There aren’t many options for HTPC owners if they want lossless 7.1 surround sound from DTS-HD MA or Dolby HD.  The problem is the lossless audio codecs like DTS-HD and Dolby HD require HDMI connections, and most video cards having DVI connections. Even video cards with HDMI need drivers capable of PAP decryption.  There are some motherboards with HDMI, but the reviews weren’t that good so I decided to go with Asus’s Xonar HDAV1.3. The card is pricey, but it comes with Total Media Theater Blu-ray software which is around $70 anyway.

The TMT software sold me and I purchased the card. Install was simple with a PCIe slot needed. HDMI signals need video to work so there is a cable that comes with the card to bring the DVI signal from my video card into the Xonar HDMI input. I then connected the HDMI out of the Xonar to my Denon receiver.

I didn’t get any sound at first and my desktop size was all messed up when I first started the computer (I was using component signal before). After resizing the desktop to 720p I went and installed Xonar’s latest driver off their website. Still no sound after a restart, but I now was able to use the Xonar configuration program to update the settings. After a little while, I figures out I needed the settings set to HDMI and 7.1 surround sound speakers. I also set the PCM to 192 kHz. The important setting I forgot in the beginning was going to the control panel and changing Window’s speaker setting to 7.1 surround sound. I did manage to get sound after that.

I installed the TMT blu-ray player software and changed the audio setting to ‘HDMI’ which allows HDMI pass-through. This is important because I wanted bit streaming from my HTPC to the receiver so the Denon receiver could do the audio decoding. Sure enough, I got the “DTS-HD MA” display on my receiver when I played a blu-ray movie. At last, 7.1 surround sound from my HTPC.

However, there are a couple issues I’m still trying to figure out. One is I can’t play any regular DVDs with the TMT software. My TV immediately turns to snow if I play one and I have to restart the computer. The second problem is more significant as I’m getting HDMI sync issues. If I switch from my HTPC to my PS3 and back to my HTPC …then I get a black screen. There was a period where I couldn’t get the black screen to go away even with multiple reboots. I finally switched DVI inputs on my card and I got video. The HDMI sync issues could be a deal breaker if it keeps continuing. I’ll see as time goes on.

So how many cables do you need to connect a HDTV, PS3, receiver, speakers, HTPC, Wii, and a cable box together? The answer is huge amount! Here is a list of all the cables I bought:

• HDMI 1.3a (15 feet) x3
• HDMI 1.3a (6 feet) x2
• Toslink optical (6 feet) x 2
• Toslink optical (25 feet) x 1
• Component (25 feet) x1
• Component (6 feet) x2
• Coaxial (25 feet) x2
• Coaxial (6 feet) x2
• Red/white RCA analog (25 feet) x3
• Red/white RCA analog (6 feet) x2
• S-video (25 feet) x2
• S-video (6 feet) x2

My Denon 3808 receiver has a ton of inputs so I went a little overboard and connected everything together. For example, I ran a HDMI, component, composite, optical, and red/white analog audio cables from my cable box to the receiver. I only really needed the single HDMI cable, but I sometimes get HDMI sync issues due to the cable box’s new DVR software so I have component as a backup. I have a standard def composite cables connected because my receiver won’t down sample video to a second zone. The no down-sampling is also why I ran red/white cables from every component to my receiver.

By the way, I saw a Best Buy ad that had a 10 foot Monster HDMI cable for sale for only $109! If you can’t sense my sarcasm, just know that I bought all the cables listed above for under the price of 2 Monster HDMI cables. I got all my cables from Monoprice.com. They have high quality cables for great prices.

Now that I have a receiver, my next purchase was to get some decent speakers. I’ve been using hand-me down speakers for the past few years and they were in a plain 2.1 setup. My family room (aka. my home theater room) is setup perfectly for a 7.1 surround sound system. My couch is about eight feet from the back wall which is around the distance Dolby recommends for the back speakers. I also had walls on the side which let me install the other two surround sound speakers.

I had my eye on Definitive Technology’s bipolar speakers for years now so when I saw a set of BP7006 speakers on sale as an open box item, I went for it. I’m not a fan of hearing sound come from a specific speaker so that’s why bipolar speakers have always interested me. The Def Techs also have built-in subwoofers so that was one less speaker I had to purchase and find a place for. I convinced the store manager to sell me the ProCenter 1000 center speaker as an open box item to so I was able to complete my front speaker set.

It is ideal to have all seven speakers come from one company. However, the Wife-Acceptance-Factor came into play here and aesthetics was real important. I had to make sure the surround speaker weren’t noticeable which means the colors had to blend in with the wall. Unfortunately, Def Tech’s surround speakers are big and brown so they were not an option.

