Need amplifier sugestions

[Pierre Olivier Vidal]

I am looking for a good quality amplifier for home theatre that can :
1 - Have alot of hdmi inputs from pc/consoles and have a single output to my tv ( does that cause any lag? and is it the right thing to do? )
2 - be able to have audio from 1 channel and video from another ( for exemple audio from pc, but video on tv from my console... can I do that? ).

Any sugestions?

 

[ssddx]

it almost like sounds what you want is an audio video receiver (AVR). is there lag? if there is no post-processing being done by the receiver then there shouldnt be. i've been using one for years with video passthrough and havent had any such issues though i suppose with certain features turned on there could be a minor delay (i dont use any post processing features)

these have multiple inputs via hdmi as well as optical, coax and analog. they export via a single hdmi to a tv as well (i personally use one). they work great for swapping between sources though have some limitations as well.

generally you cannot take audio from two digital sources at the same time and mix and match on them as you wanted. there are however some workarounds however...

-the first is to use one of the receiver brands which allows swapping the digital audio signals...i have heard denon's do and they call it video select. the caveat is that you can not use two digital hdmi sources to do this but one would need to be hdmi and the other either coax or optical.

-the second is to have an analog source for audio instead of digital however this would limit the swapped out sound to being something in 2.0 stereo only.

-the third workaround is to ignore the video passthrough aspect and just use optical for the sources you want to be able to flip-flop by running just audio to the avr. this would mean you can turn the knob to select your audio channel but would have the hdmi from your sources plugged into the tv for video.

 

[Pierre Olivier Vidal]

Well that sounds quite complicated... in the end I might stay with my current NAD AV713

 

[ssddx]

not any more complex than what you are using now honestly. it looks like you are just using one which is all analog inputs.

though, if what you have works fine for you now i'd probably just continue to roll with that until it breaks.

you will gain a bit of quality going digital but its alot of money to put out for not a huge gain. unless you're wanting 5.1 sound there wont be a huge difference.

 

[Pierre Olivier Vidal]

right now im 2.1 ... so for now no need to upgrade, I was mostly trying to get information

 

[ssddx]

if you intend to step up to a 5.1 setup then you will want to pursue a 5.1/7.1 receiver then. but for now, i think you are fine with what you have.

when you do, i'd look up denon as the video select feature may be what you're wanting if you still have the need to play different audio than the video.

or, another option is to have a 5.1 + 2 system (or just break a pair of speakers off a 7.1 kit) and use the 2 extras to play music from your computer. this is called zone2 audio and can use a different source than primary. the game sounds (from your primary source) will be played over the 5.1.

i think you can most certainly do a 2.1 + 2, 3.1 + 2 and other configurations as well.

 

[Pierre Olivier Vidal]

I'm wondering, can I use a Y cable for my console have it run to my amp and to my tv, that way I can set my tv to the console input, and ur the amp for sound? And when needed it's still pluged to the amp if I wanna have sound and video from the console.

for exemple : xbox connected to tv as video 1 and to amp
everything else connected to amp
amp connected to tv via video 2

I put my tv on Video 1 with the sound off, and put my amp so the pc goes trough, but it sends the video to Video 2 which isn't displayed, but the sound should still be heard from the speakers?

 

[ssddx]

are you talking hdmi splitters here or analog?

if you are talking hdmi then sure, they make hdmi splitters and i suppose it might work. the only thing i'm unsure about is the hdmi-handshake which automatically happense between devices. you might have to get a splitter which is hdcp compliant for use on pc or ps3/ps4/similar.

i've never tried what you're saying to do with hdmi so cant give you a solid answer.

if you were talking analog splitter though, not sure why you'd do that.

 

[Pierre Olivier Vidal]

alright, thanks for the answers. That clarified some of my questionings and brought up some new questions, but I won't be changing amp soon so these questions are left aside for now.