in through the parallel port, so it shouldn't be -that- hard to reverse engineer.

    Still, seems like it might be wasted effort, when MPEG2 [and, hopefully, soon MPEG4] will be standard into the future.

    --

    man sig
  • Don't waste your time with IRMan. It is too expensive. Look at the LIRC site [uni-sb.de] for instructions on building a cheap serial IR receiver. I built mine for ~$5. I got all of the parts at Radio Shack, nothing special at all.
  • My Convergence PC [bub.com]:
    P3-800/Maxtor DiamondMax Plus/128 Mb PC133 SDRAM
    ATI PC2TV
    Pioneer DVD-ROM/Sigma Hollywood+
    Hauppauge WinTV-D
    Cable modem thru a linux firewall.
    Toshiba TW40x81 HDTV (upto 1080i)
    Yamaha RX-V1 Digital Receiver.
    Linn AV51 Speakers

    The Toshiba remote controls the TV/VCR and is programmable for the HDTV remote. It controls the WinDVD thru programmable IRMAN (works great for DVD's and CD's!) Wireless AirBoard for keyboard control of surfing, screensavers, and other digital media.

    Waiting for:
    ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder (next version includes DTV and HDTV-out/component connections)
    DC/Pro 24/96 (for dvd-audio)

    -Radeon AIW will be an amazing card with TIVO-like quality and functionality.
    -Hauppauge's WinTV-D card displays HDTV in downsampled 480P format, but digital decoded sound thru Yamaha 6 channel input sounds great. It seems they are not releasing their WinTV-HD for proprietary reasons - which has really been the whole sad story for all these digital media on PC's. This has been a major project of mine for almost a year. It's been an incredible pain with windows, and proprietary roadblocks, and running cool yet quiet... Next challenge is getting everything to work under linux.

  • Umm, first of all, add more SEX!

    Aside from that immature comment (I just hadda get it outta my system) I think that it should have these features:

    DVD/VCD support
    Mpeg player
    10/100 Ethernet connection with software to allow it to talk to ANY system
    CD player
    MP3 CD support
    DVD audio support
    MP3 ethernet player (I.E. plays MP3's over ethernet connection)
    Optical output
    Surround sound support
    Digital tuner
    HDTV support
    Switchbox capability (switch between other dedicated devices for audio/video)
    A cool looking remote

    And having a low price tag would be nice, but with all those features I think it is unfeasible :-(



    Kris
    botboy60@hotmail.com
    Nerdnetwork.net [nerdnetwork.net]
  • Didn't TiVo say they were relasing some or all of their software? I'm pretty sure at least their kernel modifications..
  • I'm not sure if the question refers to something similar to a stereo with MP3, DVD and ethernet, or if it refers to basically a computer that plugs into your TV and stereo :)

    If the latter, then that is something I'm working on now... And I'm hoping a bog standard P166 with a Realmagic Hollywood Plus, DVD drive, big HD and ethernet should be all thats required!

    I'll need to get a surround sound speaker set for the full effect, and I'm not sure about the audio side of the PC - does the HW+ handle it? But it looks like a fun, geeky and (considering I already have most of the H/w) relatively cheap experiment!

  • remote control, etc (Score:4)

    by Van Halen ( 31671 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2000 @02:59PM (#835954) Journal
    For remote control, have a look at Irman [evation.com], which is supported under Linux via LIRC [uni-sb.de]. Definitely the way to go.

    As for Dolby Digital, I'll bet that some high end sound cards support it, but I have no links to back this up. Also, Linux support may very well not exist for these. (hmm, I'm assuming you would be running Linux but you don't say... however this is /. afterall) ;-)

    For other features, networking is a must, to control it from elsewhere and perhaps to get program data like the Tivo does. I've always envisioned my house of the future having a central audio server somewhere with all my CDs as high quality MP3s. Then in each room would be some sort of networked terminal for song selection, and a pair of speakers connected to the server's sound card. Have as many sound cards as rooms where you potentially want to have something different playing at the same time. The same could be done with video. I suppose someday soon disk space will be cheap enough that we'll store terabytes of DVD video the same way we store gigs of MP3s now.

    Then, it'll need intelligent software to control it. The software should take command-line input, gui input, networked input from remote clients, ir remote control input, and of course, voice input. Fast search/play capabilities are a must, but a menu-driven UI could be available for those who want it. My current system at home [216.86.198.119] (not quite the audio server described above, but slowly getting there) has a custom perl script I wrote that plays songs, albums, etc based on regular expression searches. So rather than wading through a menu to get to Rock -> Van Halen -> 1984 -> Hot For Teacher, I can simply type "playmp3 ^Hot" and it will play everything that matches. Great convenience. Same thing for playing movies on DVD (hmm, do they make 200-disc DVD changers or anything like that?) and selecting TV programs to watch.

    Just some random ideas, that's all I have to say...

