Hide receiver as a htpc monitor?

[JZStudios]

I just recently bought an actual surround receiver for my PC to replace some very cheap Logitech surrounds. It seems that the only way to get audio out of the receiver is to have it enabled as a monitor, which I don't want. I have a 144hz monitor running through DVI, so having an "extra" monitor in the receiver is pretty useless, and every time I turn the receiver on/off it makes Windows freak out and reset my desktop.

Is there any way around this, or is this just an annoyance I'll have to deal with? And on a side note, when I want to use headphones I have them plugged into the primary 3.5 audio out on the rear IO. When I want to switch to headphones I have to switch the windows default audio output, is there a way I'm missing to stream audio to both so I can just turn the receiver on/off?

[jools]

what receiver model

 

[johnt]

1 hour ago, JZStudios said:

I just recently bought an actual surround receiver for my PC to replace some very cheap Logitech surrounds. It seems that the only way to get audio out of the receiver is to have it enabled as a monitor, which I don't want. I have a 144hz monitor running through DVI, so having an "extra" monitor in the receiver is pretty useless, and every time I turn the receiver on/off it makes Windows freak out and reset my desktop.

Is there any way around this, or is this just an annoyance I'll have to deal with? And on a side note, when I want to use headphones I have them plugged into the primary 3.5 audio out on the rear IO. When I want to switch to headphones I have to switch the windows default audio output, is there a way I'm missing to stream audio to both so I can just turn the receiver on/off?

Oh yeah. All the reasons I stopped using surround sound on PC. Unfortunately, Windows does not support ARC and GPU drivers do not not support audio-only HDMI output.

 

You have the following awful options 1) buy a sound card with HDMI out (only one exists and it's unreasonably priced), or 2) buy a receiver with discrete surround sound inputs and connect with your on-board sound card, or 3) don't use surround sound at your PC. You can try buying an HDMI splitter, but I have never done this so I don't actually know if it works or how it will affect frame rates.

 

For the headphone issue, I recommend using the headphone jack on your receiver instead of on your PC's IO.

[JZStudios]

2 hours ago, jools said:

what receiver model

 

Its a Yamaha RX-V379

1 hour ago, JohnT said:

Oh yeah. All the reasons I stopped using surround sound on PC. Unfortunately, Windows does not support ARC and GPU drivers do not not support audio-only HDMI output.

 

You have the following awful options 1) buy a sound card with HDMI out (only one exists and it's unreasonably priced), or 2) buy a receiver with discrete surround sound inputs and connect with your on-board sound card, or 3) don't use surround sound at your PC. You can try buying an HDMI splitter, but I have never done this so I don't actually know if it works or how it will affect frame rates.

 

For the headphone issue, I recommend using the headphone jack on your receiver instead of on your PC's IO.

That's rather unfortunate. You'd think after 10 years something would be changed, but Nvidia at least on the software side isn't too big on actually doing anything useful.

 

I've also found another complication, and I really hope a HDMI switcher isn't my only solution. To make things super confusing, I have a triple screen setup. In being kind of dumb, I have 2 monitor types, a central 144hz TN running through DVI, and two surround IPS, running through a DisplayPort to HDMI. I also have a PS4, for the reason of Blu-Rays, 5.1 streaming, and (unlike the Xbox) exclusives I can't get on PC.

Running the PS4 to the receiver, then back to the central display for some reason gets overridden by the DVI input. If I run the PS4 straight to the HDMI input on the monitor, it switches (mostly) without issue. If I hit the input button just as the PS4 turns on then it switches just fine, but if I'm late or switch back to DVI I have to use the input selection from the sub menu. Running DVI from PC to monitor and HDMI from receiver seems to cause issue. This kind of defeats my whole purpose in buying the receiver.

[jools]

use optical if you don't have spdif out on pc by a card

[JZStudios]

26 minutes ago, jools said:

use optical if you don't have spdif out on pc by a card

Not a great solution as Optical doesn't do uncompressed 5.1. Might just have to use one of my side monitors as output from the receiver, anyone know if this introduces any lag?

[johnt]

32 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

Not a great solution as Optical doesn't do uncompressed 5.1. Might just have to use one of my side monitors as output from the receiver, anyone know if this introduces any lag?

Not to your main gaming panel. However, the V379 supports 1080p60Hz pass through only. 

[JZStudios]

18 hours ago, JohnT said:

Not to your main gaming panel. However, the V379 supports 1080p60Hz pass through only. 

Hmm. Kind of sucks. I still can't figure out why the inputs won't switch on my main display running through the receiver. It just doesn't make sense to me, it works perfectly fine running direct from the PS4.

[johnt]

3 hours ago, JZStudios said:

Hmm. Kind of sucks. I still can't figure out why the inputs won't switch on my main display running through the receiver. It just doesn't make sense to me, it works perfectly fine running direct from the PS4.

I'm a little confused. You seem to be doing a lot between your setup and it's all quite complicated. And the V379 doesn't have a ton of features so you can't really use that to your advantage. A more up scale receiver would provide a multi room input/output so you would be able to switch between multiple inputs and multiple outputs. The main output would support surround sound and the auxiliary output is typically stereo. But this is all confused by the fact that standard receivers don't like high refresh rates. You might find one to give you 120 Hz, but 144???

 

In any case, you have a very "tv-centric" receiver. It's meant to have one display output and everything plugs directly into it. Or it can handle switching components connected to the TV by using ARC, but monitors don't support ARC.

 

This is a case where you really need to consider de-cluttering your setup. A receiver doesn't make things easier with a PC.