CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Curt Palme]

Hey gang, after 10+ faithful years, Netflix has decided to stop supporting my 1080p BluRay player, so I had to go buy a streaming device.

Since I now have a 4K projector (JVC), I decided to splurge the extra $20 for a 4K Roku streaming box. But.. my Onkyo receiver isn't 4K compatible.

So, I guess I have a few options:

1) Stay in the 1080p realm, and run through my Onkyo 1080p receiver, which works great.

2)HDMI audio stripper that comes right after the Roku, feeding the audio into the Onkyo, and run the HDMI cable into HDMI2 on the projector, bypassing the receiver's HDMI switching

3) Come 3.5mm output audio out of the projector, and run back to the receiver.

I don't really want to lose audio quality, so I am assuming option 3 is the worst, as projectors tend to add a bit of noise into the audio stream.

Other than springing for a 4K ready HDMI switching receiver (I'd need a high end one with preamp outputs, as I am running pro audio power amps for all 7.1 channels), what's my best option here?
Thanks!

[Curt Palme]

Hey gang, after 10+ faithful years, Netflix has decided to stop supporting my 1080p BluRay player, so I had to go buy a streaming device.

Since I now have a 4K projector (JVC), I decided to splurge the extra $20 for a 4K Roku streaming box. But.. my Onkyo receiver isn't 4K compatible.

So, I guess I have a few options:

1) Stay in the 1080p realm, and run through my Onkyo 1080p receiver, which works great.

2)HDMI audio stripper that comes right after the Roku, feeding the audio into the Onkyo, and run the HDMI cable into HDMI2 on the projector, bypassing the receiver's HDMI switching

3) Come 3.5mm output audio out of the projector, and run back to the receiver.

I don't really want to lose audio quality, so I am assuming option 3 is the worst, as projectors tend to add a bit of noise into the audio stream.

Other than springing for a 4K ready HDMI switching receiver (I'd need a high end one with preamp outputs, as I am running pro audio power amps for all 7.1 channels), what's my best option here?
Thanks!

[kal]

Hi Curt,

The simplest/cleanest solution is probably your option (2) with some sort of HDMI passthrough box with an audio extractor that outputs as either HDMI (lossless audio) or S/PDIF (if the receiver is old and doesn't support lossless).

Back when I was running an older pre-pro that only supported 5.1 lossy audio I used a ~$20 box between my PS4 and JVC that had HDMI in/out with SPDIF extract. This exact one here that supports 4K/30Hz: https://amzn.to/4fx24KB

If you want lossless you'll need to extract the audio and pass it via HDMI into the receiver instead of S/PDIF via Toslink/Coax. Something like this that supports 4K@60Hz: https://amzn.to/40T6pmA

Kal

[kal]

Hi Curt,

The simplest/cleanest solution is probably your option (2) with some sort of HDMI passthrough box with an audio extractor that outputs as either HDMI (lossless audio) or S/PDIF (if the receiver is old and doesn't support lossless).

Back when I was running an older pre-pro that only supported 5.1 lossy audio I used a ~$20 box between my PS4 and JVC that had HDMI in/out with SPDIF extract. This exact one here that supports 4K/30Hz: https://amzn.to/4fx24KB

If you want lossless you'll need to extract the audio and pass it via HDMI into the receiver instead of S/PDIF via Toslink/Coax. Something like this that supports 4K@60Hz: https://amzn.to/40T6pmA

Kal

[Curt Palme]

Thanks, I just ordered it. Curious to see how much 4K content is online, and whether I can see the difference. Now I need to snake another HDMI cable to the projector. Luckily I prepared for that on my ceiling.

[Curt Palme]

Thanks, I just ordered it. Curious to see how much 4K content is online, and whether I can see the difference. Now I need to snake another HDMI cable to the projector. Luckily I prepared for that on my ceiling.

[kal]

Not sure how long of an HDMI cable you need but the general rule for HDMI cable length running a 4K/60 signal is to not go above 25 feet with passive cables if you want to avoid issues/dropouts/etc.

I needed about 30' and my new JVC NZ7 projector supports even higher 4K/120 and 8K/60 as compared to my previous 1080p/60 JVC RS56, so I went with an active cable instead of the old passive one I was using when I replaced my projector in January 2024.

I think I spent more time researching HDMI cables than the *#&!$% projector.

Ended up with this one here that was often recommended in the AVS forum JVC user's thread for my projector line: https://amzn.to/3ZcUrD7

It's been completely problem free (knock on wood). I tend to only use it a 4K/60 max but did try 4K/120 to make sure it actually worked. (I used a PS5 for that).

There are *lots* of HDMI cable choices and some of them seem to be problematic, even to the point of having chipsets that running the signal too hot to the projector, blowing out the HDMI port over time (yikes).

If you're only running 4K/30 max and the distance isn't too bad, then you may be able to get away with the cable you already have. I know that my old HDMI cable was able to do 4K/24 and maybe 4K/30, but whenever I dropped out of a movie back into the PS5 desktop running at 4K/60 the image would drop out.

Kal

[kal]

Not sure how long of an HDMI cable you need but the general rule for HDMI cable length running a 4K/60 signal is to not go above 25 feet with passive cables if you want to avoid issues/dropouts/etc.

I needed about 30' and my new JVC NZ7 projector supports even higher 4K/120 and 8K/60 as compared to my previous 1080p/60 JVC RS56, so I went with an active cable instead of the old passive one I was using when I replaced my projector in January 2024.

I think I spent more time researching HDMI cables than the *#&!$% projector.

Ended up with this one here that was often recommended in the AVS forum JVC user's thread for my projector line: https://amzn.to/3ZcUrD7

It's been completely problem free (knock on wood). I tend to only use it a 4K/60 max but did try 4K/120 to make sure it actually worked. (I used a PS5 for that).

There are *lots* of HDMI cable choices and some of them seem to be problematic, even to the point of having chipsets that running the signal too hot to the projector, blowing out the HDMI port over time (yikes).

If you're only running 4K/30 max and the distance isn't too bad, then you may be able to get away with the cable you already have. I know that my old HDMI cable was able to do 4K/24 and maybe 4K/30, but whenever I dropped out of a movie back into the PS5 desktop running at 4K/60 the image would drop out.

Kal

[Curt Palme]

Yep, about 15' max, so I'm good. The audio racks are at the back of the room, behind me, and pretty close to the projector.

[Curt Palme]

Yep, about 15' max, so I'm good. The audio racks are at the back of the room, behind me, and pretty close to the projector.