Home theater options/questions, av receiver, universal remote, subwoofer and pc build

[Cuda1447]

I have a number of questions I was hoping I could get some insight into. I've been doing a ton of research and have a number of different options, I'm just having a hard time determining the most cost effective/best.

My setup consists of a home theater room with a BenQ W1070 projector and a 120" screen. I have an old pioneer receiver that still works perfect, but it only has optical inputs, no HDMI. The speakers paired with it work perfect as well. The Subwoofer's power cord was chewed at the end a number of years ago. I was planning on repairing that, although I don't know exactly how. The hookups are a PS4, Cable TV Box and currently using my laptop as a makeshift HTPC. The problem with the laptop is two fold. One, I don't like constantly plugging it in/unplugging it, as it is my main laptop. Two, since the receiver has no HDMI inputs, the audio comes directly out of the projector, which is.... not ideal. I currently don't have any universal remotes, but ideally want to get one to control the receiver, STB, pc/htpc, projector and my HDMI switch.


So a few options I have.

Build a new desktop HTPC, throw a soundcard in there with an optical out and be done with it. I could go for an i-5 to do some light gaming on there, but most gaming is done on PS4. I wouldn't want to spend more than a few hundred on the system and am not opposed to piecing it together with used parts.

Or, I could get an external soundcard for my laptop with an optical out, those only run about $40 and I've heard they work ell. The problem here is I don't have a dedicated HTPC.


Third option, go the HTPC route, but ditch the optical out soundcard and replace my receiver as well with a newer one that can transmit audio via HDMI. I've heard it is superior, but exactly how much better is it? I'm not an audiophile.




Lastly, does anyone know of a universal keyboard with trackpad that can be used as a universal remote as well? I've read about logitech harmony smart keyboard, but the reviews aren't great on that. I can't seem to find any other options.



Anything I'm missing/should be concerned about here? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Binky]

Another option for your sound issue is an hdmi splitter with optical out. This would give you more flexibility than the soundcard.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5557&seq=1&format=2

Im not aware of any good keyboards with remote ability, but the most common htpc keyboards at reasonable prices are the logitech k400 and the lenovo N5902.

 

[DesiPower]

Does your receiver have external in? I have a similar setup and from the soundcard I use the analog out to external in on the receiver, basically using it as amp only. I believe my Xonar DX can do a better job than the ~10 year old Onkyo avr.

That way you can use the external in from HTCP and optical from PS4 (if it has one?), no need for and switch etc.

 

[Cuda1447]

Not sure Desi, I'll check tonight. That may be a good idea. Worst case scenario I can just use that switch linked above. I assume I shouldn't lose to much audio quality going that route?

 

[ivwshane]

Personally I'd get a newer modern receiver with HDMI and route everything to that. For an HTPC setup I'd go with a chromebox (the one with a celeron CPU is plenty of power for HTPC stuff) and install openelec on it. There are xbmc/kodi apps you can use to control the HTPC that will work for most things and you can get a mini wireless keyboard to handle the other things.

What type of speaker setup do you have ? 2.1? 5.1?

To fix your subs power cable would require you to disassemble your sub. Is that possible? If so then it's just a matter of finding a replacement cable and desoldering/soldering the old/new one.

The above setup isn't ideal for gaming so if that's a must have then you will need to get a windows box like a NUC (and the rest of the components) and install kodi on top of that. It's a lot more expensive though.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I would almost agree with ivwshane. The reason I say almost is that you have waited this long on upgrading the receiver, and I would suggest waiting until you can get a receiver that supports HDMI 2.0 spec so that it can handle 4K video content allowing you to upgrade your projector some time in the future to 4K without having the same problems all over again.

There are potentially some ways to avoid it with a receiver that isn't HDMI 2.0, but it would require a HDMI 2.0 matrix switch which has at least 2 outputs so that you can send one connection to your receiver (simply for audio), and send a second HDMI connection to your display device.

 

[Cuda1447]

Looks like what I'm going to do is build a gaming rig/HTPC and keep my current receiver for now. Ordering a Harmony 650 and then a wireless keyboard/mouse to control the pc. Hoping I can get some nice gaming in on a 120" projector screen

 

[DesiPower]

SO did you plan to go with a HDMI splitter?

 

[piasabird]

Some motherboards have optical out and HDMI. The next series of motherboards my have better options. You can always add a video card later. It is hard to tell what will happen 6 months from now. I do know that my I-3 and Gigabyte motherboard claim they are 4k ready now. Who knows what kind of changes will be available with the newer 2.X HDMI. I don't have any 4k equipment and it will probably come down in price after it has become mainstream. It may be buggy at first.

 

[Cuda1447]

SO did you plan to go with a HDMI splitter?

I'm going to add a cheap soundcard that has an optical out to the PC.