  • I have a SB live useing the digital daughter board, Hooked to a Sony STR-DE925 useing a optical connection and all I am able to do is PCM, I can't get it send a 5.1 channel signal. It might if I play a DVD but I dont have any DVD software installed right now. I will go check right quick
  • Most modern ATX motherboards have IR pins on them. Just get an IR reciever and you're good to go.

    And for audio, get an SBLive! with a LiveDrive2 or Digital I/O Card 2 - It has Optical and Coax in/out for digital sound. I don't think it's Dolby digital.. I'm not sure how well 4 speakers works with it, I've never used it. (I have one, but I only use the optical output for my Minidisc recorder). Then again, you wouldn't have to worry about the output, really. Get the $300 Cambridge Soundworks digital home theater system (which I have, excellent speaker set) and you've got digital sound. The digital input should handle DVD audio fine. Granted, if you want to input from more than two digital sources (one optical, one coax) you're SOL.
    It would make a decent all-purpose AV system though.

    If anyone has more info on Dolby Digital with SBLive, let me know, I'm interested.
  • I have a project on the go at the moment, building a PC into my coffee table. It started off from a conversation with some half-geeks about that it would be handy to have imdb.com when watching movies. From there (and a lack of DVD player) meant that I was to build the fore-mentioned contraption. Anyway I'm currently waiting on a hydrolic lift from a Horn Sewing Cabinet to me sent to me from the manufacturer so I can have an optional pop-up monitor for those times when it would be annoying to read an email when everyone else in the room is waiting to see who the final Survivor is. By the way most desktop PC sound cards suck.(yes even for basic sound throughput) If your gonna do this then go with a quality Stereo System instead.
  • See my post below. The SBLive can do digital output. It's PCM, which AFAIK can do the same thing as dolby digital but without the brand name. I don't have a DD reciever to play around with, though, so I'm not sure.

    Also, I haven't played around too much with the SBLive linux drivers.. they play sound, and that's fine for me. I don't think they are open source, but I could be wrong. I haven't looked into it in a while.

    The software would be the easy part - making all the hardware work together and function how you want it to seems harder.
  • I believe everyone's comments are very on-the-mark about this subject. I have done a bit of research on these AV units and recently purchased a unit from Equtek [equtek.com] that boasts much of the features everybody seems to want. Though I have yet to see its working Linux version, I purchased the Windoze 98SE version and find it does the trick quite well.

    It goes beyond any of the units (in speed for sure!) I have seen with its AMD Athlon 800 MHz processor. As noted by another 'Slashdotter' it features an ATI All-in-Wonder card which really rocks the video aspect. A Soundbaster Live coupled with 4 Cambridge speakers provides a Dolby Digital Surround experience.

    It comes stock with 56k modem but I was able to negotiate for an Ethernet adapter for high speed connectivity. The only drawback may be the wireless keyboard but there may be IR options built into the motherboard that can be advantageous.

    I think it's quite humorous that Apple brings out the G4 Cube touting it as a new and revolutionary threatening to sue competitors while Equtek [equtek.com] has had their E-Qube since early November 99' (I've had mine since February)! I guess it clearly shows that marketing might resides in the all-mighty dollar!

  • I'm just about to start work on LinuxHTPC - a Debian GNU/Linux based Home Theatre PC distribution.

    Probably the best source of information is the AVScience HTPC forum:

    Basically the hardware to go for at the moment is either an SBLive Value with digital out or a 24bit 96kHz audio card (such as Delta Dio 2496) and the Geforce2 Ultra. Some of the GeForce cards are able to handle HD material with their HVDP chipset, but NVidia admitted that some 1080i material wasn't performing too well and hence the Ultra.

    The SBLive has a problem though - the digital out is not a true SP/DIF output and so has nothing in the way of voltage constraints. It is possible to damage an expensive receiver.

    The Delta Dio 2496 (aka DCPro2496 at Digital Connection) provided both coaxial and optical inputs and outputs and RCA analogue outs. This is the one to go for, but I haven't been able to confirm the functionality of the current Alsa drivers, let alone save enough for the card yet.

    Both audio cards can output Dolby Digital and DTS, but native 44.1kHz audio can only be handled by the Dio - the SBLive upsamples everything to 48kHz and hence introduces all sorts of jitter and artifact problems.

    --
    niall@holbytla.org

  • Certainly, the HARDWARE can be acquired from consumer sources, but there will need to be some custom software written. I hate to say it, being a Windows fan, but Linux is probably the OS to start from.

    I hate to say it, since I detest Windows, but I suspect you're wrong. All the software I need already exists on Windows. The ATI card mentioned includes the PVR software, which, as you say, is the toughest part. If it wasn't for the hardware support, Linux would be FAR superior to Windows due to it's simple scriptability & better networking. But, until Linux get's support for DVD & PVR, I don't see a way to NOT do this on Windows. Grrr.

