How to replace your home theater pre-pro with a HTPC!

[Nyal Mellor]

I believe the Music Vault is pretty much pieced together and locked down using standard components, including Windows 7 and a few server software options.

Is anyone actually buying these 5k 'music servers'?! I've never seen one in the field.

 

[edorr]

Is anyone actually buying these 5k 'music servers'?! I've never seen one in the field.

Dunno. Total outlay for my Zuma+ server + Powersupply is also $5K.

 

[edorr]

Some of you may know that back in Feb of this year I started a mini-project to see if I could replace a pre-pro with a home theater PC.

The experiment has been a resounding success. I've been using the PC in our demo room for around three months now with no hickups, crashes or anything that would make me worry about recommending it as a solid solution. The quality is good enough that it has replaced my other music server (Mac Mini, iTunes, Pure Music) and so now I am using one server for both music and movies. It's really nice to be able to rip blu-rays to a server and be able to choose scenes as needed and skip all the introductory screens. A poor man's Kaleidescape.

The downside is the large amount of configuration that needs to be done to get everything to work. Thankfully I've figured all of this out and documented it in a blog post on my website: how to replace your home theater pre-processor with a HTPC!

Take a look and leave a comment either here or there!

Next up I am going to start looking at what benefits, if any, these new fangled full range room correction plugins like Dirac Live and Audiolense can offer. I am personally not convinced theoretically about full range room correction but given the level of interest in it generally I figure I should at least try these things out, do some measurements and report back my findings.

Nyal, I am finally at a point of configuring my HTPC. Quick question. Why do you need both these programs?

ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater
SlySoft AnyDVDHD

Do you use one for ripping and one for BR playback? Is there a solution that does both.

By the way, I am ripping my DVD-Audio discs with DVD-A extractor.

 

[mojave]

From the article:

The other two pieces of software needed are SlySoft's AnyDVDHD which allows you to playback and rip blu-ray discs and ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theater for the dtsdecoder.dll (a file that allows JRiver to decode DTS-HD audio - see here for more details).

JRiver is not a licensed Blu-ray player and can only play back decoded Blu-ray files. AnyDVDHD does the decoding. It was also found that the dtsdecoder.dll file in the ArcSoft installation is the only directshow DTS-HD decoder. In other words, it is the only decoder that can be used in other software. The ArcSoft installation can be uninstalled once you have the dtsdecoder.dll file. At one time one could get the file from an ArcSoft trial installation.

Once you have these two extra pieces of software, JRiver will can rip Blu-rays to your drives or playback directly from disc. There is no Blu-ray menu support, which I like since the main title starts playing immediately. This isn't as friendly a feature for concert Blu-rays, but there is a method to create a library entry for each song in a concert and play it just like other audio tracks or even convert/sync to a handheld device.

 

[edorr]

From the article:



JRiver is not a licensed Blu-ray player and can only play back decoded Blu-ray files. AnyDVDHD does the decoding. It was also found that the dtsdecoder.dll file in the ArcSoft installation is the only directshow DTS-HD decoder. In other words, it is the only decoder that can be used in other software. The ArcSoft installation can be uninstalled once you have the dtsdecoder.dll file. At one time one could get the file from an ArcSoft trial installation.

Once you have these two extra pieces of software, JRiver will can rip Blu-rays to your drives or playback directly from disc. There is no Blu-ray menu support, which I like since the main title starts playing immediately. This isn't as friendly a feature for concert Blu-rays, but there is a method to create a library entry for each song in a concert and play it just like other audio tracks or even convert/sync to a handheld device.

Thanks - I'll buy both programs. I'll try to figure out the BR playback / ripping process this week-end. Still need to set up my multiple "zones" in JR18, get Dirac up and running, and install my Lynx card. So far all has been smooth, but it just takes time. When all is operational, I'll unbox the PS3 I bought for SACD ripping, and try to figure that one out. Not for the faint at heart.

From the article:
This isn't as friendly a feature for concert Blu-rays, but there is a method to create a library entry for each song in a concert and play it just like other audio tracks or even convert/sync to a handheld device.

This is absolutely essential for me. I am planning on ripping just concert DVDs and BRs. I'm may come back asking for some guidance on how to do this once I'm at that point.

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Thanks - I'll buy both programs. I'll try to figure out the BR playback / ripping process this week-end. Still need to set up my multiple "zones" in JR18, get Dirac up and running, and install my Lynx card. So far all has been smooth, but it just takes time. When all is operational, I'll unbox the PS3 I bought for SACD ripping, and try to figure that one out. Not for the faint at heart.



This is absolutely essential for me. I am planning on ripping just concert DVDs and BRs. I'm may come back asking for some guidance on how to do this once I'm at that point.

See here: http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Blu-ray

You do need to buy a full license of AnyDVDHD. You do not need to buy ArcSoft's program as you can get the dtsdecoder.dll from the trial install.

 

[Nyal Mellor]

.. but there is a method to create a library entry for each song in a concert and play it just like other audio tracks or even convert/sync to a handheld device.

Please do tell mojave! Is it also possible to create a library entry for each chapter in a blu-ray? I have some video calibration discs I would love to be able to playback through JRiver, so far though I have not found how to do it.

 

[mojave]

Please do tell mojave! Is it also possible to create a library entry for each chapter in a blu-ray? I have some video calibration discs I would love to be able to playback through JRiver, so far though I have not found how to do it.

