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This is the second incarnation of the Quick Audio Questions thread. Got a question about audio? Post it here! The goal of this thread is to help you find your answers. If you have a question about product recommendations or a specific piece of equipment, you might have better luck in the following dedicated threads: Headphones Home audio Equipment setup sharing Turntables and vinyl PC speakers How to ask a quick question: You could try shooting from the hip and trying your luck, but a concise post with specifics will help others greatly. Please take a moment to condense your question into something that is easily understood, and can be answered with specifics. 1) What is your exact problem? 2) What specific information can you provide about the problem? 3) What is your desired result? This one may not always apply, so don't worry if you can't answer this one. If you're looking for a product to buy: 1) Define parameters like budget, form factor, absolutely necessary features (if applicable), and how/where you're gonna use this thing. 2) If you're looking for speakers, posters may ask you about the room they're going in. This might include things like how big it is, does it have carpet, etc. Be prepared to answer follow-up questions. Examples of questions that work well: DR FRASIER KRANG posted:I'm running a projector for a movie night at my son's school. In order to interface with the PA system, I need to pipe audio from the projector in the middle of the room to the mixer that is about 60-75' away. Lamquin posted:Quick question regarding the quality of different audio streaming formats! MikeJF posted:Hey, if this is the right thread, are there any nice cheap little dongles like the Chromecast Audio but with the Spotify Connect protocol in it on account of the Chromecast Audio in Spotify sucking arse and breaking all the time? Thread frustrations: 1) Many people ask "which soundbar should I get?" The answer is probably "none," as outlined by KillHour in the previous thread. Expect that question to go over like a loud fart. Caveat: it's possible, however unlikely, that soundbars in the future fix their design shortcomings. Should that be the case, any mod with buttons should feel OK to replace this part of the OP unilaterally without asking me to reflect this. 2) Sometimes you won't get what you explicitly asked for, or you're told that you have to do something else that isn't what you imagined. It's possible that you didn't lay out important parameters to your question, or that it was misread— but it's more likely that what you're asking simply isn't in the cards. In any case, assume that the people attempting to help you didn't try to frustrate you, and extend them the same grace that you would want someone to extend to you if your roles were reversed.
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Sep 25, 2023 18:34
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we got a headphone to line-out question in the rPi thread. Anybody know how the tech works? https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3468084&perpage=40&pagenumber=261&noseen=1
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Oct 2, 2023 19:35
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I have a stereo receiver with one aux in port (RCA). Are there any caveats to using a splitter on this so I can plug into two devices at once? I'd like to plug my PC & laptop in. Neither device *should* be playing music at the same time as the other but I wonder about feedback or something. I was thinking about a switch or a Y splitter. Edit: I settled on a cheap mechanical RCA switch from Amazon a dingus fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Oct 4, 2023 |
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Oct 3, 2023 20:46
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I do a good portion of my music listening on my PC, so I'm trying to give myself the best listening experience possible via PC. I have a great pair of headphones, a sound card with a DAC, and I've been engaged in a pretty lengthy process of switching from .mp3 to .flac files. I re-ripped all of my CD's, re-downloaded all of my Bandcamp purchases, etc. The thing that I'm stuck on now is finding a satisfactory app to play these loving things. I had no complaints about iTunes - its queue function was intuitive, and it was easy to browse. Perhaps I think those things because iTunes is what I've been using for 15 years. But at any rate, I find the .flac-capable players that are most commonly recommended (Windows Media Player, VLC, Foobar, and so on) all to have one serious shortcoming or another. Is there any .flac player that is a straight-up iTunes clone? Perhaps, most specifically, the thing that I miss that iTunes had was this: nothing went onto your play queue without you specifically asking for it. If you clicked "play" on an album, it would play through the whole thing, but if you clicked something else and hit "play later" it would take precedence over anything that you hadn't specifically designated as a play next/play later track. I've been using Windows Media Player and it unpredictably adds things to the play queue, and removing them requires manually clicking each track individually instead of shift + click to bulk select. That's really specific, I know, but if there's a .flac player that faithfully replicates the iTunes queue experience, I'd love to hear about it. I'm willing to pay even!
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Nov 17, 2023 16:22
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Plexamp can behave that way.
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Nov 17, 2023 16:54
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Plexamp says it requires access to a Plex Media Server. I can't just use it to play files directly from my hard drive? I think I need something that can do that, unless a Plex media server is something that I just shouldn't be living without.
