gggirlgeek
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- Apr 22, 2023
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Hi,
I need a little advice to get decent sound, AND unified remote control of my TV volume. I have a new 85" Sony x90k (HDMI/Toslink/USB outputs), and an old Philips Home Theater 2.1 active sound system (HTS6500/DS -- RCA/3.5mm inputs. It outputs 5.1 virtual surround.) The speakers still sound great in my "open-concept" living room/kitchen -- 10'x30' -- listening area is more like 10'x7'. The speakers are beside the couch about 2' away from our ears. I know this is not audiophile-stuff, but sound-system upgrades will come later. The $2000 TV was enough this year. Looking to spend $50-250 on a solution. Also, the walls are tissue paper. Neighbors called the cops on us watching a movie at 7pm on a Saturday.
So no reason to spend $$ on a system I can't listen to.
I have discovered that a USB sound adapter (TV usb-A output) can be volume-controlled with my TV remote. Woohoo! Stupid Sony removed the aux ports from their recent TV's but provided us with no universal remote. Really annoyed about this because all decent-sounding AVR's are crazy expensive, not to mention new speakers. (Mine are proprietary Philips.) I'm sure Sony is hoping we'll all buy their crappy sounbar or AVR. Not going to happen, Sony!
I am looking at the Topping dx3pro+ DAC after slogging through many reviews and forums. However, I just read one here where someone said an optical connection is better than a USB, to avoid problems (which he didn't explain.) But that would prevent me from using my remote for volume. I would get a cheap HDMI CEC extractor but I haven't found anyone who has successfully controlled their volume with one. Also, my TV is Google TV. An IR-Univeral-remote could be a solution but I'd miss the handy beep-to-find-lost-remote feature.
Questions:
3. Why would an optical connection be better than USB on a decent DAC?
2. If I connected with an HDMI extractor would I need the DAC in addition? Wouldn't the HDMI extractor be the lowest common denominator and prevent the dx3pro+ from sounding good? (At least that's how computer networking works. Don't know about digital sound?)
3. What are your suggestions for getting one remote control to use with my new TV and old RCA hometheater speakers?
I need a little advice to get decent sound, AND unified remote control of my TV volume. I have a new 85" Sony x90k (HDMI/Toslink/USB outputs), and an old Philips Home Theater 2.1 active sound system (HTS6500/DS -- RCA/3.5mm inputs. It outputs 5.1 virtual surround.) The speakers still sound great in my "open-concept" living room/kitchen -- 10'x30' -- listening area is more like 10'x7'. The speakers are beside the couch about 2' away from our ears. I know this is not audiophile-stuff, but sound-system upgrades will come later. The $2000 TV was enough this year. Looking to spend $50-250 on a solution. Also, the walls are tissue paper. Neighbors called the cops on us watching a movie at 7pm on a Saturday.
So no reason to spend $$ on a system I can't listen to.I have discovered that a USB sound adapter (TV usb-A output) can be volume-controlled with my TV remote. Woohoo! Stupid Sony removed the aux ports from their recent TV's but provided us with no universal remote. Really annoyed about this because all decent-sounding AVR's are crazy expensive, not to mention new speakers. (Mine are proprietary Philips.) I'm sure Sony is hoping we'll all buy their crappy sounbar or AVR. Not going to happen, Sony!
I am looking at the Topping dx3pro+ DAC after slogging through many reviews and forums. However, I just read one here where someone said an optical connection is better than a USB, to avoid problems (which he didn't explain.) But that would prevent me from using my remote for volume. I would get a cheap HDMI CEC extractor but I haven't found anyone who has successfully controlled their volume with one. Also, my TV is Google TV. An IR-Univeral-remote could be a solution but I'd miss the handy beep-to-find-lost-remote feature.
Questions:
3. Why would an optical connection be better than USB on a decent DAC?
2. If I connected with an HDMI extractor would I need the DAC in addition? Wouldn't the HDMI extractor be the lowest common denominator and prevent the dx3pro+ from sounding good? (At least that's how computer networking works. Don't know about digital sound?)
3. What are your suggestions for getting one remote control to use with my new TV and old RCA hometheater speakers?
