I bought a cheap media player with HDMI output capability, and it works perfectly with the Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD. Without you would have to provide the dummy signal from you graphics card, and that meant having an emtpy screen area your mouse could dissapear to. Since the hdmi signal is always on, this solution has the added benefit that you hear the Windows startup and logon sounds. I have not yet tested DTS, DD or DTS Master HD.
The media player I used is a BaiYuYi Mini Hdmi Media Player. An Altona AT-HDVIEW should work and the Raspberry Pi. The BaiYuYi does not turn off the display or shut down after a certain time, it is on all the time.
Warning: this media player does not support HDCP so you won’t be able to pass-through DTS-MA or DD TrueHD, but you can decode the audio with the player and send uncompressed 8 channel PCM through.
A small gain in big media profits is not worth the amount of censorship, control and surveilance ACTA will bring. The Internet has a huge democratic value and must stay like this. Fundamental rights have been traded for commercial interests.
A home cinema is very rarely playing at reference volume. Reference volume is what they use in the Cinema, and is very loud. If your volume is lower than what the mixer made at reference volume (his volume level in the mixing room) then it sounds different. This is because human hearing is not entirely logharithmic. This means that if you play lower than mixing volume, the bass will sound lower. In the old days they tried to compensate for this with a loudness button that would boost the bass. But that would be a fixed amount, and not correct at every volume level.
