About a week ago I wrote a post asking about the Quattros card and didnt get any replys SO I thought Id write something quickly about it, for others doing a search...
I originally was interested in multituner cards because my HTPC motherboard is a SLI model and doesnt have many pci slots ie: two. Anyone who has built a HTPC would know that having one tuner is really useless as you get no choice, you are either watching or recording but you cant do both.
So I thought about buying a Dvico two tuner card, then read that it uses a usb connection for its second tuner..then I also read that (on some systems) usb tuners dont always "wake up" from standby which is very crappy for want I needed.
So I bought two PCI cards- a Videomate t300 and a winfast dtv2000, both hybrid an/digital cards...that was great but then I wanted to use a satillite dish and maybe a soundcard...but no more PCI slots to do so.
Then I saw the Quattro card..
check out the link:
http://www.digitalnow.com.au/product_pages/QuattroS.html
2 X dvb-t tuners and 2 X dvb-s tuners on one card!
and it pcie X 1 ,, which I have never used before on any motherboard, but leaves my two pci slots open for other stuff and I have my sat tuners to boot.
So I got the card(which looks great--as a techno nerd point of view--check out the link above)and put it in the weird little pcieX1 slot- which amazes me, that small number of pins can "flow" so much data.
It didnt like booting up with both of my old tv cards in--?do they take up the same address on something? but I took the winfast card out and it booted up fine.
Another different thing with this quattroS is that it needs a HDD power supply to the back of the card--maybe the pcieX1 slot doesnt supply any power?
If you are going to use the QuattroS with Mediaportal you first need to download
CaptureCardDefinitions.zip from:
http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=6907&st=0&p=55426&#entry55426
and also the new card drivers from:
http://www.digitalnow.com.au/downloads.html
Both dtb-t tuners where detected in MP setup straight up(unlike the winfast OR the videomate). And for some weird reason only 1 dvb-S tuner(anyone know how to bring up the other?).
Edit : The DIGITALNOW people sent me a new card def file and now it sees the other dvb-s..
So I have one card in 1 pci-e and MP setup shows four (4!) tuners-- 2 X dvb-t and 2 X dvb-s
..how cool is that
Ive only been using the quattoS for a few days but so far I'm very impressed.
I was using the winfast dvt2000 card of my viewing card and the video mate t300 as the recording because the winfast has a quicker channel change time then the videomate.
The quattro changes channels twice as fast as the winfast and three times quicker then the videomate, which(to me anyway) makes it a great deal and very much worth it- The slow change times of the others where very annoying.
I havnt used the sat tuners yet in MP but will post on here when I do..
I originally was interested in multituner cards because my HTPC motherboard is a SLI model and doesnt have many pci slots ie: two. Anyone who has built a HTPC would know that having one tuner is really useless as you get no choice, you are either watching or recording but you cant do both.
So I thought about buying a Dvico two tuner card, then read that it uses a usb connection for its second tuner..then I also read that (on some systems) usb tuners dont always "wake up" from standby which is very crappy for want I needed.
So I bought two PCI cards- a Videomate t300 and a winfast dtv2000, both hybrid an/digital cards...that was great but then I wanted to use a satillite dish and maybe a soundcard...but no more PCI slots to do so.
Then I saw the Quattro card..
check out the link:
http://www.digitalnow.com.au/product_pages/QuattroS.html
2 X dvb-t tuners and 2 X dvb-s tuners on one card!
and it pcie X 1 ,, which I have never used before on any motherboard, but leaves my two pci slots open for other stuff and I have my sat tuners to boot.
So I got the card(which looks great--as a techno nerd point of view--check out the link above)and put it in the weird little pcieX1 slot- which amazes me, that small number of pins can "flow" so much data.
It didnt like booting up with both of my old tv cards in--?do they take up the same address on something? but I took the winfast card out and it booted up fine.
Another different thing with this quattroS is that it needs a HDD power supply to the back of the card--maybe the pcieX1 slot doesnt supply any power?
If you are going to use the QuattroS with Mediaportal you first need to download
CaptureCardDefinitions.zip from:
http://forums.dvbowners.com/index.php?showtopic=6907&st=0&p=55426&#entry55426
and also the new card drivers from:
http://www.digitalnow.com.au/downloads.html
Both dtb-t tuners where detected in MP setup straight up(unlike the winfast OR the videomate). And for some weird reason only 1 dvb-S tuner(anyone know how to bring up the other?).
Edit : The DIGITALNOW people sent me a new card def file and now it sees the other dvb-s..
So I have one card in 1 pci-e and MP setup shows four (4!) tuners-- 2 X dvb-t and 2 X dvb-s
..how cool is that
Ive only been using the quattoS for a few days but so far I'm very impressed.
I was using the winfast dvt2000 card of my viewing card and the video mate t300 as the recording because the winfast has a quicker channel change time then the videomate.
The quattro changes channels twice as fast as the winfast and three times quicker then the videomate, which(to me anyway) makes it a great deal and very much worth it- The slow change times of the others where very annoying.
I havnt used the sat tuners yet in MP but will post on here when I do..
Ireland