HDMI/Surround sound processor

You want a HDMI receiver or preamp with HDMI for $100, really? Good luck with that.

Your two EE degrees should tell you that is not going to happen unless you find one used that someone is willing to dump for a very low price.

Preamps cost more than receivers because they are produced in much lower quantities and usually by high end audio companies.

AV receivers with pre-outs are cheaper than AV preamps, but still a lot more than $100. You might find something used closer to that price though, pre-outs used to be available on less expensive models.

Since you're apparently technically inclined you could also try modifying a $300 (on sale for $200) receiver and bypassing its power amps.

Then don't do it. Amazon still seems to be pushing out RXV-371s for under $170.

If you are a practicing EE then you know all about economies of scale. The problem isn't the lack of a design, the problem is the lack of a mainstream market.

You don't modify the AVR, you pick up some off-the-shelf gizmos for under $10 each per pair of channels. The carsound people use them all the time.

What off-the-shelf $10 gizmo is capable of decoding Dolby or DTS surround sound HDMI audio? The cheapest device I know of that can convert compressed HDMI surround sound audio in to any sort mulitchannel analogue audio output is an AV receiver. Unfortunately, the cheapest AV receivers only support speaker level multichannel analogue audio output.

They dont "decode" anyhing, they just take the speaker-level output and convert it to line-level so you can plug it into a power amp. I suspect it is not the ultimate in fidelity, but worth a try.

Ah, if that what Arnold B. Krueger ment then GemaRastem seems to have already rejected that idea.

The first device would require something to convert HDMI audio to SPDIF, and obviously would only work with SPDIF compatible formats, 2.0 PCM, Dolby Digital and DTS.

The second device can only convert PCM audio, up to 7.1, to analogue, but can also convert Dolby Digital to SPDIF for use with the first device. If you can convince all your sources to do their own decoding and output mulitchannel PCM then this device alone could be all you need to handle the job of converting HDMI audio to analogue.

If you need to be able decode compressed formats that aren't SPDIF compatible, like Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD, or Dobly Digital +, then niether of these devices will do the job. They also wouldn't be able to handle matrixed surround formats like Dolby ProLogic II or DTS Neo:6, but these formats are pretty much obsolete these days.

Using either decoders, or any similar device, you're still missing one important part of a surround sound processor: level and distance adjustments to compensate for how you've placed your speakers in the room. You're also going to need a volume control as well, and maybe an HDMI switch if you have more than two sources.

A used AV receiver with pre-outs would give you all this functionality and more, and could end up costing less.

Would this work?

http://www.ambery.com/2hddodtsdihd.html