Hey, here comes the discussion about AC3 again!
Launched a similar discussion months ago on the same subject... quality, file size... price!... etc...
My 2-penny thinking:
1. 5.1 sounds great... and let's please keep M$ out of it!
2. Anyone interested enough in 5.1 audio and DVD ripping can find ways (should it be a "wayz" !?!) to obtain the AC3 sound stream transfered to his harddisk (I understand why JRiver would not launch themselve in this arena).
3. AC3 decoding requires (expensive?) licensing, but what about AC3-passthru (feeding the .ac3 file directly to the soundcard SPDIF connector and then to an external AC3 decoder, like any home-theater amp; no decoding!) ? Well, to start with, I mean...
Currenty use PowerDVD for this (the passthru-stuff, I mean); those familiar with DirectShow should look at
http://xvalex.hotbox.ru/programs/ac3filter/ac3filter_eng.html (great stuff!)... but it would be so much cooler to have AC3 along MP3 in MJ/MC!
I VOTE FOR!