question re: tv and dvr

[Adam]

No. He can throw some headphones on and use the ipad for netflix.

[mrwicked]

buy his some legit headphones.

kid beats by ed lover.

[nate]

Go to Guitar Center and buy the best headphones you can afford.

[nate]

Also, surround sound receivers work for just single or 2-3 speaker setups.  Anything is better than the crap speakers the TV has.

[Adam]

Also, surround sound receivers work for just single or 2-3 speaker setups.  Anything is better than the crap speakers the TV has.

 

Next TV...

 

We just bought a house and went way over budget on renovations, furniture, etc... Next Summer I'm gonna go big. We've got a 47 inch now, which is totally fine. I don't really geek out on TVs/Tech too much. I do want to get a 60-70 inch super nice TV in the next couple of years. I'll def hit you guys up for what is best. I'll do the surround sound set-up and all that jazz when I do. 

[mrwicked]

cool.

yeah agreed TV speakers sucks. especially now because as the display gets thinner they have to scrimp somewhere. and they figure if youre shelling out mad $$ for TV you will always have legit audio.

 

but sonos is the way to go when you do - IMO.

wireless, all iphone/ipad controlled, they are mobile so you can move them around, you can add to it over time, etc.

and you take it with you if/when you move.

[wopphil]

I have this setup - TV mounted on the wall and all components in an A/V rack in a different room.

Basically run all your stuff into an HDMI switch, and run a single HDMI and cat5 through the wall to the TV.

Where you mount make sure to do it right - ie have an electrician put an outlet directly behind the TV.

Don't just run a power cable through the wall (that is very illegal wrt code).

 

For control, I use this: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-915-000201-Harmony-Ultimate-Customizable/dp/B00BQ5RY1G

 

Works awesome. Has an LCD touch screen, and you program it.

So "watch blu-ray" will - turn on your tv, tell the HDMI switcher to use input 2, turn on your blu-ray. Then the remote knows to control the blu-ray, but volume control goes to your TV/receiver

Setup takes 10 mins - you just program all your components.

 

It's rad. Software can be a little buggy though.

Thanks Wicked.

 

Just a few questions for you: Will this setup work with DirecTv?  And is the HDMI and Cat5 cable one single, all-in-one cable (or two separate cables)?   

[mrwicked]

Thanks Wicked.

 

Just a few questions for you: Will this setup work with DirecTv?  And is the HDMI and Cat5 cable one single, all-in-one cable (or two separate cables)?   

 

Will definitely work with DirecTV (works with anything with HDMI cable). I use directv myself and it's great.

Separate cables works fine for your setup (don't worry about paying for HDMI cables w/ ethernet if they are more expensive).

 

You only need to run an ethernet cable if you want to plug your TV into the web (for things like netflix or whatever).

But if you have something like appletv or roku those are usually a better interface.

So you could just run one HDMI cable from the switch output to the TV HDMI input.

Then if you want, run an ethernet cable from the router output to the TV ethernet input.

 

So it looks like this:

 

blu-ray --> 

directv -->      HDMI switch -->  (HDMI cable) --> TV HDMI input

appletv -->    

xbox/ps  -->

 

internet cable from the street --> modem --> router -->  TV

                                                                                 --> blu-ray

                                                                                 --> directv

                                                                                 --> appletv

                                                                                 --> xbox/ps

 

Make sense? If your router doesn't have enough ports just get a cheap gigabit switch. 

Edited January 31, 2014 by mrwicked

[nate]

wicked, you are still the only person I know that likes those Harmony remotes.  Back when they were new I was given a couple to promote them and they were total garbage.  Couple years back we decided to buy one like the one you linked and I still hated it.  I can't stand how you have to flip through menus to get to the function you want to execute.  It also did not work well at all with the HK AVR I have.

[mrwicked]

Yeah I far from love it - it can be buggy.

But I can't find anything better.

Have you programmed yours? I have it set so all you have to do is click the icons for "watch directv" vs "watch blu-ray" vs "watch appletv"

After that you just use it like any remote.

Again it's not great but its better than remote swapping.

[nate]

Yeah I spent some time programming it to take care of all the frequent things I do with a remote but any time i needed to do something I don't do often I had to go through the menus looking for whatever I needed.

 

Right now I just use two remotes.  DirecTV remote and TV remote.  DTV takes care of DTV and my AVR(volume, input switching) and TV remote takes care of the TV(input switching) and Bluray(play/pause/stop/etc) player.

 

I use the Bluray player for most streaming media, then the TV, worse case I use my Chromecast.  The remote that comes with the TV is awesome with the touchpad, and the apps on it are solid too.  I just prefer the Sony interface, it is quicker.

[mrwicked]

Yeah. 

I mostly use appletv and that remote is a PITA because it's so small and always gets lost.

I haven't used the touchpad remote on the ZT much yet but I've heard they kick ass. 

