software Dolby / DTS / THX decoding?

dubrichie · 18th November 2006, 08:48 PM

alrighty,

this may not be the right forum for this, but i figure that someone here will probably know.

i intend to build a pc-based 5.1 surround home theatre setup using Lynx audio interfaces.

surround encoded (5.1 and up) media playback, either from DVD or hard drive, will be done by some sort of windows-based media player / media centre program.

so, what i need is advice on the available / best programs / codecs that can be used with such programs to achieve this task.

i want to avoid outputting digitally from the computater to a "Home Theatre Integrated Amplifier" type thing with built-in decoding chip(s).

i just want to route each of the output channels from the decoding software (such as a media player of some kind, perhaps utilising third-party codecs of superior quality?) to separate analog outputs of the Lynx interfaces and to feed these directly to power amps and thus on to the speakers.

THX capable / compliant if possible please as i intend to use THX certified M & K speakers. oh yes.

ya dig?

thanks,

regards,

richie.

**Geert van den Berg** · 19th November 2006, 05:23 PM

I am about to do something similar, and I am on the same quest as you...

What I've found working on both PC and Mac is VLC. Though on my PC which is a 1.5 AMD Duron laptop it doesn't work glitch free, on my Mac G4 it does... But you could always try it because it's freeware... http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Another app that worked on the PC is Blaze DVD. But it doesn't decode DTS. http://www.blazevideo.com/ This worked completely glitch free even on my laptop. It outputted everything discrete thru my Mackie Satellite, in a DTS configuration, which is handy because then L-R stays on output 1-2 when it outputs stereo. (VLC does the same thing)
CH 1/2 --> L-R
CH 3/4 --> C-S
CH 5-6 --> LS-RS

Did you find any other apps worth trying?

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18th November 2006, 08:48 PM	#1
dubrichie Lives for gear Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 1,147	software Dolby / DTS / THX decoding? alrighty, this may not be the right forum for this, but i figure that someone here will probably know. i intend to build a pc-based 5.1 surround home theatre setup using Lynx audio interfaces. surround encoded (5.1 and up) media playback, either from DVD or hard drive, will be done by some sort of windows-based media player / media centre program. so, what i need is advice on the available / best programs / codecs that can be used with such programs to achieve this task. i want to avoid outputting digitally from the computater to a "Home Theatre Integrated Amplifier" type thing with built-in decoding chip(s). i just want to route each of the output channels from the decoding software (such as a media player of some kind, perhaps utilising third-party codecs of superior quality?) to separate analog outputs of the Lynx interfaces and to feed these directly to power amps and thus on to the speakers. THX capable / compliant if possible please as i intend to use THX certified M & K speakers. oh yes. ya dig? thanks, regards, richie. __________________ regards, richie. "a paradigm of restraint and good taste at a time of frequent excess"

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19th November 2006, 05:23 PM	#2
Geert van den Berg Mac Moderator Join Date: May 2003 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 2,583	I am about to do something similar, and I am on the same quest as you... What I've found working on both PC and Mac is VLC. Though on my PC which is a 1.5 AMD Duron laptop it doesn't work glitch free, on my Mac G4 it does... But you could always try it because it's freeware... http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Another app that worked on the PC is Blaze DVD. But it doesn't decode DTS. http://www.blazevideo.com/ This worked completely glitch free even on my laptop. It outputted everything discrete thru my Mackie Satellite, in a DTS configuration, which is handy because then L-R stays on output 1-2 when it outputs stereo. (VLC does the same thing) CH 1/2 --> L-R CH 3/4 --> C-S CH 5-6 --> LS-RS Did you find any other apps worth trying?