more EAX questions

I can verify that I get 5.1 DD or DTS from games using the callisto. Can't really verify if EAX is active, but the specs say so.

Hi dmm,
Yes, you can output a 5.1 DTS signal through EAX 2.0 with the Callisto.

Hi Mini,

I just gave the Callisto a try and ordered it - I hope it'll be a suitable replacement for my dearly beloved Nforce2 Soundstorm, which performed flawlessly over optical S/PDIF - never a crash, never static or popping, working passthrough, etc. But the old NF7-S mobo needed to retire finally.

My question is what your experience is with the Callisto. I see three areas of concern, all of which concern the digital DDL or DTS output:

1.) USB. Unprovoked audio interruption, which reportedly can occur on USB audio solutions. Did you observe any? These can occur especially when you unplug something else from USB, but of course this is understandable and avoidable. My greater concern is if the audio works well during normal operation.

2.) Audio corruption during heavy gaming. For example, at the height of a firefight the regular sounds turns into repetitive static until you exit the game. I have personally observed this on the earlier C-Media chip which created the DDL signals (8768+, from the X-Mystique), and I hear it can occur on later chips (8788+) as well. Not sure if this is a driver or hardware issue, but it might happen to the Callisto too. Did you observe any of this?

3.) Latency. I loved my Soundstorm for its convenience, but during gaming I was sometimes annoyed that digitally transmitted sounds were delayed by up to 130 ms in DDL mode on my old HTPC Dolby Receiver (Samsung HT-DB600), and more if the receiver lost sync (which can be quickly rectified by switching to a different source and back to S/PDIF). My research into this has shown that this is to 90% a receiver issue, chiefly because a newer and better HTPC receiver (JVC RX-D301) reduced this digital sound signal delay significantly, down to 60ms or so. So while I think that most if not all the DDL latency seems to be produced during decoding in the receiver on my soundstorm, there is always a chance that the encoding step takes too much time as well. What is your overall impression of latency? When you fire a gun in a game, does the "bang" appear to be pretty much instantaneous, or is it clearly delayed?

I hope my post not only poses questions, but also gives some answers. I look forwards to getting some feedback.

Thanks!
Stanford, California

Hi gustep,
In my Callisto tests, I've never had a problem with #1 or 2, nor have I heard any complaints.

For #3, there is unavoidable latency on both the PC and receiver sides of a DDL audio connection, as a result of the encoding and decoding of the bitstream format. However, in my experience, usually 80-90% of the latency comes from the receiver's end. If you have a quick or even average receiver, I'm sure you will not find latency to be a problem with the Callisto.

Of course, I am a little biased in my opinions- hopefully mini will chime in with some of his own personal feedback.