We had a toilet run over and flood the floors, so we have to re-carpet
my media room and electronics room. I have had to tear both of them
apart and empty them of everything. Wow. In the process, I am upgrading
the system with a new discreet surround receiver, so I will have to
recalibrate everything as well. Some new receivers, including mine, have
NO phono input! Need to keep the Carver preamp, if only for that. Also
updating and moving my video editing system to completely replace the
analogue linear editing system from days of yore.

It's interesting how many pieces of equipment the computer replaces in
the video system. Used to have two monitors, an edit controller, two
VCRs, mixer, titler, color corrector, equalizer... and probably a few
I've forgotten. All replaced by computer and done in software now.

I wonder how long it will be until your entire A/V system will be
replaced by computer software. Has anyone tried it yet? I have seen some
home theater controller boxes and remotes for a computer, but I'm not
sure what that is all about yet.

Gary Eickmeier

Gary Eickmeier wrote:
We had a toilet run over and flood the floors, so we have to re-carpet
my media room and electronics room. I have had to tear both of them
apart and empty them of everything. Wow. In the process, I am upgrading
the system with a new discreet surround receiver, so I will have to
recalibrate everything as well. Some new receivers, including mine, have
NO phono input! Need to keep the Carver preamp, if only for that. Also
updating and moving my video editing system to completely replace the
analogue linear editing system from days of yore.

It's interesting how many pieces of equipment the computer replaces in
the video system. Used to have two monitors, an edit controller, two
VCRs, mixer, titler, color corrector, equalizer... and probably a few
I've forgotten. All replaced by computer and done in software now.

I wonder how long it will be until your entire A/V system will be
replaced by computer software. Has anyone tried it yet? I have seen some
home theater controller boxes and remotes for a computer, but I'm not
sure what that is all about yet.

The only unit I've 'replaced' with my computer is my CD player -- I now
store every CD as a lossless file on hard drive, and select and play via
a laptop witha USB connection to my receiver.

I can envision, though, replacing the receiver with powered speakers, with
calibration , acoustic EQ, DSP and applied via software on a
computer...and with wireless transmission. That would be sweet, come the
day....




--

-S
It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying
before the House Armed Services Committee

Steven Sullivan wrote:

The only unit I've 'replaced' with my computer is my CD player -- I now
store every CD as a lossless file on hard drive, and select and play via
a laptop witha USB connection to my receiver.

I can envision, though, replacing the receiver with powered speakers, with
calibration , acoustic EQ, DSP and applied via software on a
computer...and with wireless transmission. That would be sweet, come the
day....

I suppose the industry would get after the first programmer to put a
surround system in a computer. I mean, you already have complete
recording studios, including multi-track mixers and EQ, in computer
programs. Why not all of the receiver functions of a home system?
Specify your own number of channels. Equalize your room to a tenth of a
dB. And talk about bass management! YOu could write your own ticket. And
they could keep upgrading you every year.

Is this a new idea or did I miss a chapter?

Gary Eickmeier

We're almost there! I'm not sure what formats it supports, but you can
access your photos and your music files on your computer from a Tivo2
box. A Tivo box, by the way, is just a repackaged Linux machine.
Comcast, the cable company, is already working with Tivo so you would
only need one box, a combination digital recording device and a cable
descrambler. I would assume that this box could also access your home
computer the way Tivo2 boxes do now. Right now, Comcast offers
movies, sports, concerts and TV shows on demand.

So, I don't see a computer replacing your whole A/V system but I do see
the computer that runs your audio reciever communicating with the rest
of the computers in your house and computers outside your house a lot
better.

In article ,
Gary Eickmeier writes:
Steven Sullivan wrote:

The only unit I've 'replaced' with my computer is my CD player -- I now
store every CD as a lossless file on hard drive, and select and play via
a laptop witha USB connection to my receiver.

I can envision, though, replacing the receiver with powered speakers, with
calibration , acoustic EQ, DSP and applied via software on a
computer...and with wireless transmission. That would be sweet, come the
day....

