Auzentech joins the HD audio HTPC party

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 1st 2009 at 8:48PM

It wasn't that long ago that there wasn't a way for Blu-ray fans to enjoy the latest and greatest audio encoded with TrueHD and DTS-HD on their home theater PCs and now there are about to be two. That's thanks to the fact that Auzentech is going to start shipping its X-FI HomeTheater HD sound card by the end of July -- no word on the price. Unfortunately just like the ASUS Xonar before it, you'll still need a separate video card for a complete solution. From there you'll connect the X-FI to your HDTV via HDMI 1.3 to enjoy your choice of bitstream or PCM lossless audio. You can even use analog outputs if you desire as well as other sources. We're really happy to see some competition in this space, but still wonder how long before you'll be able to just buy a video card that can do both.

Filed under: Media PCs

Tags: Auzentech, Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD Sound Card, AuzentechX-fiHometheaterHdSoundCard, DTS-HD, HDMI 1.3, Hdmi1.3, TrueHD, X-Fi HomeTheater HD, X-fiHometheaterHd

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Highly Ranked

Nick @ Jul 1st 2009 9:12PM

Wait, so this thing is actually going to ship? This has been delayed and listed as "Coming Soon" for like a year and a half. If the price isn't too bad, I might have to pick one of these up...

Neutral

Mikinho @ Jul 1st 2009 9:59PM

I've been using an engineering sample for a while now and I've been very happy with it.

Neutral

NorthCranky @ Jul 1st 2009 10:03PM

"but still wonder how long before you'll be able to just buy a video card that can do both."

You irk me so bad.

Thus far, every video card I looked at with hdmi I said "No. No. This is C R A P."

Neutral

Joel @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:21AM

How many times has this card suppose to have been shipping before?

For a second I thought it was shipping already.

I'm not sure this card will EVER be released.

Neutral

Rupan III @ Jul 1st 2009 11:02PM

What, the Zii hasn't come to our rescue on this yet?

Neutral

Jeremy W @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:58AM

The company's name is Auzentech, emphasis on the u.

Neutral

Dy Phan @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:02AM

The release problem hasn't been with the hardware, but the software you need to watch blu-ray. You can find out more on the Auzentech and Arcsoft forums.

Neutral

Jon @ Jul 2nd 2009 8:26AM

Do you need to connect it to the Video card or will it just know ? And would you use the HDMI from the sound card or the video card ? ..

Neutral

Mike @ Jul 2nd 2009 9:25AM

You connect the output of your video card to this audio card's HDMI input and then connect the sound card's HDMI output to your HDTV or receiver.

Neutral

PaulF @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:02PM

ArcSoft 2 decoding to analog and outputting through a Xonar D2X to an SR606....good enough for me. 16/48 is fine...what number of movies use more than 16/48 out there? (I'm seriously asking...I don't know).

PF

Neutral

Erwin Lee @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:07PM

From a Canadian website: NCIX.com, this product is selling for $299.99 CDN with out of stock status(as shipping for retail versions aren't until the end of July).

Neutral

andy @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:05PM

Don't all of the ATI 4xxx cards output LPCM? That's not bitstream, but it is just the decoded 7.1 lossless audio.

Neutral

Andy @ Jul 3rd 2009 9:03AM

Well it would be lossless except that 7.1 LPCM is downcoverted to 16 bit 48KHz by players due to licensing restrictions, and the lack of a PAV path. The only way to get full bit perfect quality from a HTPC today is the Auzentech or Asus Xonar route and have your surround amp handle the decoding.

The PS3 can do 7.1 LPCM full quality, but that's because it isn't a PC, and was developed by Sony.

Neutral

James R @ Jul 25th 2009 9:41PM

For the author... I really don't want sound on my video card or vice versa. Sure if you're going to keep the digital bit stream it's do able, but if you deal with analog source or outputs then the board route needs to be as noise free as possible, which is difficult if you've got 600MHz+ multiprocessor video chips and wide data paths to deal with on the same board as your poor helpless audio, not to mention 'interrupt' sharing on a serial bus card with video which is a hog. As is, probably 1/3rd or more of the board is for analog channel isolation and it really needs to stay that way. Give me two (or three) cards any day; as long as my audio is on one by itself, I can pretend I remain true to my audiophile roots.

Neutral

Ernest @ Aug 29th 2009 12:14PM

The worlds first live review of the product is out. It is the most awesome sound card built thus far. I was invited to show the product before any major retailer or company. As my home theater business is growing this will now become the emphasis on our business. The PC as a True media center. There is NO other device, Blue ray player or PS3 which does not give you true hd sound it decodes its own sound down sampled to Dolby Digital or DTS.
Here is the live review, there are 3 videos I posted on youtube. 1 the unboxing, 2 the installation, 3 the demonstration. You will find the links in the More info section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rtOJ3n1fws

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