I am in the midst of wiring my 'old' house. I'm running 2 pair of Cat5e and two pair of coax to each room from a wiring enclosure in the basement. I'm using snapstream to record TV on my computer in one room and showing the video in other rooms using Hauppauge's mediamvp. All works well in that department.
In addition, I want to connect my computer's audio output in one room to the audio receiver in the living room Mediamvp can do audio files in this manner but it doesn't support all the types of audio files I want to play (itunes for example). The computer and receiver are about about 70 feet apart. I've tried using several methods. First, I used a custom made balun that I bought from ebay. It supposedly split the audio output (miniplug) into 4 unbalanced cat5e outputs. I connected one such output over cat 5e to the receiver. It worked but the volume is low and the hum is very bad. I then tried directly connecting the computer to the receiver using a 75 foot miniplug extension cord just to see if that worked. Again, a lot of hum and low volume. I then connected the speaker output of my cheap amplified PC speakers to my receiver using both methods described above. Each method produced significant hum again although the volume was slightly louder. Besides the hum using all methods there seemed to be significant degradation of the audio quality making it more am radio like then mp3 quality.
So my question is - what have you tried and what should work? I'm using onboard audio from the motherboard which apparently has provision for SP/DIF connector altho I haven't been able to locate the correct cable for this. Would coax digital work without the hum? Would I use a balun to convert the coax digital to Cat 5e or could I use an existing (extra) coax RG6U cable? Any other thoughts on how to do this that is relatively inexpensive?
Next question. I want to control the computer from the living room using IR and I want to control the living room receiver from the computer room using IR. I will use either a USB-UIRT or Firefox min at the computer end. I also want to be able to control the computer from other rooms using IR. I've been reading about IR and understand one zone going into multiple emitters (i.e computer room controlling receiver etc in living room) but I'm really have a tough time figuring out multi zone IR (receiving and transmitting from and to multiple rooms). Again, I'm looking for something inexpensive. I'm sure many on this board are doing the exact same thing. What are you using for this purpose? All thoughts and suggestions appreciated.
In addition, I want to connect my computer's audio output in one room to the audio receiver in the living room Mediamvp can do audio files in this manner but it doesn't support all the types of audio files I want to play (itunes for example). The computer and receiver are about about 70 feet apart. I've tried using several methods. First, I used a custom made balun that I bought from ebay. It supposedly split the audio output (miniplug) into 4 unbalanced cat5e outputs. I connected one such output over cat 5e to the receiver. It worked but the volume is low and the hum is very bad. I then tried directly connecting the computer to the receiver using a 75 foot miniplug extension cord just to see if that worked. Again, a lot of hum and low volume. I then connected the speaker output of my cheap amplified PC speakers to my receiver using both methods described above. Each method produced significant hum again although the volume was slightly louder. Besides the hum using all methods there seemed to be significant degradation of the audio quality making it more am radio like then mp3 quality.
So my question is - what have you tried and what should work? I'm using onboard audio from the motherboard which apparently has provision for SP/DIF connector altho I haven't been able to locate the correct cable for this. Would coax digital work without the hum? Would I use a balun to convert the coax digital to Cat 5e or could I use an existing (extra) coax RG6U cable? Any other thoughts on how to do this that is relatively inexpensive?
Next question. I want to control the computer from the living room using IR and I want to control the living room receiver from the computer room using IR. I will use either a USB-UIRT or Firefox min at the computer end. I also want to be able to control the computer from other rooms using IR. I've been reading about IR and understand one zone going into multiple emitters (i.e computer room controlling receiver etc in living room) but I'm really have a tough time figuring out multi zone IR (receiving and transmitting from and to multiple rooms). Again, I'm looking for something inexpensive. I'm sure many on this board are doing the exact same thing. What are you using for this purpose? All thoughts and suggestions appreciated.
