A guy told me he has been recording AC3 with a satellite tuner for a couple of years using MyTheatre and the AC3 Filter (codec). I tried this software and was successful playing MPEG or AVI files in AC3 but MyTheatre does not support a cable TV signal. I read that Dolby Labs is licensing hardware for the new digital formats but it seems the manufactures are having issues around the PCIE interface, from what I read this is because audio is sent in small packets and PCIE is designed for very large packets. LifeView has PCIE card that will play or record 4 signals, digital and analog at the same time but after several months on their global site it has not yet available. (EDIT) I just double checked and it looks like Tiger Direct is dropping LifeView. Is there any feedback on the ATI PCIE tuner, or any PCI sound cards with digital in?
I want to build a HTPC around the AMD 64X2 +5000 and found only one MOBO that was AC3 certified and this was done with an optional daughter board (I think it was made by MSI).I have yet to find any reviews of AC3 hardware. What I really would like to see is optical and co-ax in and out so I can toggle from PC and TV.
Thanks
Ra
QUOTE
Regarding your HTPC questions, what outputs do you have on your cable box. That will dictate what is possible.
I wish it was that simple. The provider's PVR has it's own OS so I can add a SATA drive but only as a slave so it won't boot or join a network. It does have an HDMI out but I'm unaware of a PC interface for this. I know I can do AC3 via optical with some other sound card but I'm hopping to confirm that someone is doing this because I have tried a couple of tuner cards and all the different tv softwares/ codecs and can do PCM but not AC3. Some say you can't get there from here but I know this is what Vista will make standard. I just don't want to get OJ'ed by the bleeding edge.