Do I need to upgrde PowerDVD to 4.0? (1 Viewer)

[Terry Wysocki]

I got a Liteon DVD player and it came with PowerDVD 3.0 2 channel and I have a Audiphile 2496 sound card with digital out. Do I need to upgrade to PowerDVD 4.0 multichannel version to get all I should out of a DVD? The upgrade will cost about $55 (I think I could buy the whole program outright for less than that).

 

[Ray Chuang]

You can get a copy of PowerDVD XP 4.0 legitimately for US$49.95 from Cyberlink directly at www.gocyberlink.com .
I highly recommend this program, especially if you have an AGP graphics card of very recent vintage.

 

[Terry Wysocki]

The version for $49.95 is the 2-channel version (I already have the 3.0 2-channel version). I think I need the "Deluxe" version for $69.95 which "includes DTS Digital Surround and SRS TruSurround XT audio features, which are not available on the Standard version". I have a Radeon 7500 64mb card. Wouldn't I want the DTS Digital Surround from the Deluxe version?

 

[Cliff Watson]

Terry,

You don't need the Deluxe version of PowerDVD XP because the Audiophile 2496 does not have 5.1 channel analog outputs.

All versions of PowerDVD XP will pass DD/DTS through the S/PDIF output.

You can upgrade 3.0 2-channel to 4.0 XP for $29.95.

 

[Glen_L]

Terry,

The multichannel version does the decoding in software and has the ability to send the decoded signals through a card such as M-Audio's 410's analog outs. If you're using your 2496's S/PDIF to send the signal to a receiver or pre/pro to decode, there's no reason for you to buy the Deluxe version (assuming you don't want DPL II, SRS, or the other DSPs).

 

[Glen_L]

Hmm, it looks like Cliff beat me to the punch, it seems he and I are interested in the same couple of threads tonight . To add something more to this thread, you might want to consider picking up PowerDVD XP from Digital Connection. Seems like a hell of a deal--you can get the multichannel version for $19 or even lower if you buy some hardware with it. It's nice to have the actual disc rather than download an XP upgrade file along with yet another CD Key to write down. I wish this deal was around a month or so ago :frowning:, but such is the nature of the beast that is HTPC, I suppose.