opportunity to listen to MP3 are missing out on the difference.
Now computers are much more powerful, the media has much more capacity and interfaces support much higher data rates and compression is falling out of fashion. Audiophiles and video enthusiasts categorically state that important stuff is lost with compression; they can see and hear the loss of quality. Herald the arrival of High Definition lossless audio with DTS-HD Master Audio and TrueHD (only HDMI1.3 supports the bit streaming of the lossless high definition formats as-is for decoding in an external DSP). DVD-Audio or SACD are also lossless standards which are essentially the same as CD but at a higher sampling rate and greater bit depth at 192KHz/24-bit.
How do I choose which HTPC is right for me?
Home Theatre PC’s have all the same variables as a regular PC you need to make sure that at a minimum there is:
enough memory (4GB at least), a 64-bit operating system (so Windows Vista or 7), a modern dual core processor, a DVB tuner card for TV programmes, a quiet case with good cooling that supports standard sized components so it’s easy to upgrade, an HDCP compliant graphics card with Blu-Ray decoding video acceleration (PureVideo or AVIVO) and an HDMI output, a good quality, low-noise soundcard with HDMI1.3 support if you need DTS-HD Master Audio or TrueHD, enough storage for your music, photo and video library and live TV recordings, at least 1TB (1000GB), and finally a good quality Blu-Ray player that also supports HD-DVD, DVD and CD, as you require.
How do I setup my HTPC with an existing system?
The versatility of an HTPC almost makes it possible to integrate it into an existing Hi-fi or Home