Before I invest in JRiver, I need to know if it can solve this problem.
Equipment:
I am using a Dell Optiplex 960 desktop computer with a Radeon HD4350 video card with an LG 50PM6700 Plasma HDTV to watch video and internet content.
The computer has built-in audio and a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio card with optical audio in/out and analog in/out.
I also have a Sabrent USB-SND8 external audio device which has optical audio in/out and analog in/out connections.
I also have a USB to analog in/out device.
I also have a Radio Shack video switcher which has 6 analog and optical audio inputs and 2 simultaneous analog and optical audio outputs and converts analog audio to optical audio only.
I am using a Sony compact component system for 2 channel/stereo audio which only has analog RCA input that powers two speakers.
The LG HDTV only has optical audio out, no analog audio out and doesn't have any audio input for anything connected via HDMI.
Situation:
The computer sends video and audio via HDMI to the HDTV, the HDTV sends optical audio to the Sound Blaster X-Fi card which sends analog audio to the Sony unit.
When I use the HDTV only, not sending video to it from the computer, the audio is able to be heard from the HDTV and the Sony unit simultaneously.
Problem:
When I send video and audio from the computer to the HDTV via HDMI, feedback occurs because the audio is looped back via the HDTV optical audio output into the Sound Blaster X-Fi card. In order to prevent that, I have to turn off the audio sent to the HDTV via HDMI which disables the sound from the HDTV and there's only sound from the external speakers attached to the Sony unit. This situation is not what I want. I want the audio from the computer to be heard from the HDTV's internal speakers and from the external speakers attached to the Sony unit. I have tried various configurations but haven't found one that works. The problem is that I can't break the feedback loop that occurs when using the HDTV with the computer and the Sony unit. Is it possible to use JRiver to do that with any combination of use of the various hardware I have?