Instead, I went with the Axiom QS4 v2 for my side speakers. Axiom allows custom colors to match your paint. Continuing my anti-directional theme, the QS4 speakers are dipole, which means they output sound to the side of the speakers. This is supposed to simulate a real movie theater in how multiple side speakers are along the theater walls.

I was running out of money so I went with Polk OWM3 for the rear speakers. Nothing fancy here, the OWM3 speakers are simple directional speakers which is what is recommended by Dolby.

After having all these speakers for over a month, I have to say I couldn’t be happier. Going from a cheap 2.1 setup to a midrange 7.1 setup made a huge difference when watching movies and TV. I feel like sound is everywhere when I’m watching movies. The speakers have proven to me that everyone should look at sound quality as much as they look at video quality.

Looking for a new receiver? So was I until I finally purchased one last month. I’ve been saving for a long time so I can afford a mid-high level receiver. There are a large amount of features to look for in a receiver as they are an important piece of a home theater network. Here is list of the features that were important to me:

• 7.1 surround sound output with a minimum of 100W/channel. I’m going to have a 7.1 speaker setup so this is a must.
• Minimum of 3 HDMI inputs. One for a cable box, PS3, and a HTPC. I would like an extra one for my HD DVD player too but I could live without it.
• HDMI 1.3a capable so the receiver can accept 7.1 signals.
• Dolby TruHD and DTS HD MA decoding support. No point in having a 7.1 surround sound speaker system if I can’t decode a true 7.1 source.
• Network controllable. I need this so I can run my AutoHTN program.
• An independent second zone with audio and video output. This is so I can finish watching a DVD or a DVRed show in my bedroom or office.
• A third zone output used for my porch speakers.
• 1080p HDMI upconversion output so I only need a single HDMI input on my TV.
• Multi-channel pre-out used for an amplifier (one day).
• Dynamic volume control. I can’t stand how loud commercials get and this feature keeps everything at the same volume.
• A built-in Audyssey speaker calibration program.

The network controllable feature limited my choices to Denon. I asked around, but no other manufacturer had the options to send commands through a home network. I decided on the Denon 3808 and have been more than happy with it. The ‘09 models were coming out so I was able to find the 3808 for a discounted price, and it was able to do everything I listed above.

I’ll post back with a detailed review of the 3808 soon. In the mean time, here are some pics of the all the cables going to the receiver.

I’m in the middle of a big home remodeling project where we’re changing the floors for most of the house. We also decided to paint the whole house and remove the baseboards. The missing baseboards worked out perfectly because it gave me a chance to hide some speaker wires. I just shoved them underneath the drywall, and when we were done painting and tiling, we installed the previous baseboards back with the speaker cables behind them. So for those of you planning on redoing your floors, you might want to think about removing the baseboards. It’s a perfect time to run some hidden Ethernet, speaker, or any other type of cable.

A couple of months ago, my xv6700 PDA phone crashed for the final time. Not that I’m complaining because it gave me a great excuse to buy a new phone. I went with Samsung’s i760, and it’s been a significant improvement. The simple feature of having number buttons on the front of the phone is a something I’ve missed since I bought the xv6700 more than 2 years ago. To dial a phone number on the xv6700, I would have to use the touch screen which my fingers were too big for, or use the slideout QWERTY keyboard which was a pain. As the picture shows below, the i760 has number buttons on the front of the phone so now entering phone numbers is as easy as entering numbers on a regular phone.

The xv6700 was one of the first PDA phones Verizon offered with Wi-Fi capabilities. I refused to pay the $50/month for a data package so Wi-Fi was important. The xv6700 wasn’t too bad of a phone as it was able to do all the PDA phone functions I could ask for. Where the i760 excels is in reliability. I had the i760 for 2 months now and it has crashed on me once. The xv6700 with Windows Mobile 5 would crash weekly. Windows Mobile 6 on the i760 seems to be more stable, at least so far.

The i760 seems to be faster and more responsive than the xv6700. The i760 also has a significantly louder speaker, is thinner, and has built-in Microsoft Voice command features. It’s pretty cool speaking out “What are my appointments” and hearing a response. I didn’t have to teach the phone my voice which is a big time saver.

In the end, the i760 may delay my future Android phone purchase. Arguably, the i760 is one of the best phones out there today.

