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Auzentech's HDMI 1.3 X-Fi HomeTheater still coming soon, for $249.99

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 11th 2009 at 12:38PM

Still waiting for an alternative to the ASUS Xonar HDMI 1.3 audio card? Auzentech knows your pain and promises its Creative-powered X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 sound card is on the way in "mid-August." Rather than waiting for actual shipping hardware to lay down your cash, you can, of course, pre-order right now and know that someday bitstreamed or PCM lossless audio from your HTPC will be a reality, though an all-in-one video and audio card is still our most fervent wish. The cost? $249.99, but owners of X-Fi Prelude and X-Meridian sound cards can slash $50 from that price, hit Auzentech's site for the dirty details.

S1Digital to roll out Xonar-equipped HTPCs

by Steven Kim posted Feb 13th 2009 at 3:19AM

S1Digital P500 HTPC
We've seen (and heard) ASUS's Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI card that is able to pass along lossless digital Blu-ray audio up close and personal, so it was only a matter of time before the hardware found its way into a custom-install HTPC. In this case, the first to market might just be S1Digital's P500 Media Center HTPC. As we said after our demo at CES, the ArcSoft + Xonar setup is a little involved, so it's probably a good fit for the custom-install world where integration legwork carries a high premium. S1Digital's free Windows 7 upgrade offer will remove the "instantly obsolete" barrier to entry, so really the only one remaining is that pesky $6,000 entry price. Any other OEMs are welcome to jump in and try to beat S1Digital to market, but we wouldn't count on a much cheaper option just yet.

ASUS demos Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI Deluxe sound card

by Darren Murph posted Dec 16th 2008 at 9:53AM


One might assume that it'd be easy to forget a device that was introduced way back at the front end of this year, but for HTPC owners looking for a reliable way to bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio via HDMI, this one would be impossible to shake from the memory bank. Reportedly, the card went on sale (at least in some parts of the globe) this September, but early adopters were deeply saddened by the unit's inability to bitstream. Thankfully, ASUS has heard the weeping, and it has conjured up new drivers (and the Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI Deluxe) in order to remedy the issue. The crew at TweakTown was able to video a live demonstration in Taiwan, and they came away emphatically impressed. Shoot on down to the read link for a look at what they found.

Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 HDMI sound card does bitstream output from your HTPC

by Darren Murph posted Jun 20th 2008 at 11:33AM

Earlier this month, ASUS introduced the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card." Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative's X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 "accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port." Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. The only digs? For one, pricing remains a mystery, but the real kicker is the September release -- talk about a long wait.

ASUS intros HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound card

by Darren Murph posted Jun 5th 2008 at 8:32AM


Worried about getting lossless digital audio from your BD-playin' HTPC via HDMI, are you? Fret no longer, as ASUS has just introduced your solution at Computex. Hailed as the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card," the Xonar HDAV1.3 is both Protected Audio Playback Systems (PAPS) and Advanced Access Content System (AACS) certified, enabling it to pipe out bitstreamed multi-channel HD audio from Blu-ray Discs through a single cable. Yep, with some help of a special version of ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theater, it's also fully capable of decoding BD titles and taking full advantage of Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio -- not limited to 16bit like previous solutions -- and just so you know, the firm is also offering up a Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe (shown after the cut) which allows users to get 7.1-channels of audio the analog way. Pricing? Pssh -- this is ASUS we're talking about here.

[Via DailyTech]

Continue reading ASUS intros HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound card





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