DTS-CD A New Horizon?

[QUADradial]

I'm wondering..have any of you read the hoopla over the new Windows Media 9 player? It supports multichannel sound now. If I get a few moments, I might give it a try and see how large the files are. Maybe it would be a fairly decent way of uploading stuff to the web and newsgroups. At least it would be a new way for others to get into quad sound...that can't be a bad thing.

 

[QM]

Hmmm... I'm a bit skeptical of anything from Microsoft, especially if the audio quality varies with genre. I'm glad to hear you have volunteered to check it out for us.

QM

 

[JonUrban]

They even have a plug in for ENCODING the 6.1 music!! Check this link out. It may really be a "new horizon"!

Hopefully, it won't be the "SQ" with DTS being the "CD-4".

www.srslabs.com/windows_media.asp

:-jon

 

[Bob Romano]

I guess the only way to enjoy the 5.1 or 6.1 sound is if you have speakers hooked up to your computer directly. I tried listening to their samples (which are supposed to be surround) but using the SPDIF out of my sound card all I got was stereo. It doesn't seem to be compatible with DD 5.1 or DTS.

Am I wrong??

Bob

 

[QUADradial]

I quickly found out that you need WinXP to do any of this. I'm out...

 

[AllAroundSurround]

I'm out also! ... Oh well!
Rob

 

[QM]

Aw shucks! Just when I thought I was going to get something for free. I love it when other people experiment with Microsloth products and tell me what they have learned. Like I said, I knew there was a catch... audio quality does vary with OS genre!

 

[MCunningham]

Interesting news story on the Surround Pro website about this. Look for the news lead "The Web Goes Surround with Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 Series" on the following link. The interesting part is that Peter Gabriel's upcoming album, UP will be released for download in 5.1 surround in this new format on Sept 25th.

Surround Proffesional

 

[JonUrban]

You guys should not fear XP. It is an outstanding OS, and the "activation" feature is really not as bad as it was originally made out to be. I have had HD failures and replaced my entire PC, and had no problem reactivating the software (including Office XP).

It is a solid OS, and probably the best OS MS has ever released. I have had ZERO compatibility problems with it, in every aspect of DTS conversions. Even old SF4.5 w/CD Architect works fine!

Of course, for those of you who hate MS, what can I say???

Extra Unsolicited Comment: When you think about it, to create any OS that is going to run on every god-awful pile of crap created from junk parts in someone's basement, it IS pretty amazing that Windows "x" (any version) actually runs. If we had to buy our PCs from MS (like Apples), the OS could not help but be rock solid.

:-jon

 

[Cai Campbell]

I upgraded my main machine from ME to XP. Overall, it ran well but out of the blue it would just lock up on me for no apparent reason. It did this way too often, but I was too lazy to do anything about it. I put up with that crap for almost a year before I finally broke down and formatted the hard drive and did a clean install of XP from scratch. Since then, I have had zero problems. It is incredibly stable.

I've heard similar XP upgrade stories. Everyone I talk to says not to bother with an upgrade. You really need to do a clean install from scratch or you won't be getting that famed stability...

However, for my recording machine, I'm still using ME. I'm still using my Gadget Labs sound card. I'm too cheap to upgrade. I wish there were Windows 2000 drivers available for it. Oh well. One of these days I'll break down and get a newer sound card that is actually supported.

 

[JonUrban]

Cai, you are, of course, correct. There is nothing like a "clean" install. For those of us who are computer literate, doing a clean install is not that big of a deal. For those who do not like the thought, WinXP has a real neat feature that will copy all of your settings, your favorites, your email archive, and desktop, etc. to a storage device. This will allow you to clean install WinXP, then reinstall the custom stuff into the new OS.

I did this on my mothers PC, and it actually was pretty cool. (For me, I do it myself!)

 

[proufo]

I have been a Mac man since the first Fat Mac in 1984. Evangelist and Mac maniac.

But I'm so frustrated at the new Mac OSX that I wonder why should I bother learning a new non-mainstream OS.

OSX makes beginners of all of us Mac experts. It has nothing to do with the old Mac OS.

Opposite to the current Apple switching campaign, I kinda believe now is the time to surrender to Windows or to do a bold move and jump to Linux.

 

[ferrocene1]

Dude, OSX IS Linux. Well, no, it's FreeBSD. Darwin, to be exact. I have IceWM running on OSX transparently on the desktop. In one cool looking screenshot, I have Mozilla for linux and mozilla for MacOSX running side by side on the same desktop. It has a command prompt, which is what no mac os has ever had. A true console, where I can ping, traceroute, whois and nslookup to my heart's content. I installed fink which lets you download packages really easily, kinda like apt-get to you debian folks.

Anyways, it's not even my machine, it's just a test bed at work, but I have fun playing with it. Might as well get OSX Jaguar and load your window manager of choice, cause that's a hell of a lot easier than 100% linux from scratch to someone who's new at it.

check out xdarwin.org, where you can download xfree86 onto osx (darwin). xfree86.org has some info as well.

www.xdarwin.org/screenshots/

screenshots of XonX...

 

[proufo]

Hello ferrocene and thanks for your reply.

> Dude, OSX IS Linux. Well, no, it's FreeBSD. Darwin, to be exact.

Sure. What I mean is that there's a learning effort involved in any switch, especially if you require to go beyond the interface and solve problems. Might be more sensible to take the opportunity and go mainstream.

 

[QUADradial]

Oh, I love XP...but my motherboard hates it. My wifes machine uses it and it screams. Plus, it's rock solid. I need to put in some new hardware, but I've got other projects I need to do first.

 

[AllAroundSurround]

I'd like to go XP but that would leave out my one sound card Gadget Labs Wave Pro8/24, but my Creamware Luna II 24/96 would be o.k. I also wish someone would come up with new drivers for the now defunct Gadget Labs Sound Cards! I know alot of people who bought them where left holding the bag when they went under, and they have a few sites dedicated to trying to get new drivers , Let's hope it happens as it is a good sound card and was a good price at the time . I got all the bells and whistles ie optical and coax in and out and liked it. But iI went with The LUNA II as it 's got a good future and very adaptable compact in out box , firewire , comes with many mixers and multi-channel mixer and tons of virtual connects.. Great card! I use both so no X.P. for now!
Rob