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Question regarding Audio Selector Switches and new basement wiring - Diagram

post #1 of 8
7/11/12 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I haven't perused this portion of AVS in quite a while and am trying to get up to speed on all the recent happening in the world of A/V distribution as I wire up the basement before drywall. I have attached a photo of my plan and would appreciate any feedback. I already have the AVR-3312, one DRA-37, three HR24's and a ZP90. My plan, and my question, is in the bar area. I'm wiring for three TV's around the bar with 2 ceiling speakers. I'd like to be able to redirect the audio from any of the three TV's to the speakers by a selector switch. Is what I have drawn up going to work? Is that switch decent enough? I plan on controlling all of this on an ipad using the Denon app and DirecTV app. I am currently running basically the same setup upstairs, minus the video, for four zones of audio over an ipad app and wife and child are comfortable with it. So my thought is I could duplicate the setup downstairs, just adding video, but I have never done the audio switching before and thought it'd be a nice feature. Thanks for any comments, suggestions and advice.

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post #2 of 8
7/11/12 at 4:36pm
The two issues I see:

1) There's no remote control (via the Denon or the DirecTV apps) for your audio selector. You'll have to select sources with IR, or start down the IR-to-IP app path... Lot of effort for that one function...

2) The bar and exercise room audio are tied together because of the selector. Which is not what I think you want at all...

Not sure if you've got enough analog inputs on the Denon 3312 (depends on the flexibility) for everything, but if you can just run all 4 HR24's directly to the main Denon receiver, you get rid of both problems.

Other choice would be to run all the "local" sources in the bar/exercise room to their stereo receivers, and control them with a regular remote - keeping the 'shared' source option the same. You could upgrade them to network-capable receivers if you really want to control it with an iPad. Although using a normal remote for volume and source selection, and keeping the iPad on either the DirecTV or Sonos apps instead of switching back and forth to the Denon app would be my preference anyway...

Jeff
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post #3 of 8
7/11/12 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your response Jeff. For #1, I guess I was thinking I'd like to have the audio selector on or near the bar area, then run all the audio cables from the DirecTV receivers to the switch then back to the 3312. That's a lot of cable running. You're right, an IR kit is probably the best bet there. For #2, I need to clarify the layout. This whole setup is mainly for Sundays NFL Ticket. The exercise zone is not really a room, but more of an area and will house a 65" LED. This area is viewable from the bar so essentially, 4 TV's can be viewed at one time. Would I be better off not attaching the audio from HR24-5 to the selector switch, but just run the audio from the HR24 directly to the zone 3 DRA-37? It look's like I have plenty of analog inputs on the 3312, but if I run all the audio through the 3312, I would have to change "sources" from the app for the bar speakers as opposed to using a selector switch? And the video would still go directly from the DirecTV boxes straight to the TV's? I'm trying to picture that scenario. I agree, I would like to keep the ipad on either the DirecTV or Sonos apps. I was hoping once the zones and sources were set from the denon app, I could then switch to the other apps and be done. Thanks again for your assistance. Please correct me if I am missing something or have misunderstood you in any way.
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post #4 of 8
7/11/12 at 10:34pm
I guess I'd approach the setup differently... I'd use a separate network-capable receiver for the bar/exercise/reading setup (maybe use a zone2 output on that one for the reading area), and keep the theater receiver out of the equation altogether. And yes, you'll run the video from each D* box to the displays. But if it were me, I'd hook up all 4 D* boxes in the bar area to a 4x4 HDMI matrix switch to feed those 4 displays. Then you can watch the same game on one or more of the sets, with no problems with sync if you're running behind "live".

Depending on how you plan to use the theater, you might be able to reduce the DirecTV receiver count, and share a matrix output (keeping with a less expensive 4x4) with perhaps the 'primary' bar display. There would be some audio issues (limited to stereo audio due to the common display audio capabilities via HDMI), but those could be solved with a digital audio link to the theater... Splitting the Sonos output or sharing any other source(s) with the theater wouldn't be difficult either - especially since you've got the walls open now!

Then to control the bar, I'd move to iRule or one of the other remote apps. You'd be able to customize it to run all the displays, the separate audio, and probably come up with some cool combo screens to run all the D* receivers (they're cake to control with iRule and the TCP/IP control methods).

Jeff
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post #5 of 8
7/12/12 at 6:47am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the great input Jeff. Let me see if I can absorb everything you have mentioned and sketch out a new diagram. I need to visualize this. Is there a 4x4 matrix box you recommend? There's a lot out there. I've never used one so I'd like to read up on one and see exactly how to implement it using your suggestions. Framing inspection failed yesterday, need additional fireblock, so I've got a few extra days now before I need to wire. I'm currently using iRule with an HTPC upstairs and two audio zones. Very simple. But a combo screen like you mentioned would be cool. I just don't see that happening by kickoff Sunday at this point. Maybe in the future. Let me put something together and see if it makes better sense. Thanks again.
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post #6 of 8
7/12/12 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I have redone the diagram to what I think represents your previous recommendations. Do I have this correct? It appears to make sense, running through the individual scenarios. For the 4x4 matrix, I just used the first one a came across for this example. Any recommendation for a decent switch would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

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post #7 of 8
7/12/12 at 2:45pm
I like that setup much better! No direct experience with this matrix, but folks have had decent luck with the simple Monoprice 4x4 matrix. Your use case for the matrix is very straightforward, so an inexpensive one is probably fine.

What's the "zone RCA audio" line coming from the theater? Just checking - it's good to have a link between the two setups to sync audio...

Jeff
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post #8 of 8
7/12/12 at 5:43pm
Thread Starter 
Great, thanks for all your advice. The zone RCA cable into the theater is to utilize the Sonos in the theater, just in case. The daughter likes to listen to music while dancing on the stage. Looking forward to start wiring. Thanks again.
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