Was reading this at Intels website:

Intel HD Audio delivers significant improvements over previous generation integrated audio and sound cards. Intel HD Audio hardware is capable of delivering the support and sound quality for up to eight channels at 192 kHz/32-bit quality.

Seems like high quality sound. Anybody here using this? 

 Depends on what you want.  I did a surround recording in 24/192 6 years ago that was pretty spooky.  However, I've my doubts there is any significant info for anybody except 1 in a million above 24/88.2. 

Personally, I've settled on DSF at 1 bit, 2.8mhz as it transcodes transparently (to my ears) all PCM resolutions.  

Then, of course, there is the DAC itself.  I've not heard the Intel chipsets but those who have seem to give them very high marks.  It may well be that the day of the esoteric, expensive, high end soundcard is over.

Given I don't equate high dollar with anything but high dollar, I am all for it. Give it a shot and report.

Dave

The i7 Intel Processor has been on the market now for 6 months or so and its my understanding that the X58 chipset is what you get with that processor. Dell has the i7 in offerings as low as $750.00. I was thinking AMD processor with a soundcard upgrade but it seems going the i7 route makes more sense, even if its overkill processor wise. My 7yr old computer has been giving me fits the last few days and I would like to buy something that could double as a good music server. Yes, I want my cake and eat it too!

JL Sargent:

The i7 Intel Processor has been on the market now for 6 months or so and its my understanding that the X58 chipset is what you get with that processor. Dell has the i7 in offerings as low as $750.00. I was thinking AMD processor with a soundcard upgrade but it seems going the i7 route makes more sense, even if its overkill processor wise. My 7yr old computer has been giving me fits the last few days and I would like to buy something that could double as a good music server. Yes, I want my cake and eat it too!

 

 

By all means, chow down! 

The "Azalia" Intel HD chipset has been around several years and has similar specs.  It's available in various incarnations on much less expensive mobos.  Just be sure you read the fine print about what features are included.  Again, since I have an uber abundance of high end soundcards, I've not purchased a mobo with this set, but I've heard it's pretty awesome.  Here is an Intel list of features:

You might want to compare the Dell to this one...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4899014&sku=B69-1099&SRCCODE=WEM1966C&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM1966-_-components

My company uses Dells and I am not overly impressed with their price/performance. 

Dave

Dave, isn't that incredible? I had a Commodore 64 that could chirp out basic sound when I graduated from H.S. back in 81. I don't think it could do 2 streams at once.  Now this HD chipset can handle 15 in/out streams! That blows me away. Where will it end?      

On comparing those two offerings. 

The Tigerdirect machine does not include a video card or an operating system at that price of $699. But I do like that mobo layout better.

The Dell machine includes both for $50 more at their regular store. I noticed the Dell Outlet will even do you better on scratch/dent deals with the i7 processor. Last night I looked at one there with 6GB ram, 750GB HD, 64bit Vista, for $729.00.  Thats looking hard to beat.

 http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=FXE0TMV8&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22

JL Sargent:

Dave, isn't that incredible? I had a Commodore 64 that could chirp out basic sound when I graduated from H.S. back in 81. I don't think it could do 2 streams at once.  Now this HD chipset can handle 15 in/out streams! That blows me away. Where will it end?      

All things considered, the C64 has not been approached in cost/performance.  At the peak, I saw cowboys going in the KMart and buying motor oil, ammunition, socket sets, and complete C64 systems.  That machine was capable of a bout 90% of all tasks we do right now.  I certainly remember fondly sitting down, flipping the switch in the back, and being ready to word process by the time my fingers got back to the keyboard. 

Such progress we've made!

By 1993 I was working with highly modified Amiga computers on a simulation of the safety systems on offshore oil platforms.  I really don't know how many simultaneous sound streams that machine could support, though since it was a true pre-emptive multitasking OS (something non-existent now, thanks to Apple and MS) it may have been limited only by processor power.  

There was  lot of promise those days of a rosy future.  I really ignored Gates speech about then when he said "I am going to change the way America computes."  Oh well, I don't suppose I could have done anything about it even if I had recognized it for the threat it was.

