HDMI Input Interface

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motox2121

n00b
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Messages
53
Hey guys, I've recently bought a presonus audiobox usb sound card interface, to output balanced signals to my KRK rokit 8" studio monitors which I use for music production and regular listening. I also have a 1080p HDTV that I have an HD cable box connected to and I also use it as my second monitor while working. Since I love the sound quality of my studio monitors, I also would like to be able to input my HDTV HDMI sound so I can hear the sound output from my cable box while watching, however my audiobox interface doesn't have stereo inputs, it only has mic/instrument inputs.

I was wondering if my best option would be to buy an HDMI capture card and use that just to output the audio?

Can these capture cards even take input from cable boxes? I heard there is some type of encryption to stop recording of movies etc.

I guess another option would be to run Stereo RCA's straight from the TV to my speakers, but that would require me to connect and re-connect every time I wanted to switch from computer / TV input.

Basically wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction of a product that can do what I want it to do, I was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Thanks for any answers, its been a while since I've been to the [H] :)
 
Do not use hdmi sound. Your cable box isn't spitting out anything better than dd/dts, so if your sound card or audio interface has coaxial or optical spdif input, just use the spdif output from the cable box or television.
 
thanks for the quick reply and the info on hdmi sound not being superior,

this is my soundcard/interface http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=53, it has Mic/Instrument 1/4" / XLR inputs, which I believe don't do stereo. Maybe a better option would be to buy another cheap card that has just spdif or rca inputs, or even resort to my onboard sound optical output (which I hadn't even thought about btw).

Thanks again
 
Your onboard sound will probably only have a digital output, not a digital input. Some sounds cards do have an optical input though, like my Inferno, and you can also get dedicated Optical to USB dongles pretty cheap if all you need is one input.

Dustin
 
ah yes dustN, you're right I got that confused I only have an optical output. So if I can just get a single optical > USB cable that sounds like a perfect and cheap solution. But on the other hand, if I do actually want to use my computer as my DVR, would one of those hdmi input cards work with an HD cable box, as in what does the "encryption" actually stop?
 
I always hear people recommending they buy a TV tuner card with cablecard support, and ditch the cable box (and save some money) if you want to use your PC as your DVR. I thought for a long time that HDMI capture cards wouldn't work with cablebox signals, but I've been reading this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-1196020.html and it appears that isn't necessarily the case. I'm not sure if you could use 7MC, or other software, or if you'd be forced to use proprietary software. I really don't know the answer to your question, but I'm really interested in hearing the answer to your question. Besides not saving money by ditching the cablebox, why couldn't someone just use a HDMI capture card and keep their cablebox (and get the added on demand content)?
 
yes that is exactly what I am trying to figure out, if you can set up your PC as a DVR without the actual cable tuner in. Also this way I can easily input ps3 or other hdmi inputs as well for capture.
 
another thought that just occured to me, If I buy a seperate soundcard/interface so I can have optical spdif in, how will I play just that sound. What program can I use that will just play an optical input like that, will I have to treat it as a microphone? Or maybe I should expect my new hardware to come with capture software(hopefully it wouldn't lag relative to the hdmi video)?

Basically would it be a challenge to stream audio from a specific input that is not integrated into the soundcard that is my main output soundcard? - One card will be the optical input and the other is my studio recording interface that outputs balanced signals to my studio monitors.

thanks again
 
You should be able to set it up in Windows control panel, to just pipe everything that comes into the optical input out to your default output device. I'd have to be at a Windows box to give exact directions but it's surely in there somewhere.
 
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