5.1/7.1 Surround Sound from PA?

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Ok audiophiles I have an old school 10000+ watt PA with multiple stacks, monitors and amps that all but go unused lately and I would like to hook it up to my XBoxOne and home theater. I have seen many "boxes" for $50 and under that convert usb to 5.1/7.1 sound from laptops and PCs but none that would send direct pre-outs from an HDMI source except for the way expensive receivers like Marantz has to offer. What am I missing here? Seems like there should be a very simple inexpensive way to achieve what I want...but it escapes me. I just want to be able to route each surround channel to the individual power amps and speakers. Any viable suggestions? Will the optical out of the One hook up to the optical port in one of the these cheap laptop options work for splitting the signals out to my amps?

[Intruder]

I would say no. Surround is decoded by the piece of equipment with the outputs.
It would depend on what type of input you have on your amps and how many channels they handle.
Optical carries the signal but it has to be decoded to each channel.
A cheap surround system might output each channel to your amps IF they have enough inputs.
Think of a mixer and what it does.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Hmmm...These little cheap boxes for laptops take a usb (and optical...maybe?) and split them into the 5.1 0r 7.1 surround pre-outs to be routed to powered speakers. I'm trying to achieve this on a larger scale.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829265004

[mach1 03]

That's an easy one. As you said you want direct outs. Many receivers offer preouts and can be had for less than $200 if you look for good used ones. Just looked on eBay and found this 191384143745 (copy to search area in eBay). That would do what you want. I have a pioneer elite sc57 but you probably won't find that used for less than $1,000. I also have a onkyo and even the cheap ones are decent receivers.

If you really want to, you can also run directly from the receiver to a line input on a mixer or amp. I have done this twice for a movie night at my church. Ran the speaker outputs to a 1/4 connecter and into the line input on the board. Sent the signal to the proper channels for left and right and the aux sends for the Ernest of the corresponding channels. This worked fine, but you have to keep an eye on the input level and adjust the receiver volume accordingly to avoid clipping.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Thank you...yeah we run the projector and pc though the mixer every Sunday at church. That Onkyo would do the trick. It's at $76 at the moment....almost $50 shipping though...LOL! I hate to see what it ramps up to before the auction ends. I'm a bit skeptical buying used stuff like this on evilbay. Especially stuff that's just been sitting for a couple years in the box. It does have the correct pre-outs though. Most receivers in that price range only have sub pre-outs. I'm still curious about the optical out on the XBoxOne though and if I could use that Rosewill(or something like it). Sure can't beat the price if it works.

[mach1 03]

You also could use line level converters to convert the speaker level output to a rca connection. They are normally used for car audio, but they would work and then you could use any receiver you want without any worries. Don't know anything about the rosewill, but at that price it may be worth a shot.

[perceval]

You guys are lucky! an Onkyo SR707 sells for over $1,000 here!

I have been hooked on good audio since I was young. I used to go to audiophile stores and dream while listening to incredibly expensive setups!

I'm also an HT addict, so I can probably be of little help here.

First, skip the $20 converter box. I thought you knew by experience that you get what you pay for! I would dread the sound that must come out of that little plastic box.

At the moment, I am using a laptop, hooked to a Presonus 1818vsl. I run VLC on the laptop, which separates outputs and sends them to the 1818 via USB. I use the Presonus to add EQ, low pass, high pass on all separate channels, and send them to my amps. Best setup so far as every single channels can be EQed, and I can also mix channels up, for example, I have some of the center channel sent to my R/L front mains to help with a better balanced sound field.

Another piece of software that people like is the JRiver media center. Lots of tweaks applicable to match your setup and room correction.

If I were to add an all-in-one box, I would choose the Emotiva UMC-200 ( https://emotiva.com/products/pres-and-pros/umc-200 ). It has very good audiophile hardware, very good DACs, and lots of inputs including HDMI, optical and spdif. There is a good EQ function and even room correction that can be tweaked by connecting a computer via USB.

Hooking up the Emotiva to your current stack of amps and PA would be the easiest, as you could EQ each channels and add low/high pass filters too. Much more powerful than any Home Theater receivers under a few thousands dollars.

Than later, upgrade your XBoxOne to something a little better and you'll have a sweet setup!

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Thanks perceval. I can't spend that kinda cash right now though. Upgrade the "ONE".?..hehehehe...it's the top of the line gaming and media console flagship at the moment.

Ya know..that gets me thinking. I wonder if my Driverack PA can separate the signals to 5.1....hmmmmmm.....

nope...struck out there..

I'm not so sure that a simpe "splitter" like that would alter the sound much if any at all. The signal(and it's integrity) would be coming from the XBoxOne and I would suppose the box just routes it to these outputs. IDK?

[perceval]

XBox Gaming console, one of the best, yes. Sound quality. No. But decent enough.

And Nope. That $20 box converts the digital signal to analog signal using very cheap components. Do not go there. It's made for tiny crappy computer speakers to put in a tiny computer room. Not for watching movies in your living room. But if you feel like throwing away $20 and the time to get it and set it up, your call.

I would check the other eBay offerings I saw on the bottom of the item offered in the previous post. There were some good pricing on reasonable quality receivers there.

Nothing that will beat the Emotiva though. Since you already have amps to power your PAs. You would need to spend over $3000 on a receiver to get the same as the Emotiva.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Ahhh yes..the digital to analog thing. Isn't that what all the receivers do for their physical pre-outs too?..unless you are specifically running purely HDMI of course which carries the digital signal directly through the receivers own amps and passive speakers. I can't afford even the "lower priced" offerings at the moment( the cheapest at almost $300-$400 for "5.1 analogue pre-outs) Maybe they have better converters...maybe not. I really don't know. That's why I have folks like you and this community to call upon. When my budget allows and I can spend $500+....I'll definitely look to the Emotiva. It looks like it's exactly what I want. I was really hoping for a cheap alternative to tide me over until the budget allows. If all else Fails...I just may have to get a full blown Surround system that has a 1000 watts or so for a few hundred dollars....but it's not the ideal solution since I already have all this gear just sitting around....it would be simpler though. The Emotiva is top of the list now though. Thanks.

[perceval]

You're welcome.

One more note of caution. Beware of those full blown surround system selling you 6 to 8 speakers plus 1000+W for just a couple of hundreds. It is utterly crap. Speakers have about $10 worth of hardware in them and the 1000+W amp is digitally enhanced. It's like a 100W amp that is sent through a chip to "produce" 1000W. It sounds terrible.

Since you already have good gear, it would be a shame to combine them to some crappy gear.

I would scout audio sites and their second hand sections. Just like Vdrums has. Lots of folks like to upgrade (GAS is everywhere!) and you could score an Emotiva umc-100 or umc-200 for lower than $500.

Check sites like Audiogon, hometheatershack.com, diyaudio.com for the classifieds.

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

Cool...yeah...you know me.....I'd always rather wait and buy the best once than have to keep replacing it. I know finding something cheap that exceeded my expectations was going to be a pipe dream....but I thought I'd give it shot.I'll keep checking around for good deal on the Emotiva...I like it. Watch the setup vids and scoured the specs last night....this is the product for me. I can always run my projector in stereo though the PA until I get one.