Hardware Analysis Community Forums http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38919/ 2009-01-08T09:11:56-05:00 http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38919/ http://media.hardwareanalysis.com/halogo.gif text/html 2005-02-02T17:59:57-05:00 D Harley http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/38919/#0 It's unfortunate that Nvidia's software doesn't support the Via EnvyHT/HT-S chip found on many sound cards. Some might wonder why this is an issue with MCE so here it is.<br /> 1.) The Envy chip allows for bit perfect playback of digital sources which is a good thing when coupled with ASIO4ALL and S/PDIF outputs. While the 7.1 surround solution is not equal to Creative's with hardware DSP, the 2 channel Wolfson DAC on most Envy based carsds also provides bit perfect playback via analog out.<br /> 2.) The popular Creative solution does not and resamples via hardware unavoidably. A 44.1Khz source(most audio cd's) to 48Khz. This is not a good thing from an audiophile perspective. The Creative solution's are great for gaming with quality 7.1 analog and EAX1-4 support but how many MCE systems are going to be used for heavy gaming??? <br /> <br /> I don't recall seeing an icon for gaming on the MCE desktop but I do believe there is one for music.