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need sound card capable of pvr-350 analog input -> SPDIF
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6079		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  bbarnett [ Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:13 am ]
Post subject:  need sound card capable of pvr-350 analog input -> SPDIF
I've just installed a PVR-350, and man am I happy with the output. My geforce4 was a piece of crap, output wise, compared to the beauty of real interlaced output from this PVR-350.

Anyhow, nothing is without pain, and here's mine. My sis7012 chipset works fine for SPDIF output to my amp, but does not have (as far as I can tell) the hardware capability to convert the PVR-350 analog input into SPDIF on the fly...

I've seen another post here where someone is successfully using a Chaintech Av-710 to do just that. Any other solution is a PITA, since any sound buff wants SPDIF for mplayer output, and heck.. one cable is nicer to run that two analogs anyhow. ;)

So, does anyone else have any success stories for cards with this capability? Local retailers don't seem to have the Chyaintech in stock, and I'd rather not special order something in.. just in case it doesn't work and I have to return it.

I'm sure there are a few PVR-350 guys doing this... what sound card are you using?

(NOTE: just noticed that the above card has optical out, and not coaxial digital out.. I'm hunting for coaxial out.. an RCA cable is a heck of a lot cheaper in 50ft length compared to an optical, and is what I am already using.)
Author:  bbarnett [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:10 am ]
Post subject:  bah!
So many responses! It is hard for me to believe that I am the _only_ person using SPDIF output to their amp. If so, it speaks very poorly for the type of output that people using MythTV are looking for.

Anyhow, the sis7012 does support this functionality, but it is an either or. That is, you can either have analog inputs routed through hardware to the SPDIF output.. or you can have PCM routed. That's acceptable, except that my current SiS motherboard has (documented) DMA issues under high load, and I've forsaken it for an intel based chipset. I've been burned by via (oh, so many times) garbage, and burned by SiS for the second time now.

So, in my search I purchased a cheapo c-media based 8738 soundcard. It does not seem to have the ability to convert analog -> spdif on the fly, unfortunately. Unless I report differently, don't buy a card with such a chipset, for use with something akin to the PVR-350.

Does _anyone_ out there have a currently working sound card (not motherboard based) solution that is relatively cheap, and does analog input -> spdif output on the fly? The cheaper the better, since my analog input is just stereo input anyhow, and SPDIF is just poured directly to my amp for decoding.

A fancy 7.1 sound card is just a waste of money for anyone that uses their amp to decode an SPDIF signal...
Author:  Xsecrets [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:46 am ]
Post subject: 
sure lots of us use spdif out, myself included, however what I do not use is either a separate sound card or any sort of tvcard that requires audio input. I use spdif output from the onboard sound on my Abit AS8 several people use spdif from nforce2 boards, what I haven't seen is trying to do the pvr350 passthrough the soundcard using spdif, though I'm sure someone is doing it.
Author:  bbarnett [ Sat Sep 24, 2005 10:01 am ]
Post subject:  hardware analog input -> SPDIF output
Fair enough, I guess.. although with the 350 seeming a much better solution at this point (as it is more stable now), this may be an important topic down the road.

Perhaps we can make this or another thread sticky, and start a list of acceptable and unacceptable chips/cards? Even those buying on board sound chips, might want to keep 350 output and SPDIF as a future option down the road...
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