    As far as the video card... How do I drive the TV without a video card? And, as previously mentioned, the SBLive doesn't do Dolby Digital... Just PCM-- which isn't useful to me. You're final conclusion, though seems right in line with what I've figured. My initial calculations put a well configured, but not loaded system at about $1000, loaded, it's closer to $1500.
  • they've dropped the price to 250
  • Some people are doing it !! Look at Digital Connections [digitalconnection.com]. They have info on Home Theatre PC's - what equipment to use etc. as well as tested home systems.
    There is also talk about tweaking the G400 [matrox.com] into displaying HDTV signals from DVD's. I have yet to find a card that exploits this, but according to the documentation on the GeForce2 [nvidia.com], it should be able to display in all HDTV modes (480p to 1080i)as well as record HDTV !!

  • Re:Sounds Like My Coffee Table (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Spoilsport.
  • This looks great and sounds great...

    Sure, it'll cost a fortune, but at least it doesn't run Windows! : P

    • Nakamichi SoundSpace 11
    • HDTV display or projector
    • Apple Mac Cube (hey, at least you can run linux on it, right??)
    • Logitech wireless KB & Mouse
    • Philips Pronto remote control
  • It's called Indrema.

    Sounds good, but it appears to lack one of the key features: PVR (Tivo) features. If they added that, it would be VERY close to what I want.
  • Very cool. It looks like they've done a lot of what my system does, plus most of what I've been planning for future enhancements. ;-) Sounds like it's time for me to play around with that a bit and see if it meets my needs, and if not, contribute to the project. Mine's always been very specific to my setup and I've always wanted a more general implementation.

    Thanks for the link!

  • Would love to donate some web space on my server to track a project like this. What do you all think? seth@jigi.net
  • This is a great AS, finally! My question is, how can I get Dolby 5.1 from my SB Live, to my receiver with all the fixings. From what I've read, you can get AC3 (D5.1) from the SB Live, but is this possible under Linux? What software can be used to output it to the Live? I'd love to hear this because I'm waiting a little while to get my new DVD player, my Mac can't output AC3, and I'd love to be able to test out the 5.1 on my new receiver.
  • Have you thought about buying a notebook PC with a wireless LAN card? Sure would save a lot of time and effort. And you can put it on any coffee table in the world!

  • Oh and I should stress that software based solutions are only really appropriate for progressive displays - RGB monitors and projectors or progressive DTV with an RGBHV->component converter. Watching DVDs upsampled to 1920x1080p at 120Hz on a big fucking screen is awesome :-)

    If you want to output to an interlaced TV stick with a hardware decoder card with s-video output.

    --
    niall@holbytla.org

  • Dolby Digital on SBLive? (Score:3)

    by Kisai ( 213879 ) on Tuesday August 22, 2000 @10:23PM (#835972)
    I have a SB Live Value (the version with the Coax/minijack digital out) and you can hook it up to a AC3 decoder via the COAX type connector all you have to do is buy or make a mono-minijack to single RCA connector. That's it. No fancy stuff here. You just make a S/PDIF(minijack) to S/PDIF(minijack), IIRC center-pin to center-pin.

    You DO however have to make sure your sound card has that feature first of all (Some Aureal A3D and AC97 Codec's have them... not many but some do)
    Check out Turtle Beach's site for the Aureal cards... Also I think (but not sure) Cirrus Logic makes a AC97 chipset (I can hear the EWW's right now) that is used in a pretty nifty sound card by VideoLogic that has multiple AC97 codecs for doing multi-speaker (surround... I forget now) But I do recall it mentioning something about offloading MP3 decoding to the sound card (Forget the typical AC97 "winmodem" style sound card)

    I think it's actually a requirement for AC97 codec designers to have that option, I remember a C-Media chip (used in the BookPC's) that in the manual for the BookPC it mentioned optical out or something. (I don't have it anymore)

    Though in the C-Media Windows driver it's there (S/PDIF out)

    I think the SBLIVE by default is set Digital out always on, and has an option to disable the analog instead.

    (DON'T BE FOOLED, THE OLD BOXED SBLIVE DOES NOT HAVE THE DIGITAL OUT. IF IN DOUBT, GET THE X-GAMER MODEL. It's exactly the same except has gold plated connectors and an Digital CD connector)

    BTW... if anyone missed it, there is (in windows 2000 at least) an option to use DIGITAL audio mode... It works on IDE drives (and SCSI with less reliabiliy) but tends to skip easier. You can use this instead or if you have more than 1 CD drive and only 1 CD-Audio cable. (Like I do)

    Ja ne.

  • Put the monitor at an angle *under the glass*

    I can't draw a picture, but Dillinger's big-ass desk(tm) from TRON is what I'm talking about. Then use a wireless video transmitter/receiver to put it on the TV screen....

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