Windstorm

Haha you call yourself Motohead and you can't loosen a screw??? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

You would set the decoder to 4 speaker mode, just like a software decoder. Then the sub and center outs will not be used. It would really depend on the specific decoder though - for example if you do this with the ADS2000 it will not mix the .1 (LFE) channel, so you will lose it. But it will still be a lot better than just stereo. I'm not too familiar with QMSS decoders but I imagine they wil work similarly. ------------------ "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" -Albert Einstein

You would need a digital output to use such a decoder - if your laptop has SPDIF out you can use the midiland ads2000 for example, but I'm not sure a lot of laptops have a SPDIF out. Otherwise you could use a QMSS decoder to get simulated 5.1 from stereo. Some people think QMSS sounds better than Dolby Digital, but it is not true 5.1. Search for QMSS decoder and you shoud find some.

HAHAHA!!!!! I'm surprised they're not banned in Canada, I mean, what's stopping me from dropping the sub on someone's head?? ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

If you're going to spend that much cash buy a LCD projector, Sony makes some (I forget the model number) for about $2200, and you will have an 80 inch screen for movies. (bigger if you room is longer!) ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I don't think the Hollywood+ allows you to downmix to 4 speakers. To get 4 speaker sound with the Hollywood+ buy a decoder and connect it with the spdif out. I am buying an ADS2000 from MidiLand, but I also have an extra sub to use. If you don't want to buy a dd decoder and your pc is fast enough just get rid of the H+ and use software - WinDVD multichannel is very nice, win win9x/me. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I'm looking for a good speaker to use as a center - preferrably powered, good quality, something that would blend well with the pros. I can solder an amp board to an unpowered sat, but would rather have a powered one. Suggestions regarding make/model would be appreciated. I don't think using a set of 2.1 would be the best solution - just look at all the posts regarding hooking it up; also my friend is building a sub for me so I don't need that.

From what I heard there is no way to decode ac3 with the hollywood plus, unless you use the spdif out to an external decoder you can only get stereo. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Do you know if I can use a 5.1 sound card to do the downmixing with the radeon? In other words, can ati's player send ac3 to the sound card? I haven't decided which sound card yet, it'll be either a sblive 5.1 or an acoustic edge. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I was inteding to buy a TV tuner card, but since a good one is about $200(cdn), I thought it would be better to buy this card instead, since it also has DVD decoding and would be a step up from my TNT2. Does anyone have experience with this card? My main concern is DVD decoding, especially surround sound. Will I be able to downmix properly into 4 speakers with this card, or are there any quirks (such as with hollywood+)?

You could keep the 4.1s, then buy either a 6 channel sound card or a DD decoder (like the ADS2000, this way you will also have a remote). Since both of these output 6 channels you can keep the pros, keep your sub for the sub channel, and use one of your other speakers for the center. You will have true 5.1 with 2 subs that way. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I've seen them too, but nobody seemed to solve the problem... I don't think its the drivers, because PowerDVD works, but it does not downmix the LFE channel so I would like to use WinDVD... Guess its time to go ***** at InterVideo.

Tried both, nothing.

I just switched to win2k, now I do not get surround sound with winDVD, instead the front gets sent to both front and rear speakers. It is set for 4 speaker mode, and the WinDVD control box shows 4.1 channel. It worked fine under WinME, also Power DVD works fine. All my sound card settings appear correctly set. Any ideas? Sound Blaster live value with LiveWare 3.0 Win DVD 2.3 or 2.6 Multichannel

Does anyone know of any software package which can be used to model sound dispersion in a room?

Thanks Baz, there is a lot of neat software on that page. I'm also going to post in the home audio section of the bb. Ha ha you're going to love cable... I can't live wo my dsl. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I'd imagine it would be pretty expensive... and CPU hungry as well. It would still be neat to get something like that thoughm just to experiment, if nothing else. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Does anybody know of any software package that can model sound dispersion in a room, given, say, a CAD drawing? It would be the bomb for finding speaker placement... ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

Man I hate it when companies won't ship to Canada... (Hint, hint!) Globalization, people!!!!!

Go to you device manager, in the properties of your cdrom drives try unchecking the digital CD audio checkbox ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

This is no problem, as long as there is good metal-to-metal contact in the plug. Normal speaker cables don't have any tips at all. They are just there so it won't unravel. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I agree with rschauer.. My friend has the cambridge dtt2500 and although the sound quality sucks, DVD surround sound is much more noticeable/effective than with my pros. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I have the slot version and it seems a little quieter than tray... also looks neater All in all its a fast drive. Faster than my old Kenwood True52X. Had it for a while and no reliability problems. It can do DAE at 12X as reported by Adaptec Ezcreator. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

No mod on the orb.. It's a classic athlon. Had to solder some wires onto the PCB for L2 cache control, now my cache is fried, I have to run Wcpua every time I boot to turn it on. Oh well, win some lose some. I won't bother replacing the HSF, I already made a waterblock so as soon as my buddy pulls the heater core out of his car I can finish the setup. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

I would use 98SE if I had the chance.. but it wouldn't let me use DMA on my CDROM drives. I think it was a conflict with my SCSI card. ------------------ Caring is the first step toward disappointment.