Cheapest way to get Dolby Digital Live! ?

[Cali3350]

I am hooking up a new HTPC and just realized my motherboard does not support Dolby Digital Live (EVGA X58 SLI). This would make my setup much easier, so any recommendations for a cheap but decent discreet card?

 

[Forceman]

Does it have to be Dolby Digital Live? The Asus Xonar DS (~$50) does DTS Connect, which serves the same function. The D1 does DDL, but it is closer to $80. Not sure if any of the cheaper Creative cards supports DDL out of the box.

 

[Cali3350]

The centerpiece of the setup is some Turtle Beach PX5's I had lying around, which I believe only do Dolby digital natively. Not sure if DTS would work.

 

[SirMaster]

Does your receiver have HDMI? You can get a AMD HD 5450 for like $20 and send 8 channel lossless audio out its HDMI port. Much better than compressing the audio into DD or DTS.

Somehow I didn't see your post about needing DD for headphones so you can disregard my advice on the HDMI.

 

[Valaire]

You don't want DDL for an HTPC. Just use HDMI. If mobo doesn't support, spend the money on a cheap video card instead.