JRiver has a neat feature called Particles that are virtual entries for a video or audio file. You can use Particles for creating library items for each title, each chapter, or even a playback range. Here are some examples:

-Create a Particle for each title on the Blu-ray so you have separate entries for the main feature and the extras
-Create a Particle for trailers on a Blu-ray and create a separate trailers view that only has trailers imported within the last month
-Create a Particle for each chapter on a Blu-ray so you have separate song entries in the library
-Create a Particle for a portion of a song so you have a virtual clip to add to a playlist for a demo session
-Create a Particle for a portion of a Blu-ray to convert to a mono wav file for analysis in Spectrum Lab software

When you choose to Convert Format on a Particle, only its playback range will be converted. There is a new feature call Convert Video to Audio which allows one to convert the lossless audio on a concert video to individual FLAC tracks (or other format) . You can then playback the concert without needing to see the video.

The instructions for Particles, including dividing a Blu-ray concert into individual tracks, are on JRiver's wiki: Particles

 

[prerich]

I would just like to say that this is a great thread!!!!!

 

[hvbias]

Nyal will the J-River parametric EQ allow you to EQ any of the HT speakers, or is it just the front left/right?

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Nyal will the J-River parametric EQ allow you to EQ any of the HT speakers, or is it just the front left/right?

Yes any of the 12 channels I have running through JRiver!

 

[Nyal Mellor]

JRiver has a neat feature called Particles that are virtual entries for a video or audio file. You can use Particles for creating library items for each title, each chapter, or even a playback range. Here are some examples:

-Create a Particle for each title on the Blu-ray so you have separate entries for the main feature and the extras
-Create a Particle for trailers on a Blu-ray and create a separate trailers view that only has trailers imported within the last month
-Create a Particle for each chapter on a Blu-ray so you have separate song entries in the library
-Create a Particle for a portion of a song so you have a virtual clip to add to a playlist for a demo session
-Create a Particle for a portion of a Blu-ray to convert to a mono wav file for analysis in Spectrum Lab software

When you choose to Convert Format on a Particle, only its playback range will be converted. There is a new feature call Convert Video to Audio which allows one to convert the lossless audio on a concert video to individual FLAC tracks (or other format) . You can then playback the concert without needing to see the video.

The instructions for Particles, including dividing a Blu-ray concert into individual tracks, are on JRiver's wiki: Particles

Thanks. The amount of functionality in JRiver is incredible!

 

[prerich]

Nyal will the J-River parametric EQ allow you to EQ any of the HT speakers, or is it just the front left/right?

It will allow you to EQ any of your channels (L,C,R,S,SR,SL,BL,BR)...it's one of the coolest featrues in JRiver!

 

[prerich]

Sorry Nyal - I now see that you've already answerd hvbias question.

 

[edorr]

Guys, I'm trying to get my Multi Channel Zone setup with the new server but I am having a problem.

I bought my (windows 8) server with the Lynx AES16e card physically installed, but without the drivers installed.

I managed to install the most current Lynx Card drivers using windows 7 compatibility mode, but no joy. It appears, Windows does not find the new hardware. When I reboot no new hardware found shows up, and when I try to "add device" in the windows control panel, no new hardware is found.

Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this? How can I verify the card is installed correctly and can been seen by windows?

 

[mojave]

Why are you using Windows 7 compatibility mode? The Lynx AES16e drives are fully compatible with Windows 8 32 and 64-bit OS.

If you installed the drivers, then Windows won't show new hardware found because it is no longer "new hardware."

Have you tried to run the Lynx Mixer? It will only open properly if the hardware is installed.

 

[edorr]

Why are you using Windows 7 compatibility mode? The Lynx AES16e drives are fully compatible with Windows 8 32 and 64-bit OS.

If you installed the drivers, then Windows won't show new hardware found because it is no longer "new hardware."

Have you tried to run the Lynx Mixer? It will only open properly if the hardware is installed.

The Lynx drivers need to be installed in Win 7 compatibility mode as per Lynx instructions if I recall correctly. In any case - drivers were not the issue. The card itself never showed up in the windows device manager, either with or without the drivers installed.

The issue was diagnosed as a defective PCI-E x 1 slot on the motherboard. I it worked OK in other slots. I ended up having to plug it into a PCI-E x 16 slot which apparently has the same pin out and also works. Very frustrating spending 6 hours getting the hardware figured out, because I was hoping to have everything configured and do a Dirac live MCH calibration. This will have to wait for another 2 weeks now.

 

[mojave]

The Lynx drivers need to be installed in Win 7 compatibility mode as per Lynx instructions if I recall correctly.

The Lynx instructions for compatibility are only for the LT-USB and LT-FW drivers. http://www.lynxstudio.com/support_docs_result.asp?c=51

Its too bad you had a motherboard problem. At least you got it figured out and are ready for the next challenge.

 

[edorr]

The Lynx instructions for compatibility are only for the LT-USB and LT-FW drivers. http://www.lynxstudio.com/support_docs_result.asp?c=51

Its too bad you had a motherboard problem. At least you got it figured out and are ready for the next challenge.

I ran v2setup19g.exe as suggested by the Lynx download site. From what I recall I had to run it in windows 7 compatibility mode, but may be I misread the instructions and should have installed normally. In any event, it all appears to work.

 

[edorr]

On a different note, has anyone played with external word clock on the lynx card in a HTPC application, where the card is feeding straight into three stereo DACs in synchronous mode? I don't want to go all out and spend a few grand, but there is an Antelope OCX clock reasonably priced used on audiogon, and I thought I might give it a whirl.

http://antelopeaudio.com/en/products/OCX-master-clock