By the time Win95 came out we were tasked with creating a PC version.  Audio was the first issue we confronted and we were stunned to find that Windoze could only hand 2 channels, and those not very well.  We paid one of Paul Allen's programmers 10k to write an API to handle this, and I've always believed that it found it's way into the SP2 version of WIndoze.  The final PC version had Mpeg 1 video running in a half screen window, usually jerky, and the 256 colors that were the standard for Windoze at that time.  It was a huge letdown from the full screen, full color, smooth operation of the Amiga.  I still have one of those SimStations (ARCO's trademark for our device) that hasn't been touched since 1995.  It still boots perfectly in about 15 seconds and runs circles around my Dell T7400 6k workstation until I simply flip the power switch to turn it off.

I will not likely live to see performance and reliability at the levels we had back then.  We were preparing the next version to be complete VR when the idiots at Commodore decided to rob it and run.  

Dave

I thought Amigas would become the central hub of home entertainment systems...

 Pretty hot, personally I'd prefer the AMD Phenom II, but that'll wait until Christmas.  Ye old local Chinese clone store, the guys that made the video server. 

The only problem you've going to have with a 192mhz sample rate is the digital input you are using,  Most equipment won't accept anythng faster than 48 - 96 mhz in the digital optical input.  Just for kicks I am figuring that to get the best use out of this multimedia I/O box you're going from pin plug to a transducer to optical -> receiver.  I know my Yamaha turns into a straight pipe at speeds above 48mhz, and this is not a really well documented spec, you only know it after you do it.  I use a Creative card so I use the creative software to insure digital output only, then I use the SRS virtual device for a little more punch. I run 24 bit at 48mhz, the card will let me run faster, but the destination port won't accept a faster sampling rate, it 

 Should you use regular output cabling, you are stuck with this limit, and whatever transduver you use will have to go from pin plug to phono plug. There are more elegant soulutions but they are far more costly.

When I bought my present hunk of chips, she was one of the first dual core machine that also supported PCI-E standards.  Ths December she'll retire to the server farm, 2 years and $1500 later.  I added both the  soundcard and the graphics card, the software that came with the onboard was  ok.

Enjoy the process, me I hate to assemble, this was my first Dell, maybe my last, I'd rather have the guys at the local clone store do my assembly, they have just the AMD Phenom II I have been looking for.  Then comes the customization.  My biggest decision is will my current machine turn into a Linux machine when she goes into the farm.

 Good deals are to be had everywhere, the unemployment rate reached 9.5%

The little toy that cuaght my eye has an AMD Phenom II 940,  Nvidia GeForce 9400GT, Creative X-Fi extreme Audio, 3GB DDR2 ram and all the niceites a box can have for $689. It is well...local.  

Colin:

I thought Amigas would become the central hub of home entertainment systems...

No doubt about it.  They would have completely dominated that market.  The originals were RGB NTSC or PAL to start with.  Other modes were added in the later period but it was always about video.  Blitters, sprites, and other tools we could work magic with are completely non-existent and your average young nerd now has no idea what you are talking.  Approximating those things require 100's of time the processor power and time than it did with these systems.

In the last year I would say most every video production house in the country had at least one Amiga, most with the Video Toaster.  "Cheesy toaster effects" was a common industry term used to describe truly extraordinary things that were suddenly possible...and like the abuses the zoom lens brought about were used ad nauseum because "we can."   The Amiga was almost as established in video as the Mac in publishing (though for far more practical reasons) when Commodore decided to commit suicide.

Dave

PS - For those not old enough or experience with the Amiga, let me provide an analogy that may help.  Macs and Wintel started out as office machines for word processing and math.  They are designed for that and do a fine job.  However, trying to do video and multimedia with them compare to the Amiga is like trying to modify an adding machine or typewriter to produce video.  Don't laugh...it's pretty close.

I continue to study these systems and looked also at the AMD Phenom II vs the i7 chip. Guys is it me or does AMD have some serious catching up to do? It looks as though the i7 is breaking world records in benchmark and its direct to ram technology is unprecidented, yet I'm not seeing that much of a price difference. I really have no brand loyalty, just want a good bang for my buck.  

 Been watching the business for eightteen years... AMD and Intel play leapfrog, always have. AMD will bring something to market that outpaces anything Intel is currently fielding, then Intel will return the favor.

This is caused in no small part by having to re-tool billion-dollar fabs each time the CMOS process make smaller traces and transistor counts increase.