[MPlayer-users] using mplayer as a surround decoder (not media player...)

[Darrell Berry]

Hi

I'm interested in building a 'blackbox' surround decoder -- s/PDIF in, and
multichannel surround analog out. No interface, wapping plugs if I want to
change source/destination...

I can see that its easy to get surround out when playing MEDIA via
mplayer, but is there any way to simply use it as a decoder: for it to
take what comes in on the S/PDIF input, and stream out decoded surround to
an ALSA soundcard (or if not mplayer, can anyone point me at any other
alsa-aware software or linux-friendly hardware that can work as a pipeline
decoder for dts/dolby?)

And if so, what's the lowest latency I could reasonably expect
mplayer/alsa/linux to introduce? I'm looking at high-end audiocard/DAC, so
the card is unlikely to be the major source of signal delays...

I know there are all-in-one cards that will do all the above, but I'm
trying to build something quite high-end, and want it modular so I can
tweak/upgrade individual elements of the box to achieve best
performance...

thanks!