computer sound card for home theatre

I'm in the process of building a home theatre with axiom speakers. Let's say this is my setup:

receiver : Denon 1602
fronts: M22
center: vp100
rears: M3

now all I need is a player, though I have been thinking of not spending 1000$ on a seperate player and using my computer as a player.

Does anyone know a good DVD ROM drive and sound card to use with an optical out to connect it to my receiver that will actually produce good sound?
If anyone is currently using their computer as a player for either or both CD's and DVD's, it would be great to know your setup (sound card, video card, DVD ROM drive, any wires you need). Also, if you could comment on how good it sounds compared to a regular CD or DVD player, such as the Cambridge DVD 300, which I am considering buying.

Thanks for all your responses!!!

I am not sure I would follow the route you have asked about. While the mechanisms of a CD/DVD assembly may be the same in computer and audio/video models, there would be vast differences in the rest of the components that complete the assembly.

Remember, the source should not be taken lightly, as it is the most critical component of a system. If music is not decoded, or video is not decoded from the media, the downstream components cannot replace the missing information. Don't let anyone tell you that speakers can add the missing sound, or a televison can replace missing picture elements.

If you are after background music, there are several high quality sound cards available. Simply search the internet. I have heard capable models from Creative, Turtle Beach (although I am not sure they are still around). Aureal had a very good model, I am not sure of their availability.

The best card without a question for HTPCs is the Audiophile 2496 from midiman. This is also for playing mp3's from the computer and for spdif passthrough. Other cards resample the 44.1 bitrate of CDs to 48 which supposedly degrades sound quality.

I've been looking at this issue myself. You can get a dvd player that plays mp3 for under $200 and it's arguably more convenient to use. So why need a HTPC for basic stuff?

Lots more information at the home theater forum at avsforum

Swami

A good site for PC cards is:
http://www.soundcardcentral.com/default.shtml

Professional cards exist, but would cost well beyond a decent DVD or CD player.

I would guess that the $200 piece you mention would be very...enthusiastic at attemtping to reproduce a quality signal. It would be a budget interim step at most.

You can find a good review comparing a high-end "consumer" card and a "professional" card at:
http://www4.tomshardware.com/video/02q1/020115/index.html

He compares the Creative Audigy Platinum and the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96, comparably priced cards.
The professional card companies have recognized the niche market of home theater computers.They are all putting out cards that have exceptional sound qualities. They simply do not incorporate the full features that a recording artist would use and so can offer them at a price competitive with high-end consumer cards.

The M-Audio 410 and Audiophile 24/96, ($199/$179),are very popular cards on the Home Theater Computers Forum at http://www.avsforum.com which was mentioned in an earlier post.

thanks cdrakejr

i'm checking this out right now. The AVSFORUM does have some good info on pc soundcards. Right now, I am thinking of buying the 2496 midiman, but I might go for the Game Theatre XP by guillemot since it is MUCH cheaper.

Personally, I am unimpressed with the Audigy and wil never buy Creative Labs products anymore. The last good thing they had was a 52x CD ROM that was 50$ about two years ago.

If anyone is using a soundcard for home theatre, or music, let me know! I'd like to hear peoples' opinions on how well they sound coming out of Axiom speakers.

Glad you're finding avsforum helpful, although I find it a little overwhelming at times since I'm not "technically astute".
Another very good site for sound card reviews is 3D SoundSurge. Their reviews are thorough and lengthy. They break down their reviews into the different uses of the card, DVD playback being one of them so you should find that helpful.
They have a very good review of the Game Theater XP that I would consider a must if you are seriously considering one:
http://www.3dss.com/reviews/GameTheaterXP/gtxp-p9.html

Be sure to check out their other reviews, but set aside a couple of hours reading time.

I run a GTXP as my sound card. IMHO, it kills any creative labs product (I am biased against them, so take it with a grain of salt). Personally, I do not look to my PC to do decent two channel recording... I leave that to other sources. For surround on the PC, the only way to go appears to be the Midiman 410. I am buying one imminently. It is in a league above the GTXP on paper.

I will likely keep my GTXP for gaming. I think the breakout box is very nice.

mdl.

cdrakejr,

I work with computers so I do not find it technically overwhelming. I actually prefer as much technical mumbo jumbo as possible!
I am most likely going to buy the Game Theatre XP. I, however, am looking for a good price. In canada, it's 230$ CAD with taxes.
I hear, however, that the GTXP is not a true 6 channel sound card, though I will only use it for the optical out and stream all the info into my Denon.

Do you or MBL have a good experience using the optical out? Does it compare well to a DVD or CD player that costs a few hundred dollars?

Thanks for the input, guys!

MDL,

how has your GTXP worked using the optical out to simply stream the multi channel audio and have it decoded by another source?

What I want to do is use an optical cable and plug it into my Denon, and let the Denon do ALL the decoding. I just need the GTXP to carry the digits. I also like the USB and game port features it has.

I used the coax out. Given all you want is straight passthru, it worked well. Note the GTXP will do 6.1 decoding, you need the proper driver and player for this though.

If all you want is the optical or coax out, you need not get the GTXP. I will say your price of 230 is pretty high (that is what I paid over a year ago). I see it discounted to around 130 these days.

mdl.

I just bought a Cmedia 8738 chipset based soundcard for $20 from ebay. search for chaintech/zoltrix/audioexcel. Installed the latest drivers from cmedia and I get 44.1KHz mp3 and 48KHz DTS/DD on Windows 2000. Am pleasantly surprised. The guys at avsforum insist that jitter in the cheaper cards makes it sound worse, but when I get a pair of golden ears I'll buy the 2496.

MDL,

where have you seen it for 130$ CAD?
If I see it at that price, i'll buy it immediately!

thanks.

The dreaded future shop near me was selling them for $129.

mdl