I suppose the industry would get after the first programmer to put a
surround system in a computer. I mean, you already have complete
recording studios, including multi-track mixers and EQ, in computer
programs. Why not all of the receiver functions of a home system?
Specify your own number of channels. Equalize your room to a tenth of a
dB. And talk about bass management! YOu could write your own ticket. And
they could keep upgrading you every year.

Is this a new idea or did I miss a chapter?

Gary Eickmeier

I just read an article in the NY Times on this very subject:

With a PC's Power, That's Entertainment
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/technology/circuits/21basi.html?

Hewlett-Packard was an early purveyor of computers running Windows
Media Center when it was released in 2002. Today, in addition to
desktop and laptop models, it markets a system designed for the living
room.

The HP z545 digital entertainment center ($1,799 with rebate at
hpshopping.com) features a horizontal brushed-black aluminum case that
more resembles a stereo component than a PC. The system comes with a
wireless keyboard and integrated trackball. For storage, the computer
houses a 200-gigabyte internal hard drive as well as a 160-gigabyte
removable drive, an ATI Radeon X300 graphics card, a built-in FM
tuner, dual television tuners and 512 megabytes of RAM, expandable to
2 gigabytes. Users can even take their entertainment with them by
transferring media files onto an HP iPAQ rx3115 Mobile Media Companion
($349 at hpshopping.com), a hand-held for carrying photos, music and
video.

A similar unit from Alienware, the DHS5 ($1,758), is also aimed at the
digital living room. The slim computer comes with an AMD Athlon 64
3000+ processor, 80 gigabytes of hard-drive space, up to three
television tuners and Dolby Digital sound.

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-.- David Bath (rec.audio.high-end moderation team)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

David E. Bath wrote:

I just read an article in the NY Times on this very subject:

With a PC's Power, That's Entertainment
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/technology/circuits/21basi.html?

Hewlett-Packard was an early purveyor of computers running Windows
Media Center when it was released in 2002. Today, in addition to
desktop and laptop models, it markets a system designed for the living
room.

The HP z545 digital entertainment center ($1,799 with rebate at
hpshopping.com) features a horizontal brushed-black aluminum case that
more resembles a stereo component than a PC. The system comes with a
wireless keyboard and integrated trackball. For storage, the computer
houses a 200-gigabyte internal hard drive as well as a 160-gigabyte
removable drive, an ATI Radeon X300 graphics card, a built-in FM
tuner, dual television tuners and 512 megabytes of RAM, expandable to
2 gigabytes. Users can even take their entertainment with them by
transferring media files onto an HP iPAQ rx3115 Mobile Media Companion
($349 at hpshopping.com), a hand-held for carrying photos, music and
video.

A similar unit from Alienware, the DHS5 ($1,758), is also aimed at the
digital living room. The slim computer comes with an AMD Athlon 64
3000+ processor, 80 gigabytes of hard-drive space, up to three
television tuners and Dolby Digital sound.

Wow - thanks, David. This must be what I saw at the local Best Buy.
There are several variations on the theme.

It makes a lot more sense in the HD era to integrate computer and
video/entertainment systems, because the resolution and formats are very
similar. You could do video editing, game playing, sound mixing and
editing, and surfing the web all on the same system. I need to think
about this some more...

Gary Eickmeier

Hi Steven,

"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message
...
Gary Eickmeier wrote:
...
I can envision, though, replacing the receiver with
powered speakers, with
calibration , acoustic EQ, DSP and applied via
software on a
computer...and with wireless transmission. That
would be sweet, come the
day....

Check out http://drc-fir.sourceforge.net/ for a free
digital room correction PC application.

Regards,
Tip

Tip wrote:
Hi Steven,

"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message
...
Gary Eickmeier wrote:
...
I can envision, though, replacing the receiver with
powered speakers, with
calibration , acoustic EQ, DSP and applied via
software on a
computer...and with wireless transmission. That
would be sweet, come the
day....

Check out http://drc-fir.sourceforge.net/ for a free
digital room correction PC application.

Very cool , thanks. On a somewhat related note, here's some
room measuring freeware that's getting lots of good
feedback for its author on this thread

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=529224

I've DL'ed it but haven't tried it out yet.




--

-S
It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying
before the House Armed Services Committee