[Val]

I am glad I switched to PC audio as the future keeps getting closer; I just ordered a AMD dual core 4800+ and 2GB memory sticks to prepare my silent computer for the job to come. At last I'll be setting up my system in a couple of weeks and will surely check this:

Windows Vista Team Blog

[Marbles]

I'm using my PC as a transport...it looks like I might have to get a GREAT soundcard so I can use it as a pre-amp and an HTPC.

This is actually pretty good news.

[jermmd]

Wow, the potential is enormous. One of the reasons I sold my Tact was because it was clear that room correction, parametric EQ, and bass management was becoming mainstream. It will be better and cheaper in the not too distant future. And the HTPC will be the primary pre-pro for many people. I hope Vista does it right.

[mr_bill]

When is Vista set to release?

How would I use this in my two channel system?  I have a SB3 and would the computer become the preamp/processor and then hook into my amps?  (computers don't have balanced outputs, but changing a sound card would do it????)

Thanks for the news - especially since I'm considering buying a Tact 2.2x right now!

Any comments appreciated,
Bill

[woodsyi]

Potentially great news.  Realistically I am not expecting any panacea right away.......

[tonyptony]

If it's going to be anything like Microsoft's version of Color Management then I will expect it to be pretty substandard.

[Rashiki]

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like the Vista room correction is roughly the equivalent of the room correction that comes with most $500 home theater receivers, i.e. adjusting levels and delays for each speaker to get the right balance in the listener's position. It doesn't appear to do any sort of equalization to help with the peaks and valleys caused by reflections.

 -Rob

[bpape]

They kind of imply that part of the room correction will be to try to compensate for timbre mismatches between speakers. 

Bryan

[flintstone]

Here is a long thread about it at the avsforum with some answers.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=713073


Dave

[klh]

It's nice to have an insider with good info!

I'm a bit leary, though. MSFT is full of hype, but most of their releases are full of bugs and glitches (BTW, I own MSFT stock from the mid 80's so I'm not anti-MSFT). Some freinds and I built a PC a couple years ago with Audigy's best sound card. I also got a high end video card (don't remember the name). It was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but the audio out was mediocre and the video out was horrible. That experience left me with jaded feelings towards HTPCs. Hopefully things have changed.

For those of you who have HTPCs, how much does a decent one cost, and do you put them together or do you order them preassembled? I have a local PC/network guy for my business and I could order through him.

It seems like Vista is has a lot of capability built in, but we'll have to wait for software app's to be written that can fully utilize it. A new state-of-the-art HTPC with Vista will likely be available in 6 months or so. It would be nice to have a HD-DVD drive on a Vista based PC that has top-notch video and sound cards (that are specifically written for Vista and have HDMI input and output ports that pass multichannel audio). Do you think a HTPC of that nature would have the upcoversion capability of the Toshiba players?

[Loftprojection]

When is Vista set to release?

How would I use this in my two channel system?  I have a SB3 and would the computer become the preamp/processor and then hook into my amps?  (computers don't have balanced outputs, but changing a sound card would do it????)

Thanks for the news - especially since I'm considering buying a Tact 2.2x right now!

Any comments appreciated,
Bill

If you are using a Squeezebox already, no need to wait for Vista, check this out:

http://inguzaudio.com/RoomCorrection/
http://www.duffroomcorrection.com/wiki/User:Hpyle
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24519