K.I.L.E.R said:
Hoo, boy...
Support 32K/44.1K/48K/96KHz S/PDIF output
Does this mean I can listen to music at 96KHz instead of 48KHz?
Yes, but you typically won't hear any difference, especially if the source audio is not actually recorded at 96kHz frequency.
Simply put, you need at least 2 samples to accurately describe a waveform; as analog audio is a voltage swing up and down, you'd want a sample when it goes up and one when it goes down. So 96kHz sample frequency is capable of describing sound frequencies up to 48kHz, but as human hearing only reaches up to roughly 20kHz (and that's for a teenager), we can't take advantage of it anyway. It's mostly a "bulletpoint" kind of feature on consumer hardware. For professionals it is probably much more useful though, but they wouldn't buy a mobo with this chip on it.
# Support 32K/44.1K/48KHz S/PDIF input
What's SPDIF input and output?
SPDIF = Sony-Philips Digital InterFace; digital serial link originally meant to carry 44.1kHz CD audio, obviously extended since to higher frequencies. In and out means what you'd expect, ie input is for recording purposes and out goes to your digital receiver (or speaker amplifier in case of analog signals).
# EAXâ„¢ 1.0 & 2.0 compatible
# Direct Sound 3Dâ„¢ compatible
# A3Dâ„¢ compatible
# I3DL2 compatible
# HRTF 3D positional audio
# Sensauraâ„¢ 3D enhancement (optional)
Is this supported in hardware or software?
If it doesn't say we won't know. Typically with el-cheapo sound chips, some will be software and some will be hardware. The more complicated the operation the likelier it is it's software, so straight directsound playback might be hardware accelerated, directsound 3D might not. I don't know which is the case here. You could sort of find out by running an audio benchmark such as Rightmark 3DSound on it for example...
LINE input shared with surround out, MIC input shared with Center and LFE out (FlexJack®)
What does this mean?
Exactly what it says.
It means if you want to plug in a mic you'll have to unplug your center/subwoofer audio plug, as both functions share the same physical connector (to cut costs and reduce space needed on the backplate of the PC), if you use a PC surround sound system with three analog stereo connections.
Code:
6-Bit volume control for Front-Out, Surround-Out, and CEN/LFE-Out
What does this mean?
Again, exactly what it says. You have a volume control with 6 bits of precision. Two to the power of six equals 64, so you've got 64 levels of volume on the rear surround and center/sub channels. This is inconsequential, they mention it just to hopefully make you feel impressed.
# Six-channel DA converters with variable rate
# Two pairs of stereo AD converters with variable rate
Again, I have no idea what this means.
It basically means nothing you need to worry about. It's just gobbledygook meant to impress people, in the same vein such as attaching a fancy marketing name to a feature on a 3D card ("Ultrashadow", for example). All it means is there are digital-to-analog converters that can be set to variable sample rates, something that is required to comply with today's audio standards anyway. It's like trying to brag a car has four wheels.