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Nov 17, 2023 17:04
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Racing Stripe posted:Plexamp says it requires access to a Plex Media Server. I can't just use it to play files directly from my hard drive? I think I need something that can do that, unless a Plex media server is something that I just shouldn't be living without. If you'd like to be able to listen to your PC music files anywhere, Plex/PlexAmp is pretty great. It's great to have on my phone for use with headphones and car stereos. I bought into Plex years ago when they had a lifetime PlexPass for a flat fee, so not sure what's available with a free server these days. The Plex thread probably has answers: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3620605 All that said, I use Foobar on my PC despite having the ability to use PlexAmp there as well.
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Nov 17, 2023 18:03
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I have ifi headphone dac hooked to my desktop for a couple of years now and after a windows update I can't get the drivers to work anymore, I've taken to just hook my headphones on the desktop directly but is there a way to circumvent this problem in the future, maybe a soundcard and a dac with tos link or is it just shifting the problem to another component?
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Nov 21, 2023 16:00
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The just announced WiiM amp it says it has Spotify connect. Does anyone know if Spotify will let you cast to Sonos speakers at the same time as a Spotify connect device? I’m still trying to connect my living speakers to my Sonos network without shelling out for the over priced Sonos amp.
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Nov 22, 2023 21:00
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Sri.Theo posted:The just announced WiiM amp it says it has Spotify connect. Does anyone know if Spotify will let you cast to Sonos speakers at the same time as a Spotify connect device? Does the Spotify app let you select multiple outputs? If not the best way to do this is probably Airplay if you’ve got an iPhone or iPad. I solved my “mix Sonos with other stuff” problem in the most expensive possible way Roon so I can’t give more specific advice.
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Nov 22, 2023 23:01
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qirex posted:Does the Spotify app let you select multiple outputs? If not the best way to do this is probably Airplay if you’ve got an iPhone or iPad. I solved my “mix Sonos with other stuff” problem in the most expensive possible way Roon so I can’t give more specific advice. This will be managed from iOS devices - so you think I can airplay to the WiiM and my Sonos speakers at the same time? Because I think that would work!
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Nov 23, 2023 12:29
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Sri.Theo posted:This will be managed from iOS devices - so you think I can airplay to the WiiM and my Sonos speakers at the same time?  e: Also once you have it playing on any Sonos speaker you can use the Sonos app to add any other Sonos speakers you want as well to cut down on the amount of speakers you need to output to on the iOS device.
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Dec 1, 2023 11:06
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I have a 15+ yo Yamaha HTR-5730. It's been in storage for a few years. I have a Athena Audio Micra6 system that is still pretty good, and I want a receiver to run it. The Yamaha has no HDMI anything because, old, and I want a A/V receiver to replace it. What's a good comparable thing to slot in?
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Dec 4, 2023 06:02
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Jaxyon posted:I have a 15+ yo Yamaha HTR-5730. It's been in storage for a few years. Does your TV support ARC or eARC? Do you have any other devices to plug in, such as DVD or blueray, PS5 etc? If you are just watching streaming services like Netflix or Amazon video, I would just buy the cheapest 5.1 receiver, because you don't need any of the extra features. https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/pionvsx534-rb/pioneer-vsx-534-5.2-ch-x-80-watts-a/v-receiver/1.html This would be a good start.
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Dec 4, 2023 18:53
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I have a nice pair of headphones powered through a DAC and AMP. I also have a subwoofer for bass that I run from the same AMP. So I have a 1/4" splitter that splits the AMP output with one going to my headphones and one going to my woofer. This works well, however I have noticed that I get bleed across my left and right channels when my subwoofer is plugged into the splitter, but when I unplug the subwoofer, the audio bleed in my headphones no longer occurs. Any idea how I can fix this?
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Dec 8, 2023 09:16
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RCA splitters almost always do something stupid. Maybe try a cheap crossover from the world of car audio?
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Dec 8, 2023 20:40
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qirex posted:RCA splitters almost always do something stupid. Maybe try a cheap crossover from the world of car audio? Hmm its not an rca cable but I take your point.
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Dec 9, 2023 02:14
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Kwolok posted:I have a nice pair of headphones powered through a DAC and AMP. I also have a subwoofer for bass that I run from the same AMP. So I have a 1/4" splitter that splits the AMP output with one going to my headphones and one going to my woofer. What does your full signal chain look like? Do you have any other outputs you could use to drive the sub?
