Audio through Old AVR with HDMI 2.1 Video

[marcgii]

I'm upgrading to a LG CX TV along with a RTX 3080 in the near future.  LG's 65" is actually on sale for $1900 today.  But my receiver only supports HDMI 2.0, and I would really like to keep using it for my 5.1 channel audio setup.   What's the best way for me to achieve this?   I really don't want to ditch my perfectly good receiver.   So help would be quite appreciated.

 

Current options I can think of:

 

1. Run an extra HDMI cable to my AVR and extend the display so I can send audio to it. 

-This seems to break HDCP 2.2 support.

-Having an unconnected screen is really annoying.

 

2.  Use Gen 1 ARC to send Dolby Atmos to my AVR

-Audio has bad latency and is buggy.  (Tested on my 2017 TV.  It might work better on the CX)

 

3.  SP/DIF output on the TV.

-Not sure if the TV can convert PCM to dolby digital for me or not.

-Also not ideal due to low audio quality.

 

4.  USB to HDMI audio converter

-Haven't been able to find a good one yet. 

-It would need to present itself to Windows as pure audio device.  So a device like that might not exist.

 

One more thing about this windows installation is it's running as a VM on unRAID.  But that shouldn't really matter

 

 

 

[marcgii]

@LinusTech I think I recall you running into a similar issue before.  TL;DR I want to upgrade to 4k@120 TV setup but keep using my old AVR for 5.1 ch audio.  Best option?

 

BTW to everyone else, I'm aware it's very unlikely Linus will respond

[LinusTech]

48 minutes ago, marcgii said:

@LinusTech I think I recall you running into a similar issue before.  TL;DR I want to upgrade to 4k@120 TV setup but keep using my old AVR for 5.1 ch audio.  Best option?

 

BTW to everyone else, I'm aware it's very unlikely Linus will respond

When I tried this, 1 was the best solution I found.

 

I've since gone the sound bar route so I just go straight to my TV now.

[Kilrah]

He used solution 1, with a tool to disable the mouse going to the non-existent display. 

 

That's the pain with AVRs, if you want a clean setup you've got no choice but to replace them every time a new display standard comes out. Maybe you can still sell that one for a decent price since not everyone will be going 2.1 anytime soon?

 

EDIT: Welp, sniped by the man 

[marcgii]

I'll look into a new AVR.  Unfortunately right now apparently many receivers can't properly display at 4k@120 due to a major bug. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2020/10/24/ps5-and-xbox-series-x-friendly-av-receivers-reportedly-hit-by-major-hdmi-bug/?sh=61959f9597e5

 

On top of that, the CX series is still having a major stuttering issue when G-sync is enabled.  LG is "confident" they can provide a firmware fix.  I'm praying they're correct.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2020/10/20/lg-pledges-to-fix-latest-oled-tv-nvidia-rtx-30-glitch/#73bf09d6314b

 

This is what happens when the first source hardware is late AF to the market lol. 

[marcgii]

Here's the video and software Kilrah alluded to earlier.  The software Linus used was Dual Monitor Tools.  Thankfully I found that video because I never would have found the program.  

 

It seems Linus was able to game without issue while having an extra phantom display connected.  So that's promising.

 

http://dualmonitortool.sourceforge.net/index.html

 

 

This video is just over a year old.  But my god does it feel so much older lol.

[Kilrah]

That's the beard for you, @LinusTech looks 5 years wiser since the addition 

[marcgii]

14 hours ago, Kilrah said:

That's the beard for you, @LinusTech looks 5 years wiser since the addition 

Yeah the beard is half of it lol.  But also BFGDs are nearly irrelevant now and it was back when Shadow was around

[marcgii]

It turns out there is a hardware potential hardware solution for my problem.  Apparently this device will convert your eARC connection to a standard HDMI connection.  You just need to set the TV to pass through the audio.  Which I think I can do no problem with my CX.  I haven't tried it yet.  If anyone here has used the SHARC before, let me know.  I still can't get a 3080, so I'll probably hold off purchasing this in case HD Fury releases their HDMI 2.1 audio extractor by then.

 

https://www.thenaudio.com/product/sharc-earc-audio-converter/

[circeseye]

fyi with arc/earc....its a cluster f@$#...apps on tv will send surround to avr with arc/earc, BUT will not send surround from a external device..only stereo. (ive tried with both LG and samsung)

best bet is option 1. or get a new avr (like i did, but since i got a new avr i went with more speakers)

[Kilrah]

8 hours ago, marcgii said:

Apparently this device will convert your eARC connection to a standard HDMI connection.

This is for the other way, i.e. connect a non-ARC sound system to an ARC TV. But he doesn't have a TV with ARC.

[marcgii]

15 hours ago, circeseye said:

fyi with arc/earc....its a cluster f@$#...apps on tv will send surround to avr with arc/earc, BUT will not send surround from a external device..only stereo. (ive tried with both LG and samsung)

From what I've read, people have successfully passed through 7.1 LPCM and Dolby formats via eARC with the LG CX.  However the CX doesn't support DTS pass through for some reason.  So now I think I may just wait for a HDMI 2.1 audio extractor similar to the HDFury Integral 2.  

[lowfat]

@marcgii

 

Did you end up buying the SHARC?  I finally figured out that I needed eARC to get multi-channel audio audio out from my GPU. But I already have an nice older Yamaha Aventage AVR. Spending the $350ish for the SHARC seems like a better deal than dropping $1K+ on a new AVR.

 

But can't find anyone who really has used one.

[BuzzingBee]

17 hours ago, lowfat said:

@marcgii

 

Did you end up buying the SHARC?  I finally figured out that I needed eARC to get multi-channel audio audio out from my GPU. But I already have an nice older Yamaha Aventage AVR. Spending the $350ish for the SHARC seems like a better deal than dropping $1K+ on a new AVR.

 

But can't find anyone who really has used one.

I used to have SHARC for my AVR in living room until I unexpectedly upgraded another AVR with eARC support. Beforehand I can play PC and PS5 with 7.1 LPCM audio with LG B9 and Yamaha RX-V2067, as I really wanted to avoid Dolby/DTS due to added audio latency. My device is v1 however, and one of big problem is it consumed one of HDMI input on the TV, and it may be a problem for people if TV only has 2 HDMI 2.1 ports and one of them is eARC supported. v2 solved that issue by having two HDMI 2.1 inputs.

[marcgii]

On 5/11/2023 at 10:49 PM, lowfat said:

@marcgii

 

Did you end up buying the SHARC?  I finally figured out that I needed eARC to get multi-channel audio audio out from my GPU. But I already have an nice older Yamaha Aventage AVR. Spending the $350ish for the SHARC seems like a better deal than dropping $1K+ on a new AVR.

 

But can't find anyone who really has used one.

No I'm using two cables out of my GPU still. Other than a few minor inconveniences, this solution has been surprisingly fine.

 

It looks the v2 version of the SHARC is $230.  I think it ought to work great for your needs.  But you should email them to verify it supports G-sync before buying.

[lowfat]

I ended up just buying a newer AVR off FB, a Yamaha RX-V6A. It has HDMI2.1 but only 25Gbps. But it does also does eARC and works fine.

 

But I did find a cheaper solution, and OREI eARC Extractor. I ordered one for about $65CAD on Amazon. Sits between eARC out on TV and TV and just sends HDMI audio to the AVR. So same as the SHARC however only 18Gbps, so you wouldn't use the inputs for gaming. But if your TV has enough HDMI2.1 ports for your needs then it is a much cheaper solution.