I am considering moving to a primarily HTPC setup for stereo and multichannel use. It's been about 6yrs since I ran an HTPC so I'm thoroughly out of the loop as to how to optimally configure this stuff. My setup is
HTPC -> Marantz AV 7005 -> power amps -> 5.1 sub/sat setup (which is used as 2.1 for stereo listening)
I am thinking of using acourate for correction which, AIUI, will deal with the crossover at convolution time. Things get a bit hazy at this point as to exactly how this setup will work, I've tried to search for basic connectivity/prepro config details but the search terms are broad enough that the hits don't really narrow it down so I would appreciate some guidance here. I can't experiment as I haven't actually built my new PC yet.
On the JRiver side, the mixing wiki page (
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Mixing) & the underlying interact thread explains a lot about how jriver will work. I think this means
- I should be using option 2 (2. If you want JRiver to upmix and handle speaker setup and bass management)
- I will be sending LPCM over HDMI to the processor
- the processor should be in a direct mode (I believe marantz call this source direct) thereby effectively using the prepro as a DAC to route the signal to the amps
Is this correct for multichannel?
What about stereo use? I still want the sub active & currently have the option of spdif output instead of HDMI (which I believe should be preferable?).
My 2nd Q concerns quality, what are the obvious routes to improving SQ in such a setup? I can't realistically ditch the prepro as I have an external source (cable) so is that going to boil down to a multichannel DAC into the analogue inputs on the prepro?
Thanks
Matt