Home Theater Pre/Pro

[Daveburt714]

Thanks for the comments/info KC & Enigma...

I'm an AMD guy at heart, and things have been pretty boring on that front lately. So, I've been spending money updating my HTPC/Audio set up.
My HTPC's Win7 install was pretty old (~2 years). I've had some weird experiences with it, trying to get WMC to play older video formats without much luck...

The most important thing concerning this thread was the audio card. I installed the XonarDX and didn't notice any improvement while using it (Opt Out).
If I had any intentions of using the 7.1 analog out from the card the results may have been different, but I have to believe the UMC-1's DAC and Dolby processing is better than the Xonar DX's...

Anyway, going by the age of my Win7 install, and the fact that things got even more screwy after installing the DX/drivers, I decided to do a fresh OS install and start from scratch...
Since this will be a 24/7 machine, I'm sure I'll save a little power consumption by not having the add in sound card, especially considering I didn't see any benefit (for my use).

I tried the jRiver Media Center software:
http://www.jriver.com/download.html
It has a 30day free trial, and after playing with it, I'm going to go ahead and purchase it ($50).
It plays all the older files WMC wouldn't, Dl's the covers for most stuff, and plays everything I through at it...
It has problems doing TV (using my HDHomerun Prime), but it's really impressed me with movies and music, and after a fresh install it doesn't mess with WMC on the HDTV front...

I know XS isn't a Home theater site, but, I've been a regular here for quite awhile, and I like music&Movies too!

Here's what I've spent all my money on lately (>$1000):
Pre/Pro: Emotiva UMC-1
AMP: Emotiva UPA-500
Speakers: Paradigm Monitor 9 v7's
Blu-Ray: Sony S-5100

I'm a sad photographer, but here's a pics of my new gear/speakers.
It sounds frikken GREAT for movies and Music!: