I have my PC rigged to send audio out to my HT system via digital coax from a Midiman 2496 card. Usually I use kernal streaming from foobarf2k for playback.I've ripped some HDCDs to .wav using EAC, which preserves the HDCD information. Now, to play them back with proper decoding AIUI I have a couple of options.

-- playback via f2k, then digital out to an HDCD-decoding receiver - not an option for me sin ce my receiver doesn't do HDCD decoding

-- playback via Windows Media Player with HDCD decoding, then analog out to the receiver. (Does WMP9 or 10 actually recognize HDCD encoding from .wav files?). Possible, but I prefer to stick with f2k.

But --- is there another option? Can something like Total Recorder capture a decoded HDCD stream from WMP10 while still in the digital domain, and store it as a .wav? Or does recording a decoded HDCD stream have to include an analog step e.g., running a signal path like this:

HDCD-encoded .wav --> Windows Media Player w/HDCD decoding--> soundcard analog out --> soundcard analog in --> digital recording to .wav via Audition etc.


Finally, would using the 2496's *digital* out and *digital* in, in the latter path, keep the stream entirely digital, or is there an A/D -- D/A conversion in there somewhere?

FWIW, I've determined through experiment that WMP 9 won't recognize a .wav file ripped from an HDCD disc as HDCD encoded, unless it's converted back to .cda. So that limits my options a bit further.

Have you tried ripping your HDCD with EAC as a WAV/Cue sheet combo, loading the CUE sheet into DAEMON Tools, and playing the virtual HDCD with WMP9? I'm not sure whether this would facilitate more of what you need, but it would allow you to work with perfect rips withouth having to re-burn them to disc.

- M.