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Audio dilemma involving amp and TV stereo set up

GoldenLeaf
By GoldenLeaf
in Audio
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Hi guys,

 

So I was wondering if you have any suggestion on a solution to my problem, other than a HTPC, as my budget is very low after my recent purchases.

 

The skinny

I wanted to kit my living room up with a good sound, so I bought a stereo amp and speakers and had bought a Chromecast a little while ago. The TV is an old Panasonic plasma.

 

When I came to set it all up. Chromecast plugged into HDMI on TV and TV audio out to amp via optical, the sound was really underpowered and quiet. I realised that this must be a low output from the TV for when I connected my desktop PC up via optical all was fine and normal volume.

 

My plan was to convert and download films etc to my phone and stream amazon video, youtube etc through the Chromecast on a budget. I am planning on getting a NAS when money permits, but this is the best solution I thought of for now.

 

The dilemma

How can I solve this issue on a low budget? Will I need to build a HTPC? I have had a look at Nucs and only the low level seems to have optical out.

Ideally I would like to be able to natively play H264 and H265 and stream spotify, youtube and amazon video. So basically I just want to stream content and have the sound coming through my new amp.

 

Before anyone asks; I don't get an AV receiver as I don't find they handle stereo set ups that well and I don't need more than two speakers.

 

Any advice would be most appreciated. I don't think there is another option other than a HTPC, but thought I'd throw it to you guy yo see if you could think of anything I haven't

 

Cheers!

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Your TV volume was all the way up?

Does the TV have a 3.5mm headphone output you could use instead of optical?

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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9 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Your TV volume was all the way up?

Does the TV have a 3.5mm headphone output you could use instead of optical?

Hey, yeah I have just tried connecting through the headphone out. The TV has a separate volume control for that, so the sound is coming through at the right volume on that. It is now converting to analogue so I won't be getting high bit rate audio through that though. But I suppose it is a budget solution.

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22 minutes ago, GoldenLeaf said:

Would I get better quality audio through optical?

Technically yes but probably nothing you can even notice.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

Spoiler

Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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So all is going okay with using the headphone out from the TV apart from when I am casting youtube. I am getting a lot of distortion. Any ideas? I have turned down the headphone volume on the tv slightly, but that didn't help.

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14 hours ago, GoldenLeaf said:

So all is going okay with using the headphone out from the TV apart from when I am casting youtube. I am getting a lot of distortion. Any ideas? I have turned down the headphone volume on the tv slightly, but that didn't help.

It's defo the DAC inside the TV that's adding distortion, you have a really nice amplifier and speakers, so it's not from them.

 

Have you thought about trying one of those 20 quid cheapo DAC's to see if that helps?

LTT's Resident Porsche fanboy and nutjob Audiophile.

 

Main speaker setup is now;

 

Mini DSP SHD Studio -> 2x Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC's (fed by AES/EBU, one feeds the left sub and main, the other feeds the right side) -> 2x Neumann KH420 + 2x Neumann KH870

 

(Having a totally seperate DAC for each channel is game changing for sound quality)

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15 hours ago, GoldenLeaf said:

So all is going okay with using the headphone out from the TV apart from when I am casting youtube. I am getting a lot of distortion. Any ideas? I have turned down the headphone volume on the tv slightly, but that didn't help.

what kind of distortion is it: hiss, humm, buzz, crackling, inter-mitten volume change?

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5 hours ago, Derkoli said:

It's defo the DAC inside the TV that's adding distortion, you have a really nice amplifier and speakers, so it's not from them.

 

Have you thought about trying one of those 20 quid cheapo DAC's to see if that helps?

There shouldn't be any conversion going on though should there from the 3.5mm headphone out on the TV to RCA input on my amp?

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2 hours ago, GoldenLeaf said:

There shouldn't be any conversion going on though should there from the 3.5mm headphone out on the TV to RCA input on my amp?

The 3.5mm WILL have a DAC attached to it, the TV works in digital (1's and 0's), and that 3.5mm is putting out an analogue waveform.

LTT's Resident Porsche fanboy and nutjob Audiophile.

 

Main speaker setup is now;

 

Mini DSP SHD Studio -> 2x Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC's (fed by AES/EBU, one feeds the left sub and main, the other feeds the right side) -> 2x Neumann KH420 + 2x Neumann KH870

 

(Having a totally seperate DAC for each channel is game changing for sound quality)

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2 hours ago, Derkoli said:

The 3.5mm WILL have a DAC attached to it, the TV works in digital (1's and 0's), and that 3.5mm is putting out an analogue waveform.

Okay, cool. I had a quick look on amazon and I could only really see optical to RCA DACs. Are you able to link me to what you are recommending? And what connections you are advising me to try?

 

Would the amp's built-in DAC not come in to play at all? Or would it not as I'm using an analogue input?

 

Thanks :)

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