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Dec 10, 2023 04:58
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Zorak of Michigan posted:What does your full signal chain look like? Do you have any other outputs you could use to drive the sub? My DAC is connected to my computer via USB. The DAC has a pair of RCA's coming out of the back, this is the only output it has and that goes to my amp which only has a single 1/4 Jack output which I'm splitting. It's an old magni/modi by schiit. The splitter goes to my headphones and then to a butt kicker gamer 2.
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Dec 10, 2023 08:59
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Kwolok posted:My DAC is connected to my computer via USB. The DAC has a pair of RCA's coming out of the back, this is the only output it has and that goes to my amp which only has a single 1/4 Jack output which I'm splitting. It's an old magni/modi by schiit. The splitter goes to my headphones and then to a butt kicker gamer 2. Want to throw money at the problem? Replace the amp with one that had a pass-through output.
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Dec 10, 2023 21:32
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Zorak of Michigan posted:Want to throw money at the problem? Replace the amp with one that had a pass-through output. Any suggestions? Just need something cheap that gets the job done but assuming it's not too expensive I'm game Edit: https://www.schiit.com/products/magni-plus The new magni by schiit seems to do it. Would this be an option? Kwolok fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Dec 11, 2023 |
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Dec 11, 2023 00:53
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Looks like it would work to me.
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Dec 11, 2023 01:25
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Zorak of Michigan posted:Looks like it would work to me. So it doesn't work unfortunately because when the headphones are plugged in it auto mutes the output and this behavior cannot be overridden. So I tried a Y splitter coming from my DAC to the amp, and unfortunately that also caused complete bleed over across left and right channels basically mixing it into mono when plugged into the butt kicker. I am kinda at a loss. I need something that can forward the audio to the buttkicker but will isolate the sound I guess because for some reason it gets mixed to mono and then ends up getting back sent or somthing through the y splitter into the amp. If I unplug the connection at the butt kicker, it goes back to having proper left right stereo, but as soon as I plug it into the butt kicker it becomes mono in the headphones again. I am kinda at a loss...
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Dec 15, 2023 09:03
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Man that sucks. I hope you can return it. Auto-muting the output is a dumb thing to mandate. Edit: do you have analog outs on your PC? If so, what OS do you run? If there's a way to enable multiple active outputs, driving the sub from the analog output should work. Also it would probably be something you could try for free. Zorak of Michigan fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Dec 15, 2023 |
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Dec 15, 2023 18:02
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I am looking for a white noise generator for my bedroom. I currently have a Sound+Sleep which is good enough, but the mp3 compression artifacts are annoying and the unit also shuts off randomly on certain settings.
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Dec 16, 2023 20:47
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Zorak of Michigan posted:Man that sucks. I hope you can return it. Auto-muting the output is a dumb thing to mandate. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRZCGY29?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details This solved it for me. FWIW
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Dec 17, 2023 01:41
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I'm guessing it's between the Y-cable and the subwoofer? I wouldn't have expected that, but I'm glad you found an economical solution.
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Dec 17, 2023 03:32
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Zorak of Michigan posted:I'm guessing it's between the Y-cable and the subwoofer? I wouldn't have expected that, but I'm glad you found an economical solution. Yes, it goes DAC -> RCA y splitter: - (First half of y splitter) headphone amp - (second half) summing box -> subwoofer.
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Dec 17, 2023 18:13
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Do people still buy dedicated mp3 players? I have an ipod shuffle 2GB, but its lack of Bluetooth and only 2gb is really a drag. Should I just buy whatever amazon recommends or is there a name brand that's above and beyond the others? I see the first result on amazon is a no-name $25 16GB with bluetooth, which is plenty for me.
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Dec 18, 2023 22:29
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Do people still buy dedicated mp3 players? I have an ipod shuffle 2GB, but its lack of Bluetooth and only 2gb is really a drag. cool kids are modding/refurbing their own iPods
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Dec 18, 2023 22:46
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Do people still buy dedicated mp3 players? I have an ipod shuffle 2GB, but its lack of Bluetooth and only 2gb is really a drag. There are brands that make decent ones, Hiby, Fiio, Shanling, Aune, etc. a lot of them are pretty much cheap android phones with no cell radio and a headphone jack. There’s also a bunch that use roughly the iPod Nano form factor between $100 and 200. https://hifigo.com/collections/portable https://aoshida-audio.com/collections/portable-player https://www.linsoul.com/collections/digital-audio-players E: oh yeah there’s a dedicated thread for these as well
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Dec 19, 2023 04:09
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Not sure if this is the thread for this. My wife has an old Win7 laptop that she wants to be able to connect to separate Bluetooth speakers in the living room and the kitchen, preferably simultaneously when desired. The laptop doesn't have Bluetooth built in. Can this be achieved with just an appropriate Bluetooth dongle with the right features, and what should I be searching for, or is there some other device that would be better for this? The house is small enough that range shouldn't be an issue.
