Sony BDV N7100 connection to PC

[Pratibhu]

Hi, I am about to invest in a home theatre PC. The home theatre I am looking at is Sony's BDV N7100. This has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output. The idea is to connect one HDMI cord from the PC's graphics card HDMI port, and the other for HDMI audio from either the motherboard or a sound card. I am looking for a premium sound and video experience.

Do you guys think this will work? I am currently looking for a motherboard with HD audio support, if I get one, fine, or else I will get a separate sound card.

Please advice, give your thoughts. I am on a bit of tight schedule. So, some well informed yet, quick responses will be much appreciated.

Thanks and regards,
Pratibhu

 

[baijuxavior]

If you want premium sound then forget Sony. Look for a combo of AVR and 5.1 speaker system. Denon, Yamaha, Marantz have good entry level AVRs.

 

[Pratibhu]

I get your point, but I have to keep in mind my budget as well. I know there are a lot of budget AVRs and speaker sets out there. I am looking into those by visiting various showrooms and offices. But for now, I just want to know if the mentioned Home theatre will work with a PC. If yes, then, how to go about the connections.

Also, if you have knowledge about these things, maybe you can suggest me an AVR and speaker set combination, which has good overall power, bass and balanced sound. My budget for the combined set would be about Rs. 45000.

I also hope that using this will eliminate the need of a sound card. Please let me know.

Thanks
Pratibhu

 

[baijuxavior]

If you have a PC then just add a GPU like nVidia GT620 or its equivalent AMD counterpart. You don't need a sound card. The connection should be as follows:

GPU HDMI OUT > AVR HDMI IN
AVR HDMI OUT > TV HDMI IN.

You can also use the optical or coaxial out of the motherboard for audio. In that case connect HDMI out of motherboard directly to TV and the optical/coaxial out to AVR.

There are many reasons why we discourage HTs from consumer companies like Sony. A proper AVR + Speaker system will always surpass their HT. You get a minimum of 4 HDMI inputs, 3D and 4K passthrough support with recent AVRs . Also these AVRs support HD audio like DTS HDMA and Dolby TruHD which are common in Blu-Ray disks. Another feature is automatic room calibration using a setup mic. There are lots of threads on budget HT. For a starter you can look for Yamaha 299. Or you can get Pioneer/Denon/Yamaha avr + Boston Acoustics speaker system for around 50K.

 

[Pratibhu]

That sounds good. I will check out the AVR setups. In the meantime, the Sony one has the room calibration with mic tool. Why I am backing a Sony, is that I am worried about after sales service. I dont even know where to find Boston Acoustics speakers in Kolkata.

Lets see what I manage.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Pratibhu

 

[Pratibhu]

Hi Baiju,

I went ahead and took a demo for Pioneer HTP-RS42. I am pretty sure that I am, now, going to buy this one. I tried an action movie, an orchestra session, a simple classical track. All sounded as they should, the woofer doesn't intrude anywhere, and offers a nice balanced audio to almost to everything.

Thought I would share with you.

Cheers
Pratibhu

 

[baijuxavior]

^^ Good. You will get still better sound if you go for separate avr and speaker system. But if your budget is limited then go for the Pioneer HTiB.