Question: what is the difference between hd audio and ac97?
Answer: Yeah, AC97 encodes and decodes up to 96K/20 for stereo, 48K/20 for 6 channels. Azalia (HD audio) brings it up to 192K/32 for up to 8 channels. (well those are the specs anyway, implementations arent that good) HD audio and AC97 connectors are different.