From another post I see you can passthrough DD/DTS from DVDs if the correct option is set in the S/PDIF output of the Callisto. However the online manual says that the S/PDIF modes are Dolby Digital Live, DTS Interactive (is that the same as DTS Connect?) or 48kHz PCM, I assume then 48kHz is the correct mode and the DD/DTS lights will light up on my receiver if I send those signals through the Callisto when it's set to 48kHz PCM? Note that I certainly don't want to RE-encode my already lossy DD/DTS stream using Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect! :P
Lots of people are going to ask this question as DD/DTS passthrough via optical S/PDIF is a key HTPC goal, it may be worth adding a section to the online manual to address the question explicitly!
I'm not sure I fully
I'm not sure I fully understand your question- hopefully the following will help...
-Callisto can only output one bitstream at a time between DDL, DTS, and PCM.
-If you are playing back say, a DTS stream, you will want to make sure that Callisto's output mode is set to DTS Interactive so that it will pass it through. Otherwise the stream will simply not be passed through at all. The lossy formats are never re-encoded, only passed through.
And yes, DTS Interactive is part of DTS Connect, along with DTS Neo:PC, which is also included with both Callisto and Inferno.
Hope this helps,
Aaron
That's great news Aaron, it
That's great news Aaron, it wasn't clear from the manual that if Callisto were set to DDL mode for example that it would passthrough DD, I'm glad the device is smart enough to not re-encode an already lossy signal.
If I have the control panel
If I have the control panel set to DTS connect...And I send a 2 Channel PCM signal out. Will the callisto pass thru the PCM or will it reencode it to DTS 2.0?
What I would like to do is to set the control panel to DTS Connect and have the Callisto do the following:
Incoming Audio Signal--->Callisto output:
2 channel PCM--->2 channel PCM passthru
DTS---->DTS pass thru
DD--->DD pass thru
all other audio----->DTS connect encoding
Only one output format
Only one output format can be sent over SPDIF at a time. Since multiple audio streams (and formats) could be played simultaneously from the PC, you have to pick an output format and all output will be in that format. You can, of course, change the output mode at any time.
So, if DTS Interactive is set as the output format, it works as follows:
2 channel PCM -> DTS
DTS -> DTS pass-through only
DD -> no output, you have to set the Output mode to DDL for this to be passed through
all other audio -> encoded to DTS
Hope this helps,
Aaron
thanks for clarifying the
thanks for clarifying the audio processing performed by the device.
Do you have any plans to add more inteligence to to the driver to auto recognize the audio streams and auto change to the correct mode?
specifcially to fix this mode:
"DD -> no output, you have to set the Output mode to DDL for this to be passed through"
It is actually a pretty
It is actually a pretty difficult problem- especially when you consider that there could (in theory) be a DTS and a DD stream being input to the driver simultaneously. How would the driver know which stream to output in this case? Remember that only one format (PCM/DD/DTS) can be output at a time.
not to sound too trite...but
not to sound too trite...but my panasonic reciver has no trouble auto recognizing and switching to the right mode on a SPDIF input signal betweeen PCM, DTS and DD.
That's correct, but with
That's correct, but with your receiver you are explicitly telling it which input to take, and it can only process one input at a time.
On a PC there could be multiple sources sending different formats at the same time, so it becomes necessary to explicitly state the output mode.
you guys are great, thanks
you guys are great, thanks for being patient and supplying us with answers to our questions.
No problem, my pleasure! :^)
No problem, my pleasure! :^)
Thanks!
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Mapping when DTS output is selected:
2 channel PCM -> DTS
DTS -> DTS pass-through only
DD -> no output, you have to set the Output mode to DDL for this to be passed through
all other audio -> encoded to DTS
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Thanks for that answer, this is a logical and good solution! I wish all answers could be so clear!
Stanford, California
So I plan on buying one of
So I plan on buying one of these cards and hooking it up to a toshiba notebook with vista home premium. Will movies play properly and Passthrough 5.1 Dolby digital and/or 5.1 DTS?
Are there any issues I may run into with the VISTA operating system? Will this device work as plugNplay or do I need to install a special VISTA driver?
I am mainly interested in the home theater aspect of the device to passthrough digital sound for my movies.
Hi PWIZARD, 5.1 DD/DTS
Hi PWIZARD,
5.1 DD/DTS passthrough work fine in Vista. You need a driver to activate the Dolby and DTS features (like DDL and DTS output). If you just want 2 channel output, you can use it plug and play without a driver.
The drivers are still "betas" as there are still some issues, mostly with Vista x64. Browse the forums and you will see what other issues have been encountered in the past.
Hope that helps,
Aaron
USB 2.0 or 1.1?(2 more
Aaron,
USB 2.0 or 1.1?(2 more questions)
1. Is the sondigo callisto usb 2.0 or 1.1?; and do you think this will make any difference in playing back a dts interactive or ddl signal in games,etc?
2. In playback of movies, will there be prior encoding of the dolby digital/dts sound, or will it allow the digital data to be passthrough to an external AV reciever so it can do the decoding? (I am hoping the later-to get the most pure signal to an AV reciever-for movies.--I think this was asked already but I just want to confirm this.:)
Thanks for the answers to these questions!
Hi PWIZARD, 1) USB 1.1, as
Hi PWIZARD,
1) USB 1.1, as its bandwidth is fine for DDL/DTS/2ch PCM.
2) For movie playback, the Callisto will just pass through any already-encoded DD/DTS stream to the receiver. Just make sure that your software DVD player has SPDIF or "Digital" output mode enabled, rather than "Analog" or "Speakers". Otherwise the software DVD player will decode the audio itself.