HT plus software driving it and maybe hardware, too

machiner · 04-09-2009, 10:16 AM

Like many people, we've been watching movies in our living room forever with fat sound. It's all about the sound. I matched up some Kef (and Yamaha for the satellites, center, sub) speakers to a yamaha receiver eons ago and 5.1 still rocks. We added an HDTV a year ago and I play with the connections to our receiver, cable box - dvd/vhs recorder all the time. It's got dope graphics and the Samsung dvd/vhs record combo has upconvert to 720 to match the setting we chose on our TV. It's a small one as our living room isn't that large. Small cape, ya know.

Audio and video is quite satisfying at our house. Now...

the thing is, 'course I can output my laptop to the TV and receiver, et al. No worries. The thing is, who is running MythBuntu?

Or MythTV proper. It's been around forever, does your tivo thing, etc., etc. It's a media thing and it rocks. But I only ran MythTV forever ago and didn't really set it up with our gear.

We've got cable that goes right to the TV so we can watch hidef channels without getting raped by our cable co. Pfft. Anyway haggling a box into this mess should be no worries.

Right?

My thoughts. Build or buy a media rig -- they've been around a while and building your own can be quite satisfying. Tuner cards, hdds, all the stuff you need is probably at newegg or your favorite web gear retailler.

So -- you build or buy the box. Bring it into the living room and ......

What?

Plug it into the LAN
?

Where's the output from the tv tuner go? Directly to the TV? Sound will doubtless out to the Yamaha. How's the dvd/vhs recorder figure into all of this and how do I get my vinyl playable/manageable through this sort of set up?

The goal.

We've got thousands of musical media and movies. Records, tapes, cds, dvds, vhs. Our Denon tape deck is my favorite component....so sweet. I want that integrated but that's all through the Yamaha anyway. How's the receiver out to the MythBuntu box?

Sources in. 'Course I'm asking these questions without having had gone to any manufacturer sites that make these. Like this one which is way too much loot. I'll check the specs...

Basically, a centrally controlled box in the living room that allows us to record, direct to output sources, rip, burn, do things to media that operating systems do to files (archive, etc), manage external input sources like cable or satellite, etc.

Maybe I want to put a musical soundtrack behind the silly videos I make of me bending my bass. So, I record me with the camera - slide the SD card into the ht box where there is a keyboard and the TV can be the monitor - import the video to the box and fire up some utility that allows me to edit the video with some rockin or pensive background noise. Maybe save the video to different formats - ftp it up to my server and share it with the world.

Ya - that would be cool. Maybe someone can see it and say -- ya, I wanna jam with that guy and we can play Madison friggen Square Garden. And the Stones can open for us.

OK -- sorry...

Who already does this? I know some of you do. When I signed up a little while ago (today) there were better than 3000 people in here with me. That's a lot of folks.

yustr · 04-09-2009, 11:49 AM

First of all , welcome to TSF.

A home theater PC can be a good addition to a HT - but only for digital files for which it has access. I don't know of any that can act as your receiver does and switch between source media. You best bet is to build your HTPC and make sure the sound card can accept stereo in. (I've never seen one that cannot). Then convert all your old media to digial file using software on the PC. HERE's a linux based guide for example.

Once its in the PC you'll be able to use the media library software to play any piece.

04-09-2009, 10:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
machiner Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New England Posts: 15 OS: Debian GNU/Linux - Lenny	HT plus software driving it and maybe hardware, too Like many people, we've been watching movies in our living room forever with fat sound. It's all about the sound. I matched up some Kef (and Yamaha for the satellites, center, sub) speakers to a yamaha receiver eons ago and 5.1 still rocks. We added an HDTV a year ago and I play with the connections to our receiver, cable box - dvd/vhs recorder all the time. It's got dope graphics and the Samsung dvd/vhs record combo has upconvert to 720 to match the setting we chose on our TV. It's a small one as our living room isn't that large. Small cape, ya know. Audio and video is quite satisfying at our house. Now... the thing is, 'course I can output my laptop to the TV and receiver, et al. No worries. The thing is, who is running MythBuntu? Or MythTV proper. It's been around forever, does your tivo thing, etc., etc. It's a media thing and it rocks. But I only ran MythTV forever ago and didn't really set it up with our gear. We've got cable that goes right to the TV so we can watch hidef channels without getting raped by our cable co. Pfft. Anyway haggling a box into this mess should be no worries. Right? My thoughts. Build or buy a media rig -- they've been around a while and building your own can be quite satisfying. Tuner cards, hdds, all the stuff you need is probably at newegg or your favorite web gear retailler. So -- you build or buy the box. Bring it into the living room and ...... What? Plug it into the LAN ? Where's the output from the tv tuner go? Directly to the TV? Sound will doubtless out to the Yamaha. How's the dvd/vhs recorder figure into all of this and how do I get my vinyl playable/manageable through this sort of set up? The goal. We've got thousands of musical media and movies. Records, tapes, cds, dvds, vhs. Our Denon tape deck is my favorite component....so sweet. I want that integrated but that's all through the Yamaha anyway. How's the receiver out to the MythBuntu box? Sources in. 'Course I'm asking these questions without having had gone to any manufacturer sites that make these. Like this one which is way too much loot. I'll check the specs... Basically, a centrally controlled box in the living room that allows us to record, direct to output sources, rip, burn, do things to media that operating systems do to files (archive, etc), manage external input sources like cable or satellite, etc. Maybe I want to put a musical soundtrack behind the silly videos I make of me bending my bass. So, I record me with the camera - slide the SD card into the ht box where there is a keyboard and the TV can be the monitor - import the video to the box and fire up some utility that allows me to edit the video with some rockin or pensive background noise. Maybe save the video to different formats - ftp it up to my server and share it with the world. Ya - that would be cool. Maybe someone can see it and say -- ya, I wanna jam with that guy and we can play Madison friggen Square Garden. And the Stones can open for us. OK -- sorry... Who already does this? I know some of you do. When I signed up a little while ago (today) there were better than 3000 people in here with me. That's a lot of folks. __________________ If at first you don't succeed, build a better method.

04-09-2009, 11:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
yustr Asst. Manager, The Conversation Pit Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Connecticut shore Posts: 5,978 OS: XP Pro My System	Re: HT plus software driving it and maybe hardware, too First of all , welcome to TSF. A home theater PC can be a good addition to a HT - but only for digital files for which it has access. I don't know of any that can act as your receiver does and switch between source media. You best bet is to build your HTPC and make sure the sound card can accept stereo in. (I've never seen one that cannot). Then convert all your old media to digial file using software on the PC. HERE's a linux based guide for example. Once its in the PC you'll be able to use the media library software to play any piece. __________________ If there are lawyers or politicians involved, logic may be a very poor tool for reaching a conclusion.