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Thread: Low, or lower-end audio. Or middle. But not high.

  1. #71
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    Audacity?

  2. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by George View Post
    Do I need an HDMI splitter so I can run just one HDMI wire up to a wall-mounted TV, and then switch devices at the box somewhere out of sight? We have shelves on both sides of the wall where the TV would go, so I can conceal the wires except for the one(s) that will actually connect to the TV.

    From a quick search, I'm thinking I need something like this:

    It depends what you want to do, but yes, you can use this.

    You can probably buy things like this locally or off Amazon. However, and entirely FYI, if you're buying stuff like this off Aliexpress, UGreen and Baseus are probably some of the better known/quality brands on it. The stuff by Vention also looks OK although I've never tried it. Generally if you go for something which has a few hundred 4-5 star reviews it shouldn't be an issue. And indeed with some brands, if you buy stuff of Amazon it's actually from the same seller but using a different marketplace.

    For our plasma, the inputs all go into a Denon HEOS soundbar. As we have more than 4 devices, I do have an HDMI switch (I think by UGreen) which flips between 2 inputs - one has the Fire TV Stick 4K and the 3m+ long HDMI cable that is hooked up to my gaming PC.
    Last edited by Yw-slayer; January 16th, 2021 at 12:03 AM.

  3. #73
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    I have had incredibly bad luck with HDMI switches like that. They all advertised they could do 4k HDR and most could only do one or the other and quite a few couldn't do either. They also all did that "automatic switch on signal" thing rather than just letting me pick which port was in use, so my Chromecast would often just take over when I was watching something else.

    I ended up buying a Denon Receiver for a couple hundred bucks because it was the only way I was able to get a reliable HDMI switch. It's literally not hooked up to any speakers, it's just a massive, overly expensive HDMI switch to achieve the same goal George has - one HDMI line running in the wall up to the TV, then a switch hidden in the entertainment center off to the side.

  4. #74
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    The dual UGreen dual switch I have works perfectly. It does detect inputs but it has a button which allows me to switch, and 2 LEDs that light up depending on which input has been selected.

    If you have a space, then yeah, a used receiver can also work.

  5. #75
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    Once you switch with the button, does it then just stay there even if it detects a new input? What I was getting was both my Chromecast and my TiVo sending signals to it causing it to switch modes randomly. I could always switch it back manually, but then it'd just do it again a few minutes later.

    I wouldn't mind getting a decent smaller switch if it would do what I want. As it is, I'm already out of ports on the Denon so I was particularly thrilled that the Nvidia Shield I just got basically works as a game streamer, Roku, and Chromecast in one unit. Actually freed up a port.

  6. #76
    Corvette Enthusiast Kchrpm's Avatar
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    I'm quite happy that my new TV can output surround sound back to my receiver, so I can plug things into the TV or the receiver and get proper audio either way. Since my receiver is a 10+ year old model, it's what I have to do to get 4K+HDR+surround sound currently.
    Get that weak shit off my track

  7. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Servo View Post
    Once you switch with the button, does it then just stay there even if it detects a new input? What I was getting was both my Chromecast and my TiVo sending signals to it causing it to switch modes randomly. I could always switch it back manually, but then it'd just do it again a few minutes later.

    I wouldn't mind getting a decent smaller switch if it would do what I want. As it is, I'm already out of ports on the Denon so I was particularly thrilled that the Nvidia Shield I just got basically works as a game streamer, Roku, and Chromecast in one unit. Actually freed up a port.
    I think it stays with the current input, but I dram check when I get home tonight.

  8. #78
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    Can confirm that no problem staying on either the Kindle 4K, or the HDMI out from my PC.

  9. #79
    High Plains Luddite George's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kchrpm View Post
    I'm quite happy that my new TV can output surround sound back to my receiver, so I can plug things into the TV or the receiver and get proper audio either way. Since my receiver is a 10+ year old model, it's what I have to do to get 4K+HDR+surround sound currently.
    My receiver was pretty good back in the 1990s, but not compatible with modern TVs. Our relatively new HDTV has digital audio out but the receiver only has analog inputs. When we bought a new HDTV for our "someday" home theater in the basement, I ran an analog cable from the TV's headphone jack to the receiver's analog inputs to power left and right home stereo speakers (which I think I bought from advice in this very thread a long time ago). It sounded better than the TV's volume alone.

    The funny thing is I had it set up that way for a while until my son said it sounded like "trash" and hooked up an inexpensive set of PC speakers with a subwoofer that wasn't being used at the time. He proclaimed it far superior to how I had it set up, and I had to agree with him.

    Well, last night I came home from work and, at his suggestion, we changed it back to how it had been, which I think he had forgotten. Now he's happy all over again, and for free.

    That said, I think we're FINALLY ready to buy a surround sound system for the basement. The room was wired for rear speakers by a previous owner (wires run neatly behind drywall to the back corners of the ceiling) and I'm assuming that wired speakers are still better than wireless speakers and always will be for simplicity and better sound. I'll just need to get speakers small enough to mount up there and find some kind of brackets to mount in the walls to hold them up, I guess.

    I had written more with a couple questions but I'll try to do my own homework about HTIBs. Reading back through this thread, I realized I've been hemming and hawing about this stuff for years without making any decisions. We've only lived in this house for fifteen years. It's time to make it happen before we're too old to hobble down the stairs to enjoy a show.
    Last edited by George; February 11th, 2021 at 09:45 AM.

  10. #80
    What's your budget for speakers + receiver, George, and do you want a subwoofer?

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