Perennial Noob Designing new HT....

[Tango]

So... I am trying to design a new HT system after moving to a new place, and I have a lot of very basic questions, being the hopeless noob that I am.

Let's start with some info:

1) I will have my main PC in the same room as the HT. The PC has all my music on it on .flac (most of it) or .mp3 format. So it should somehow be connected to the receiver.

2) The less cables between the PC and the receiver the better, as room is shaped so that it will be hard to conceal them.

3) Ideally I would like to be able to use my pc while it also streams music or video to the receiver.

4) I have a dual-n wireless network.

5) Computer is i920, SSD + HDDs for media, ATI 5770, 12GB, 24" monitor, no audio card for now...

Questions:

1) My PC has an ATI 5770 video card, that I know is able to send out sound via HDMI. Does this mean I can use it to send music to the receiver, or it only carries sound together with video when, let's say, watching a DVD playing on the computer's drive?

2) My GF watches a lot of stuff on Netflix. Is it true that I won't be able to stream HD content from a PC, and should instead use another device for this (taking content directly from the internet, via wireless connection)?

3) If I connect the PC to the receiver via HDMI, will I be able to work at my computer while a movie is playing on the TV, or is playing a movie enough to basically us all the system's resources?

4) Any suggestion for a receiver that has good quality with music too?

Sorry for the confusion in my head and the noobness of the questions, but I am new at this game...

 

[sdifox]

so why not just a media player? it can go fetch the stuff from your pc as long as you have extension installed on your pc.

Also, you can run a hdmi cable from your pc to your receiver if you have hdmi switch in your receiver.

 

[jlee]

What I can answer-

Questions:

1) My PC has an ATI 5770 video card, that I know is able to send out sound via HDMI. Does this mean I can use it to send music to the receiver, or it only carries sound together with video when, let's say, watching a DVD playing on the computer's drive?

I have an LCD on DVI and an HDTV on HDMI. If the TV is on and I set the HDMI audio to be the primary sound device, all audio is output via HDMI. I don't have a receiver to test if it works when the HDMI display is not active, though.

2) My GF watches a lot of stuff on Netflix. Is it true that I won't be able to stream HD content from a PC, and should instead use another device for this (taking content directly from the internet, via wireless connection)?

I can't seem to find any info on that...you can stream directly from Netflix with an XBox 360, so if you have one that may be the easiest way to go. I could be wrong there, but you can also set a 360 up as a media extender.

3) If I connect the PC to the receiver via HDMI, will I be able to work at my computer while a movie is playing on the TV, or is playing a movie enough to basically us all the system's resources?

lol yes, you have absolutely nothing to worry about there.

 

[Tango]

What I can answer-


I have an LCD on DVI and an HDTV on HDMI. If the TV is on and I set the HDMI audio to be the primary sound device, all audio is output via HDMI. I don't have a receiver to test if it works when the HDMI display is not active, though.

Hum... so, if I understand correctly, there is no way to have the pc output (different) sound to two different outputs?

What I am trying to achieve is having people watch videos streamed to the TV (audio via HDMI) while the audio functionality of the PC are not touched (let's say, to use skype for example). Is this possible?

 

[vi edit]

Another vote for PS3/dedicated media player.

 

[sdifox]

Hum... so, if I understand correctly, there is no way to have the pc output (different) sound to two different outputs?

What I am trying to achieve is having people watch videos streamed to the TV (audio via HDMI) while the audio functionality of the PC are not touched (let's say, to use skype for example). Is this possible?

application dependent. I can have a movie playing in display 2 and outputting to sound system while playing mp3 through headphones. But that is not universal, for some instances of combination of applications, the audio signals will get mixed together.

 

[vshah]

Questions:

1) My PC has an ATI 5770 video card, that I know is able to send out sound via HDMI. Does this mean I can use it to send music to the receiver, or it only carries sound together with video when, let's say, watching a DVD playing on the computer's drive?

you should be able to use it as a sound output device for any type of content

2) My GF watches a lot of stuff on Netflix. Is it true that I won't be able to stream HD content from a PC, and should instead use another device for this (taking content directly from the internet, via wireless connection)?

set up your hdtv as a second monitor for your PC. simply drag the netflix playback window/browser over to the tv and maximise it. netflix won't play HD on a pc unfortunately though. you'll need a standalone player for that. 360 works if you have one.

3) If I connect the PC to the receiver via HDMI, will I be able to work at my computer while a movie is playing on the TV, or is playing a movie enough to basically us all the system's resources?

you shouldn't have any problem with your rig, but it will depend on the individual applications if you can, for example, use headphones to listen to music while watching a movie over hdmi on the TV. you will have to be able to set the sound output device from within the application to something different than the windows default.

4) Any suggestion for a receiver that has good quality with music too?

do you have speakers already? if not, what is your price range for receiver + speakers, and how big is your room?

 

[Tango]

you should be able to use it as a sound output device for any type of content

The idea would be to use HDMI connection to the receiver for TV sound and playing music, and use another system for computer sounds/ general use.

I explain better the setup: the computer is in one corner of the room, the Tv + HT will be on the opposite corner. So what I am trying to achieve is to be able to use the TV and sound system when I want to watch movies or listen to music, while still retaining the ability to have local sound in my pc area (skype, OS sounds, video editing sound). Because the PC and the TV+receiver are quite far apart, I am trying to connect them using just one cable (HDMI).

Hope now it makes more sense what I am trying to do.

set up your hdtv as a second monitor for your PC. simply drag the netflix playback window/browser over to the tv and maximise it. netflix won't play HD on a pc unfortunately though. you'll need a standalone player for that. 360 works if you have one.

OK. I am aware of the netflix limitations, and my girlfriend might have a PS3 to address this...

you shouldn't have any problem with your rig, but it will depend on the individual applications if you can, for example, use headphones to listen to music while watching a movie over hdmi on the TV. you will have to be able to set the sound output device from within the application to something different than the windows default.

Hum... I am not sure I understand what this means... if the problem is just that I will have to set each application then I'm fine with that... or are you saying it might be impossible to do this at all?

do you have speakers already? if not, what is your price range for receiver + speakers, and how big is your room?

I will build a new sound system from scratch. I will use a HTIB for local computer sound, but the HT to be used for music and movies is to be chosen.

The priorities are music first (classical, jazz), and movies second (but I mostly watch old stuff with not so many sound effects, mostly stereo sound). So I am looking into a receiver competent with music too.

The room is a portion of an open space loft. Think the small leg of an L-shaped room. This portion is about 600sqft with ceilings about 13 feet high.

I would rather not spend too much money, but I would have no problem going with decent floor-standing speakers as mains. The speakers will end being very close to the wall though (I understand from reading the forum this is a concern).

I will also need a TV. My eyes seem to find Plasmas more appealing, but I do not know if if would work nicely when connected to a computer or if LCD would be better...

Thanks so much for your help, any suggestion/comment/critique is very appreciated.