It figures that I can't get bit-for-bit accuracy...that would be too much to ask for! I think that I am willing to sacrifice a little sound quality for the convenience of using a HTPC, though. Still sounds darn good to my ears...
With a new iCore i3 or i5, and the proper software you can bitstream movies with Windows 7, as far as music goes from within WMC, I'm not sure. but I can tell you its not far off, if not there yet. The windows audio masher is not in control anymore. there is an audio processor on the chip, a video processor too