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Dec 21, 2023 02:30
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Bluetooth isn’t really for that, it’s more of a Wi-Fi thing. You could get two Wiim minis and Chromecast to them.
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Dec 21, 2023 03:08
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Certain bluetooth speakers can be connected as a pair, and a usb bluetooth dongle could probably handle this.
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Dec 21, 2023 03:24
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This may be beyond the scope of this thread-if there’s a better thread please direct me towards it. I’m trying to troubleshoot a small sound/PA system for a community organization. There are two wireless mics, a CD player, a mixer (I think) all feeding into an amp which then has outputs to two sets of speakers. Back of what I think is the amp:   Upstairs set of speakers is two of these:  Downstairs set of speakers is 4 of these:  plus 3 speakers (brand/model unknown) mounted in a porch ceiling. They have a separate volume control knob on a wall downstairs. The volume for the other speakers are all controlled at the mixer, upstream of the amp. I’m not at all a sound guy, my understand is mic receivers and CD player input into mixer, mixer outputs to amp, amp outputs to speakers. Everything upstream of the amp (mic receivers, mixer) seems to work fine. Recently on the amp the light for one of the 2 channels wouldnt light up and the downstairs speakers didn’t work, but the upstairs did. As there was in upcoming event that night and we only needed the downstairs speakers, we swapped the speaker output wires on the back of the amp and made the downstairs speakers work but obviously don’t have upstairs speakers working right now. Is the amp just dead in one channel? Is a new amp the solution, or at least a good first troubleshooting step? This appears to be the newer model of the existing amp: https://www.guitarcenter.com/QSC/GX3-Stereo-Power-Amplifier-1274034490353.gc Is some like this appropriate? The other ‘technically minded but also not a sound guy’ guy that helps with this kind of stuff thought this might be more appropriate as it has 70v of output which we need? https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds Is either or both of those sufficient? All of that is the immediate problem-more long term and more annoyingly is the quality of sound we get from the system. It works basically okay when not many people are in the building, but when there are a 150 people inside the quality gets very bad, boomy, and there is a weird humming, almost like a siren in the background. I have no idea where that interference comes from-some folks say it started when they got a new alarm installed a few years ago, or maybe when they got a new AC system, or maybe it’s always been there. This system is probably 20-30 years old and I imagine technology has moved a long way in that time. Would we be better off looking at a newer wireless system vs trying to get this one fixed? Budget isn’t a huge issue but is of course always some concern. There are a lot of older people who use the space and the current system really just doesn’t work well for them at all. Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help or suggestions of where else to ask! And if the answer ‘who knows, hire a sound guy’ that’s okay too!
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Dec 27, 2023 17:58
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I would try to save the speakers. Those are probably fine and would still work well.
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Dec 27, 2023 18:48
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70V stuff is pretty specialized, it’s obviously not new technology but limited to commercial/professional installs so you might want to talk to an actual AV company about it.
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Dec 28, 2023 03:53
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^^^this now that I got a chance to look at it on my desktop instead of absently phoneposting: if it's just bad in 1 channel or something wrong with the mixer/preamp/etc then all of that should be fairly drop-in fixable with modern components or even good used stuff bought locally or through reverb. In any case I would pay a consult fee to your best local professional AV company to at least give you some options at various performance and cost levels/saving old parts/used/etc/whatever your needs and budget are before dropping $1000+ on a rack amp maybe the equipment needs servicing or repair and maybe they can perform/arrange/facilitate that for you if they're that kind of shop trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Dec 28, 2023 |
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Dec 28, 2023 04:07
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My AVR only has ARC (not eARC), but it supports things like TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. The AVR also only has 1080p output. How do I use something like a Roku device and play 4k HDR video, while also outputting advanced audio to my receiver?
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Dec 29, 2023 08:11
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Fozzy The Bear posted:My AVR only has ARC (not eARC), but it supports things like TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. The AVR also only has 1080p output. You can use the SharcV2 : https://www.thenaudio.com/product/sharc-v2-8k-earc-audio-processor/ I have it and confirm it works. But it's a bit expensive for what it is, and seems out of stock at the moment.
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Dec 29, 2023 21:04
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