# Ideas needed for HTPC Audio



## coastie (May 29, 2009)

Hello Gentleman, I am a long time HTPC enthusiast and need a little advice. My Home theater and HTPC setup is of the living room variety, it is our one source for everything, and I have been trying to figure out a way top up the ante and make it a complete replacement for my UMC-1 for processing (may keep it as stand alone multichannel DAC in Pure Direct mode), as well as add DRC without several DAC>ADC>DAC conversions in the signal path. I know, I know, the holy grail many have sought. Before someone says JRiver, I am already familiar, and the main problem I keep running into with JRiver and everything else is up mixing 2 or 5.1 to 7.1 and sending it as LPCM when streaming. May sound ridiculous to some of you purists with dedicated rooms, but as our one source we also stream a lot of Netflix, Hulu, you tube, etc., and I really appreciate PLIIx when doing so. Not to mention my whole family who is not as tech savvy as myself also use this and they don't want to fiddle with it. I need set it and forget it. So here are my main Problems:

1) The UMC-1 does not post process LPCM, and I am having trouble finding any info on units that do. That means if I set up my HDMI out as 7.1 and a 2 channel source plays, I get 2.1 and 5 empty channels as PLIIx wont kick in with LPCM. I have to go to the audio control panel and change the HDMI configuration to match the the number of source channels each time. So when playing BD with 7.1 source I have to change it to 7.1, when a 5.1 source I have to change it to 5.1 for PLIIx to extrapolate the 2 rears, and same for 2 channel. not family friendly at all. fixing this would be step one.

2) My idea for DRC is the Minidsp Nano AVR in-between the HTPC and UMC-1. But again, any upmixing will have to be done prior to leaving the HTPC or the nano wont work, as it only excepts LPCM. If I intended to use the UMC-1 for the PLIIx conversion and a 2 channel source plays, filters would be applied to 2 channels, which means filters for my fronts would be applied to surrounds and center when the UMC-1 applies PLIIx. not good. could use an analog card and the minidsp 8x8, but I am hoping to skip the extra ADC>DAC step and not downgrade to a cheap soundcard. It would be really sweet to use the UM-1 in Direct mode, though It has no processing when doing so and the HTPC would be required.

So, aside from analog sound cards, is there a way to use PLIIX or DTS Neo before leaving the computer? an old HDMI soundcard that is now extinct? Nobody uses them and I can find nothing about what I am trying to accomplish. All I read about is their ability to bitstream, which I do not want to do, I want 7.1 24/96 LPCM at all times, save for the few instances when I have the time for 2 channel listening, in which case I don't mind changing settings. I also game a bit and so video is handled by GPU, which has 0 audio processing capabilities. If JRiver could handle WDM audio for streaming and games I would be set, but it only does ASIO/WASAPI. That's all JRiver needs to do to replace the pre/pro for a multipurpose HTPC user like myself. and yes, I have tries the JRiver loopback function, lag is intolerable. Thoughts? sorry for the long post.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

One suggestion - the OPPO BDP 105 .. which will give you audiophile grade multi channel DAC .. 

I use the ASUS HDAV 1.3 Deluxe , but they are a rare find these days...


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

Video cards w HDMI are also sound processors ...what have you found out about their sound capabilities ?


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## coastie (May 29, 2009)

The Oppo is one I have been eyeing for a DAC. You use the HDAV into an Oppo? does it provide PLIIx or DTS Neo as 24/96 PCM or just bitstreaming and dolby live encoding? Those things came and went quickly after GPU's offered audio over HDMI, and all I can find out about them is bitstreaming info from back when that was a big deal. This is really the only solution I can think of. GPU's don't do squat for processing, they only pass through what is processed by other software, like PowerDVD or JRiver, there is no bass management, EQ, decoding, or post processing, making a receiver/processor mandatory. JRiver can do it all and my music sounds awesome with the UMC-1 in direct, but as I said it is limited in the sources it can use and its a little to much for the rest of the fam. I thought when AMD came out with True Audio they were going to open things up. I mean a dedicated audio processor on the GPU that excels in convolution, and no one can touch it except game makers? what a waste of potential.


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