I was just browsing over at newegg and notice they have a card that does live DD encoding. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16829127001 I was wondering if anyone has tried this card out yet.


Brand BlueGears/HDA Digital
Model XMYSTIQUE7.1
Audio core
Audio Chipset C-Media CMI 8768+
Channels 8 (7.1)
Sample Rate 96KHz
Digital Audio 24-bit
Hardware Decode Dolby Digital EX, DTS-EX
Ports
SPDIF In Yes
SPDIF Out Coaxial RCA and Optical Toslink
MIC In Yes
Spec
Interface PCI
Operating Systems Supported 98SE/ME/2000/Server2003/XP operating system with DirectX 9.0a
System Requirements Intel Pentium III 800MHz CPU or equivalent CPU
Motherboard with above level CPU support
At least 256MB of RAM
One available PCI 2.1 or higher spec compliant PCI slot
16Pin MIDI_IO Header for supporting MPU-401 MIDI UART Port
Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/Server2003/XP operating system with DirectX 9.0a
Hardisc Drive supporting UDMA 66/100 and 5400rpm
Active 2ch speakers / Headphone or 5.1ch/7.1ch Speakers with powered amplifier
Features
Features Supports Dolby Digital Live Real-Time Contents Encoder / The World First Dolby Digital Live Certificated PCI Audio Board
Supports the latest DTS-ES, DD-EX sound (6.1/7.1) playback (also including Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 playback) with Software Decoding Application like as PowerDVD, WinDVD
Supports 44.1 kHz / 48kHz / 96kHz S/PDIF Output through both Coaxial RCA and Optical Toslink
Onboard COAXIAL RCA output connector, OPTICAL Toslink trasmitter for high quality Digital Output
Supports 44.1kHz / 48kHz / 96kHz S/PDIF Input with HDA X-10 Digital Input extension board (Optional)[Digital I/O (SPDIF-IN #2)]

I would also be interested in anyone's real world experiences with this card. I was looking into the Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1 LT and the Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space, but neither card is readily available in the U.S. In fact, I can't find them anywhere! This card might be exactly what I'm looking for.

I found a short but somewhat informative review here. I also found a handful of similar discussions over at the ArsTechnica forums: here, and here. There were a few more threads that mentiond the X-Mystique, but I didn't have time to read them. The two threads I linked to do mention some reviews as well, but again, I didn't have time to go through them.

I hope this helps a bit. I have to find out more about this card myself. I never thought finding the right sound card would be so difficult!

As far as I know, CMI chips have always featured built-in D/A & A/D converters of poor quality, compared to what can be found on prosumer sound cards. I have no personal experience with this one, but I'd be careful.

It would be nice if it were a good card, though.