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View Full Version : Best bang for your buck Dual Digital Tuner Capture Card


bglaze1
July 22nd, 2008, 07:19 PM
A while ago I asked about which capture card to get for my MythTV setup. I wanted a dual tuner system. And I wanted to be able to receive over the air HD. It was suggested that I try two KWorld 115 cards. I looked into it, and it seemed like a great card. I got the impression that the reason it was suggested was because it was on a good deal ($35 at NewEgg), well, by the time I was able to get online to make a purchase, they were out of stock, and aren't carrying the card anymore. So the cheapest I can find it now is for about $70.
So since this isn't the bargain that was suggested, I am now back to square one and wondering which capture card will give me the best bang for my buck and allow me to capture two digital streams at once?
From all my reading I can't tell if any of the new Hauppauge cards would be able to capture two digital streams at once, or if they only had one analog tuner and one digital tuners per card. That was the impression I got, can anyone confirm this? Originally, I was going to get the Hauppauge PVR-500 for my dual tuner setup, until I realized that it wouldn't work next year. So I began looking for a dual digital tuner alternative. Does anyone have recommendations they are using to capture two digital streams at once? If I want to be able to receive two ATSC streams, would the SiliconDust HDHomeRun be a good solution?
Again I am just looking for something that works well with MythTV and Ubuntu, and that will give me the best bang for my buck. Thanks in advance for all of your help.

jaakan
July 22nd, 2008, 07:52 PM
I just got a Hauppauge HVR-1250 PCI-E card it works great, I only record HD and SD digital with it. it was $50 on newegg. if you have the money to burn on 2 and the space for 2 PCI-E cards get 2 of them.

bah1976
July 22nd, 2008, 08:50 PM
I think I originally recommended the 115, and I'm sad to see that newegg doesn't carry them anymore. I'm not aware of a single PCI/e card that will tune 2 ATSC channels, so you're either looking at 2 PCI/e cards each with a single ATSC tuner, or the hdhomerun.

Not much in the way of help or specific recommendations - but wanted to add my thoughts anyway. :)

bglaze1
July 22nd, 2008, 09:51 PM
jaakan, thanks for your post. I didn't mention, but unfortunately I only have PCI slots, otherwise that seems like a good alternative. Do you know much about Hauppauge PCI cards?

bah1976, you were the one who recommended the 115. Thanks, it seemed like it was going to be perfect for what I needed. I am so mad I missed that. But now at $70 each, I am reconsidering.

So anyone else have recommendations on a dual digital tuner card (or two seperate digital tuner cards) that deliver good quality video relative to their cost?

jaakan
July 23rd, 2008, 12:34 AM
jaakan, thanks for your post. I didn't mention, but unfortunately I only have PCI slots, otherwise that seems like a good alternative. Do you know much about Hauppauge PCI cards?


This is the 3rd card I have gotten from them, WinTV-PCI and WinTV-D-PCI.
I'm very happy with the 1250. They dropped the ball with WinTV-D.

The HVR1600 should work you might get lucky on the price if you shop around.

bglaze1
July 23rd, 2008, 02:48 PM
Would the HVR-1600 let me capture dual digital streams, or would I need to get two seperate cards to capture two video streams simultaneously?