It’s been almost three years since I built my first HTPC. Seems so long ago, but back then, dual-core processors were just coming out. Here are the components I bought for my second HTPC:

1. Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz Dual-Core Processor
2. GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Intel P35 Intel Motherboard
3. XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Video Card
4. Western Digital 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB (x2 for RAID-0)
5. Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM 8MB
6. Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) SDRAM DDR2 800
7. SeaSonic S12 Energy Plus 650W Power Supply
8. LITE-ON Black 12X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM

I kept my case, DVD writer, and HDTV capture card from my original HTPC, and used them for my second HTPC. The two 250GB drives are for my RAID-O configuration with Window’s XP, while the 500GB drive is used to play around with Ubuntu and LinuxMCE. My last power supply was louder than I would have liked which is why I went with SeaSonic’s power supply. After two month of testing the system, SeaSonic’s power supply is as quiet as all the reviewers say. Last, but not least, is the addition of a Blu-ray drive. So far, the Blu-ray movies I tried with it work, but I am worried about the BS BD+ encryption starting to show up on some movies.

Performance wise, this HTPC screams. I run games such as BioShock and Call of Duty 4 at maximum settings and get no glitches or noticeable frame drops. DVD upscaling with ffdshow is around 40% CPU usage using only one processor. Also, my family and I have found ourselves using the HTPC more with the additional online video content. NBC and ABC have started streaming their shows online, and ABC’s quality is impressive as it looks near HD. Even Netflix started streaming select movies online with high quality video and basically no wait to start. Netflix will also send out Blu-ray movies at no additional charge, which is where the Blu-ray ROM has come in handy.

So far, so good. Hopefully this HTPC will last us another three years.

My first HTPC started out as a plain old office PC. I was still in the TV on the box days so I didn’t have a home theater. Hence, the “HT” from HTPC had to be dropped. However, I did build the PC with the intentions of connecting it to a HDTV one day. I also built my HTPC-to-be with the intention of placing it in my home theater room so I made sure the case was worthy of displaying. I settled on Cooler Masters TAC-T01-E1C “Wave Master” which is pictured to the right. HTPC style cases were tempting, but slightly out of my price range. The Wave Master was cheaper, and didn’t look like a standard PC case with its hidden blue LEDs and its curvy shape.

After I picked my case, I started looking for video cards. I didn’t know if my HDTV would have DVI inputs so I made sure I picked a video card with a component output. I picked ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro, which was a pretty fast card three years ago. In fact, it’s still pretty fast today as it plays Half Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Command and Conquer 3 at high graphic levels.

Half Life 2 was also why I went with AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ processor. All the tests back then showed Half Life 2 performed the best with AMD processors and ATI cards. Can you tell I’m a diehard Half Life fan?

It’s been three years so I don’t remember why I picked Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard, but it does have built-in 5.1 surround sound. Too bad I never got to put them to good use.

I decided to buy a HDTV capture card so I wouldn’t have to look for a HDTV with a built-in tuner. I picked Macro Image Technology’s MyHD MDP-130 capture card because it had built-in hardware encoding. Therefore, I wouldn’t have to slow down my processor speed whenever I was recording a TV show. This is important if you’re recording a HD show and upscaling a DVD at the same time.

I knew DVD viewing would be a primary function of my HTPC so I looked for a quiet DVD-ROM drive. Sony’s 16x DDU1613 did the trick as I have never noticed any sound coming from the DVD drive. To burn DVDs, I bought Sony’s DVD+/-RW 16x DRU710A dual burner.

To speed things up, I went with a RAID 0 configuration. RAID 0 will almost double your hard drives read/write speeds, but the chance of hard drive failure is increased two-fold. I didn’t see this as a problem since I back up my data all the time. To get the RAID 0 configuration, I purchased two of Maxtor’s 200GB SATA hard drives.

For keyboard and mouse, I used Logitech’s Cordless Elite Duo. It’s Bluetooth so I knew I could easily get the 15 feet range I would need.

In summary, here are the computer parts for my first HTPC:

• Cooler Master’s TAC-T01-E1C Wave Master case
• ATI’s Radeon X800 Pro video card
• Macro Image Technology’s MyHD MDP-130 capture card
• AMD’s Athlon 64 3500+ CPU
• Asus A8V Deluxe motherboard
• Sony’s 16x DDU1613 DVD-ROM
• Sony’s DVD+/-RW 16x DRU710A dual burner
• Maxtor’s 200GB SATA hard drive (x2)
• Logitech’s Corless Elite Duo
• Window’s XP
• APEVIA Chameleon ATX-AS550W power supply
• 512MB DDR400 RAM (x2)

A picture of my HTPC with the HDTV I eventually purchased is shown in my Home Theater Room Connections post.