High resolution Audio playback

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iml3g3nd

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can anyone tell me what pc hardware is required to play high resolution audio , lossless formats like DTS HD MA!
 
~ Edited ! ~

btw..do u have any sound card? if not then buy Xonar Dx or something...if u really want too listen some high def. thing.. then download Foobar and mod it with Wasapi ! :)

Go Google for Wasapi !
 
WolVerIn[E] said:
high resolutions :rofl: Its high definition not "Resolution" . Resolution is for pictures, movies etc....

btw..do u have any sound card? if not then buy Xonar Dx or something...if u really want too listen some high def. thing.. then download Foobar and mod it with Wasapi ! :)

Go Google for Wasapi !
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Given that you are spewing nonsense and asking the OP to 'go google', how about, you yourself 'go google' for what resolution means in terms of audio.
 
WolVerIn[E] said:
high resolutions :rofl: Its high definition not "Resolution" . Resolution is for pictures, movies etc....
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Resolution is still very applicable for audio saar.
For example 24 bit audio has more 'resolution' 16 bit :)

to the OP, you need something with 24 bit DAC's , and if possible 96Khz playback support.

EDIT: and ooh, get some capable speakers/headphones. if you are listening on some crappy creative SBS , it will all sound the same
 
iml3g3nd said:
can anyone tell me what pc hardware is required to play high resolution audio , lossless formats like DTS HD MA!
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first up you'll need the content. And content like this can only be purchased in Blu-ray format as of now. I am not aware of any music download services which sell this high res audio content.

So first up, get a Blu-ray drive.

Lets talk about some HD/High Res audio formats here.

Dolby TrueHD audiotracks may carry up to 24 bit audio in up to 8 discrete audio channels at 96 kHz or up to 2 channels at 192 kHz. The maximum encoded bitrate is 18 Mbit/s (the same as the uncompressed rate).

LPCM LPCM audio is coded using a combination of various parameters - such as resolution/sample size (e.g. 8, 16, 20, 24 bit, etc), frequency/sample rate (e.g. 8000, 11025, 16000, 22050, 24000, 32000, 44100, 48000 Hz / "samples per second", etc), sign (signed or unsigned), number of channels (monaural, stereo, quadrophonic, etc) and interleaving of channels, byte order (little endian, big endian)

DTS-HD High Resolution Up to 7.1 channels of sound at a 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit depth resolution.

DTS HD MA Same resolution as Dolby TrueHD.

To provide this kind of bandwidth a traditional coax or Toslink will not suffice and you will either need to go analog with decoding on the PC or HDMI with a receiver which could deal with these signals.

The card that first comes to mind with this requirements is the Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe with the daughter board with multichannel analog outs (The main soundboard only has an HDMI and stereo outs).

With content and electronics out of the picture, you will need a capable delivery mechanism to achieve the kind of resolution you are after. A run off the mill speaker setup wont make the cut.

Rest of the explanation related to adequately high-res minimum coloring amplification and matching speakers to do the duty is best left to Cranky/Chaos/Greenie to answer.

PS: How many times did I mention resolution/res here?
 
HD audio formats can be played by PC by two methods :

Analog: any modern sound card/ onboard chip capable of 24/192 playback supports this.

Digital transport :

Coaxial/spdif : Doesn't support the multichannel HD audio content but most modern DAC can handle 2 channel 24/96 or 24/192 audio depending on design.

HDMI :again two methods



a) bit streaming : sends digital data directly to AVR capable of decoding HD audio formats.

b) multichannel LPCM : The PC converts the HD audio to LPCM & that data is sent over HDMI to an AVR .

It should have been this simple , if it wasn't for the copyright laws.

So , Windows vista/seven will downres to 16/48 any protected HD audio content which does not follow PAP(protected audio path).

Here-in comes the need for dedicated soundcards supporting PAP like Xonar HDAV, Auzentech Home theater HD etc.
 
^^ Yes the same card. No cheaper alternative unless you want to play using analog outs. You can even do with an onboard solution but then that defeats the purpose of high res audio doesn't it.

Another middle of the road alternative would be the Xonar DX using analog outs.
 
On a self pwnage spree today? :P

WolVerIn[E] said:
To the guy who said resolution is 16 bit, 24bit...Dude, these are the bit depths !
Click to expand...

Wikipedia said:
In digital audio, bit depth describes the number of bits of information recorded for each sample. Bit depth directly corresponds to the resolution of each sample in a set of digital audio data. Common examples of bit depth include CD quality audio, which is recorded at 16 bits, and DVD-Audio, which can support up to 24-bit audio.
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Source
 
I'll still suggest him that he buys a good sound card first ! and then invest into headphones.. buying headphones and having them on an onboard audio wont sound good at all !...

Or

Buy some good headphones and then buy a NuForce uDAC ! it will seriously help !

Rest depends on budget !

@ sarang

Thanx buddie but I read it already ! :p

My bad day i guess !
 
my vote for headphone first.

vinod, go pick up dominator's cans if you have the $$ :P

my vote for headphone first.
vinod, go pick up dominator's cans if you have the $$ :P
 
if its for movies, get an audigy value (~2K)

And any decent headphone ( again, the SHP9000)

if for music, get a usb DAC +amp+ headphone ?
 
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