First of all, I apologize in advance if this topic has been already answered. I’m planning to build a new gaming PC for my living room and connect it to my TV. I’m also planning to buy a good pair of speakers to use them for both gaming and movies with my PC, as well as watching digital TV.
In principle, the gaming PC will be built on an ITX motherboard, so no space for a dedicated sound card.
How do I get everything connected so I can enjoy content with my speakers from my TV and PC?
I ask this because I assume it won’t be as easy as connecting the PC to the TV by HDMI and then connect the speakers to the TV. Or maybe yes, I don’t know, I honestly have no idea
You can definitely just connect the speakers to the tv if your tv has an audio out. I don't know how good the audio quality will be, but I doubt that it will be all that bad. That is likely the cheapest and most straightforward option. I would suggest trying that out before doing anything else. You might just save yourself a good bit of money.
I would recommend picking up a cheap receiver off craigslist, you can get a 7.1 channel for under 100 bucks and it may even come with some speakers. I would just make sure it has optical ins as that would be the easiest way to connect your computer or TV to it. Then just connect up some speakers and your all set and you get a system which is upgrade-able
An av receiver would be the way to go. An entry level 5.1 av receiver would be about $250-300 new. Naturally you could look for something used. You would then send the audio signal over HDMI.
You could also use your analogue outputs on the sound card on the motherboard to your TV, and then your TV outs to a set of powered speakers. You would need 3.5mm to dual rca adapters, and then another to go back to 3.5mm.
If you want GOOD speakers, I recommend shying away from self powered speakers, and go with the receiver and some un powered speakers. Diminishing returns for home theatre is at about the $5000-10000 range, so spending more than a few hundred dollars on PC speakers "being excessive" is a myth.
I personally went with a set of Monoprice 10565 5.1 speakers ($200 ish), with a Yamaha RX-v377 5.1 receiver ($250 ish). I get a decent surround setup with those, but really wish I spent more money on some better speakers. The Yamaha has a 'virtual cinema front' feature which allows you to set up the surround speakers in front of you which is quite handy on a computer desk. The speakers actually sound like they are behind me.
I must admit that I thought about AV receivers in the first place, but I'm a noob when it comes to this. So I imagine that I would "only" need to connect my pc and digital tv to the receiver, and then the receiver to the TV. Finally, I would need to choose whatever speakers I want and connect them to the receiver. Right now I'm only interested in 2.1 speakers (maybe 5.1 later) and I was wondering if there are any compatibility problem with 2.1 speakers and 5.1 av receivers. I guess not, but again, I'm a noob ^_^!
Just one last question: Are there any differences between Home Theater AV receivers and HiFi DACs and Amplifiers?
Essentially you would have an HDMI input for each source (computer, cable box, dvd player, etc), and one HDMI out to the TV.
Av receivers are more of an all in one. Standalone amplifiers may not deal with video in, or may only be two channel. Amplifiers and dacs for computers are a bit different. AV receivers and home theatre amps are large for a good reason, so any small amp for SPEAKERS (not headphones) are an inferior product. Small amp/dacs for headphones CAN have lower output impedance (not all do) and give a better experience for headphones than an entry level receiver might.
5.1 Receivers are completely compatible with anything in between. In fact experts recommend spending money on good front speakers first, and getting a set of surround speakers when they save up some more money. The av receiver will have a setup menu where you can tell it what speaker setup you have.
@Lord_Tao is pretty much on point. A half-decent AV receiver will do exactly what you are asking for. Plug an HDMI cable from each source into the receiver, run a cable between the TV and receiver, and you're good to go.
As for speakers, a receiver will power whatever happens to be connected to it. I've run a 5.1 receiver with three speakers attached, just the center, and even a subwoofer directly off the terminals just fine.
And for HiFi DACs and amps, you're usually paying 50% more for only a 2% difference in sound quality and the adjectives used to describe that 2%. Unless you have golden ears and super flat speakers you probably won't hear a huge difference.
I can vouch that this works. This is my current setup in the living room. I recommend that when you look for a receiver you make sure it says something like "HDMI passthrough" or "3D Support." This just means that it supports HDMI 2.1 so communication between the TV and your Computer will PASS THROUGH the receiver. For example, the computer will know the supported display settings the TV can do, even though a receiver is in the middle.
Thank you guys for all your help, seriously, I have a clearer picture now.
I'm planning to build a PC and a sound system with a "best value for money" philosophy. After a long research, I've already decided that the Yamaha RX-V 379 is a good place to start. I also see that Pioneer's SP-BS22-LR and/or SP-FS52-LR are the best options, but unfortunately these speakers are not available in Europe (I live in Belgium). Do you guys know any good alternatives for the Pioneer speakers that could also be available in Europe?
