Archive for Living Room
November 7, 2010 at 10:53 am · Filed under AV Room, Audio, Bedroom, Computer, Living Room, Video
So after a few days of troubleshooting like crazy to get the Mac Mini’s 1080p video to work through my Yamaha Z7 AVR – success!! All good, so I rip out the cabinet and neatly run all wires, only to find out I cannot get audio to run to my Living and Bedroom areas! Arrrgghh! Sound through the receiver in the Theatre is fine, but as soon as I switch the AVR to “TV” mode (which passes audio out through HDMI to displays) I get nothing but the sound of silence. Nights are spent trying every conceivable option in the AVR, as well as switching from digital to analogue out and back again on the Mini. It appears the AVR is assuming sound should be coming via HDMI when I switch to “TV” mode, so the only way for the Mini to work in the areas I need it to, is to somehow get the sound ‘INTO’ the Z7 via HDMI, which means some form of converter box. After a Google search, an online visit to Monoprice was called for and I managed to order this device which should do the trick. So in about a weeks’ time Ill be back on track!
November 6, 2010 at 11:21 am · Filed under AV Room, Audio, Bedroom, Computer, Living Room, Video
So I bought a late-2006 Mac Mini recently purely as a media player (running Plex Nine). The plan was/is to have an elegant, easy-to-use interface that consolidates all my media and be made available in all areas of the home. Sounds great, but my integration of the Mini has been fraught with issues, ironically all AV issues (my supposed specialty!) and not software!
So first thing I did when I got the Mac home was plug it directly into the Pioneer, just to see the condition it was in and that it was functioning (oh, and I did spray paint the body black too!). DVI out of the Mini to HDMI on the TV worked perfectly. A few adjustments in OSX to output 1080p and we’re good to go. So next day with a bit of time I attempt to run it through the Yamaha Z7 so I can access it in all areas. No picture, just the initial boot up screen. Long story short, the Yamaha had difficulty identifying the EDID info from the Mini. I finally resolved this by using the “Screen Sharing” function of OSX and logged in via my MacBookPro, this allowed me to adjust the resolution settings remotely. A few presses here and there and it worked! So I now have a beautiful 1080p image available to me in every room. However, no sound…
October 11, 2010 at 8:10 pm · Filed under Audio, Living Room
Well I was hoping by now to be celebrating the arrival of my new XTZ speakers, ordered 10 months ago through a local supplier. I was told over the weekend that I would no longer be getting them. Business issues is the excuse I was given, despite being told they were in Singapore only 3 weeks ago. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. I have to admit a piece of me always felt a bit weird about it. Now the battle to get my money back begins…
November 4, 2009 at 6:17 pm · Filed under Living Room, Video
October 29, 2009 at 10:10 am · Filed under Living Room, Video
Well chalk this down to impulse! Tuesday night saw me and my colleagues at the Bose Summer Launch here in Perth. One thing that struck me this year at the event was that Bose were using Pioneer Kuro plasmas. Very nice Bose! Of course all us industry folk (and quite a lot of you owners) know that these are without a doubt the best flat screen displays ever made, but sadly Pioneer ceased production early 2009 due to the high production costs. Anyways, Im in the market for a new TV, and having been inspired by what I had seen the night before (an audio demo featuring a scene from The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray) I decided on a whim to have a look at the Pioneer Clearance Centre website. Lo and behold, they had three 50″ Kuros (Brand New) for sale, at a substantially discounted price. Now I don’t really want a 50″ for the living room, but this was too good to pass up.
Today I’m the proud owner of a 50″ Pioneer C509 Kuro Plasma! Pics to come next week when the beast is delivered.
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