Independent zone 2 output, from digital source

[consolibyte]

I currently have a Onkyo TX-SR804 for my living room surround sound, and just found out that I won't be able to use it anymore. It's currently hooked up to an XBox 360 and Mac Mini.

I added in-ceiling speakers to my kitchen, and want to be able to listen to audio from the Mac Mini in either the kitchen or the living room (or both at once) but the Onkyo will only pass ANALOG inputs to Zone 2 (kitchen) and both the XBox and Mini are HDMI.


Can someone recommend a new A/V receiver that will let me do this?


Bonus points if I could add a Zone 3 (outside).

Switching between zones and volume for zones MUST be via remote (or Android/iPad) - all the A/V stuff is in a cabinet hidden from view so I don't want to have to open the cabinet to switch zones/volume.

 

[vshah]

i believe all the newer denon X series receivers can do this, and perhaps the e400 as well

 

[consolibyte]

Apparently not. I just spoke with someone at Denon, and he said ONLY the X4000 will do what I've described above.

Bummer as it's like $1,300.

 

[vshah]

it's available for much less through several authorized dealers. try contacting http://avscience.com/ and asking for their best price. you can also get an authorized refurb from http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...Ultra-HD-Networking-Receiver-w/AirPlay/1.html for around 799 if you are comfortable going that route.

also according to this guide on avsforum regarding denon's new line, the x3000 can do it as well. http://www.avsforum.com/t/1465528/t...e-series-x-series-avr-model-owners-thread-faq the author, batpig, has been making denon guides for years. I'd be surprised if he was wrong.

* The X3000 makes two major multizone advances over the 2313CI:
--- (1) The 2nd HDMI output is now an independent Zone 2 HDMI matrix output
--- (2) ALL digital signals (2.0 PCM only, but from HDMI or S/PDIF) can be played to Zone 2 speaker output