Subject: RE: [linux-audio-dev] [OT] Can RME HDSP Multiface be used for 5.1 Dolby or 7.1 Dolby Surround output?
From: Ivica Bukvic (ico_AT_fuse.net)
Date: Mon Apr 29 2002 - 05:36:40 EEST
> The Hammerfall drivers work and have done for at least 2 years. The
> H-DSP driver, which is mostly a modification of the Hammerfall driver,
> should be ready by the middle of next week unless there are unexpected
> suprises.
Apologies for a misleading statement. I did not mean to say that
Hammerfall drivers are not available for Linux, but rather that HDSP
drivers are not (since I was referring to the Multiface). But your news
regarding the driver surely sound awesome to my ears :-) !
I, however did find something regarding AC-3 stuff in the Multiface
manual, but am not sure as to what does it exactly refer to. The whole
pdf file can be found here:
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/download/mfwin_e.pdf
Here's the snippet:
8.3 DVD-Playback (AC-3/DTS) under MME
When using popular DVD software player like WinDVD and PowerDVD, their
audio data stream
can be send to any AC-3/DTS capable receiver, using the HDSP's SPDIF
output. For this to
work the SPDIF output wave device has to be selected in 'Control
Panel/Sounds and
Multimedia/Audio'. Also check 'use preferred device only'.
You will notice that the DVD software's audio properties now allow to
use 'SPDIF Out' or to
'activate SPDIF output'. When selecting these, the software will
transfer the non-decoded
digital multichannel data stream using the RME card.
This 'SPDIF' signal sounds like chopped noise at highest level.
Therefore check 'Non-audio' in
the card's Settings dialog, to prevent most SPDIF receivers from
accepting the signal, and to
prevent any attached equipment from being damaged.
Setting the card to be used as system playback device is against common
sense, as
professional cards are not specialized to play back system sounds, and
shouldn't be disturbed
by system events. To prevent this, be sure to re-assign this setting
after usage, or to disable
any system sounds (tab Sounds, scheme 'No audio').
Note: The DVD player will be synced backwards from the RME card. This
means when using
AutoSync and/or word clock, the playback speed and pitch follows the
incoming clock signal.
Also, check this one:
The audio bit in the header can be set to 'Non-Audio'. This is necessary
when Dolby AC-3
encoded data is sent to external decoders (surround-sound receivers,
television sets etc. with
AC-3 digital inputs), as these decoders would otherwise not recognize
the data as AC-3.
Anyhow, I am still not sure whether this can actually do 5.1 or 4.1 or
7.1.
Thank you for your help. Any additional insight would be greatly
appreciated!
Ico
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Mon Apr 29 2002 - 05:35:26 EEST