 

I would love something better than the harmony, especially because I'm running it all to an A/V rack in my closet soon.

But remote swapping gets old (and also I want things as simple as possible for the cuter half).

[nate]

Yeah, I am the designated remote controller, the wife gets pretty annoyed by the setup.

 

A lot of the new AVRs can be controlled by laptop/ipad/etc.  Thinking of trying that route next.  Just have everything hooked up to the AVR.  I need an excuse to upgrade anyway.

[mrwicked]

Yeah that might work.

I have used my ipad/iphone to control the harmony stuff. or the appletv directly. 

and sonos.

 

for AVR give sonos a look. beats having to deal w wires and its easily expandable.

[nate]

Yeah Sonos is nice but I have a $2k set of Infinity speakers that I can't bring myself to let go of.

 

I also have a server rack in the basement that I am about to fill up with a router/switch and file server array.  Recently was given 6 3 tb hdd's and a hp blade server.  Have a friend that works for a major private university and the vendors just give him this shit all the time.  It is all less than a year old, he is already upgrading so he gave his leftovers to me.  I will take it.  Going to try to build a custom mount for my AV stuff.  Would love for a networked way to control everything.  It is all hooked up already.

 

He already made a couple of IR Blaster/Media controller prototypes out of Rasberry PI's, trying to convince him to do the same for me.

 

Same guy also had a Google Glass invite for me.  I didn't have the $2k to buy them though.  Still makes me sad to think about it.

[Blarg]

I only have 1 ear that works. Surround sound doesn't do much for me.

Your brother will forever owe you for diving into that frozen lake to save him.

[nate]

Your brother will forever owe you for diving into that frozen lake to save him.

 

I just figured he got it saving his platoon during the war.

[Adam]

Meningitis as an infant. 

[nate]

 wet blanket

[RallyMo]

Excellent execution, Nate.

[nate]

Thank you, sir.

[RallyMo]

Also, are we really going to let Adam stop this with that?

 

I think it's worth asking why he was in a college dorm as an infant.

[wopphil]

Thanks Wicked.  I think it is starting to make sense, but sometimes I really, really need shit dumbed down for me. My walls are about to get closed back up, and I need to get the appropriate cable/wiring installed before that happens. As I understand what you are saying, the only thing I need to worry about right now is getting an HDMI cable running from behind the TV mount to the closet where the equipment is located.  I can then connect whatever equipment I want to an HDMI switch located in the closet, which itself will be connected to the HDMI cable running through the wall and connecting to my television.  Is that more or less correct? 

[mrwicked]

Thanks Wicked.  I think it is starting to make sense, but sometimes I really, really need shit dumbed down for me. My walls are about to get closed back up, and I need to get the appropriate cable/wiring installed before that happens. As I understand what you are saying, the only thing I need to worry about right now is getting an HDMI cable running from behind the TV mount to the closet where the equipment is located.  I can then connect whatever equipment I want to an HDMI switch located in the closet, which itself will be connected to the HDMI cable running through the wall and connecting to my television.  Is that more or less correct? 

 

That is correct.

And if you want, you can also run an ethernet cable along with it to (even if you don't use it now, you might in the future want to connect your TV to the network, so do it now while the wall is open).

 

And like I mentioned, for power you *cannot* just run a power line in a wall. So tell your electrician to put an outlet up the wall where the TV will go so that it will be behind it.

So on the wall you will have your TV mount, the power outlet, and the HDMI cable which is run in the wall. Plug the power to the TV, the HDMI to the TV, and mount that baby. 

 

And you're done!

[mrwicked]

Yeah Sonos is nice but I have a $2k set of Infinity speakers that I can't bring myself to let go of.

 

I also have a server rack in the basement that I am about to fill up with a router/switch and file server array.  Recently was given 6 3 tb hdd's and a hp blade server.  Have a friend that works for a major private university and the vendors just give him this shit all the time.  It is all less than a year old, he is already upgrading so he gave his leftovers to me.  I will take it.  Going to try to build a custom mount for my AV stuff.  Would love for a networked way to control everything.  It is all hooked up already.

 

He already made a couple of IR Blaster/Media controller prototypes out of Rasberry PI's, trying to convince him to do the same for me.

 

Same guy also had a Google Glass invite for me.  I didn't have the $2k to buy them though.  Still makes me sad to think about it.

 

That's awesome man. Keep the speakers you have then. I only went sonos because i love wireless with ipad controls and don't have/need crazy speakers like the ones you have.

Yeah I have yet to build the mount for my A/V stuff too. Not sure if I'm just going to do basic shelves or an actual rack w/ power. Working with an architect on the remodel of rest of my place so the A/V closet is my fun side project that I keep putting on the back burner.

 

Hacking on google glass would have been neat, but not for $2k. I turned down invites too though - everyone I've met wearing them annoyed me.

Edited February 1, 2014 by mrwicked