Dolby SDU4 Hardware Dolby Stereo/Surround decoding

[spoRv]

"XLR to USB cables"? Maybe you mean XLR to RCA? If so, yes you can do it!

[stwd4nder2]

"XLR to USB cables"? Maybe you mean XLR to RCA? If so, yes you can do it!

XLT to USB cables are a thing. I've never used them before, so I don't know if they would work well for capturing.

[spoRv]

I checked them briefly; just make yourself a question?

Which quality could I expect from a single XLR to USB cable that costs around 15€, when a good XLR to RCA cable costs more or less the same?

My answer: s**t! - how good could be a few cents ADC included there?!? And then you need four of them, with 4 free USB - not a big problem, I know; for just a moment LET'S PRETEND quality is on par with a good average  capture card; still, how are you supposed to capture sounds from four different inputs? Even if it would be possible without sync problems, it would still be a PITA...

My hint: buy a cheap 4ch in audio card - for example the Maya 44 USB (I found once for 30€, sadly few minutes later it was already sold!) - and you will get better audio quality AND no sync problems.

More info here: https://fanrestore.com/thread-4132.html

[stwd4nder2]

Figured as much. I'll see what I can find on ebay.
Thanks

[spoRv]

Take a look also at Native Instruments Audio 4 USB.
Of if you have a free PCI/PCI-E, ESI Juli@ or ESI MAYA

(I guess it's time to start a list of good and cheap => 4ch input audio card!)

[stwd4nder2]

Okay so I found a good deal on a Maya 44. While I'm waiting for that to arrive, what's a good set of XLR to RCA cables to get? I was considering getting some Monoprice cables, but I saw a lot of negative reviews on some AV forums. Currently considering these and these, but was wondering if anyone here had a better suggestion.

[spoRv]

Those seems pretty nice.

Hint: try to find used cables - unless they are torn/broken, they will sound as brand new ones, but at a fraction of the cost!
If you are lucky, you can find some ex-musician spare cables in a music store.

[deleted user]

The issue with the XLR to USB cable, aside from likely shit quality, would be that you'd need multiple ones and they wouldn't be in sync (in terms of the audio clock) and I'm not sure any software would allow you to record them simultaneously without it becoming a pita.

[LucasGodzilla]

So this was a bit of an odd question that I wanted to run by with other forum audiophiles to see what y'all have to say on the matter. Apologies in advance if this is the wrong Dolby decode thread to post this in.

From what I understand from a conversation with @TomArrow a month back, it would theoretically be possible to decode Dolby SR / A audio via a Dolby SR 363 unit with a raw capture of the optical track.

So out of curiosity, if one were to try and utilize audio that was generated by software that reads the optical track from 35mm film elements (IE: Scanstation's soundtrack extraction or AEO-Light), would one still be able to effectively decode that audio through such a unit (supposing of course if the track is pre-Dolby Digital)?

[zoidberg]

Interesting, I guess so if you could reconstruct the original SVA signal to feed into the decoder card, and the capture sufficiently resolves the information stored in the optical track. Would make an interesting experiment in any case