[lokie]

Netflix, Direct Now, etc..

[WGH]

I have a beautiful but dumb 60" Panasonic Plasma so all streaming starts at a mini-tower computer (i7 cpu) with ATI Radeon HD6770 graphics card --> High Speed HDMI --> Outlaw Audio 975 --> Amps --> 5.1 speakers

[aldcoll]

And don't forget Netflix is DEFAULT 5.1.  IF you are like me and only a 2.0 set up I have to change to audio on EACH show I watch. And when I switch to stereo the Audio is worse all around and the volume is about zip.

The Question should also include how you are getting the stream?

I have the TV or Cable Box to pull audio from.   And my Cable folks ( Comcast) has the 5.1 default also.  Fortunately you only have to set it once.

I use a digital out from the Screen as it is feed multiple ways to a DAC.

Alan

[lokie]

I have a beautiful but dumb 60" Panasonic Plasma so all streaming starts at a mini-tower computer (i7 cpu) with ATI Radeon HD6770 graphics card --> High Speed HDMI --> Outlaw Audio 975 --> Amps --> 5.1 speakers

Did you configure this commuter specifically for AV purpose? Howm many cores, or does that matter? I know it does for my kids video games which might find some duty on the system I'm thinking about.
Please more specific about what service your streaming and the interface between the graphics card and whatever it is your streaming.
Thanks

[lokie]

"The Question should also include how you are getting the stream?"
Exactly!
I know what to do with a SPDIF 5.1 signal once I get it.

[Phil A]

I use Netflix lots and Amazon Prime some.  Most of the time via a Roku box.

[A_shah]

1st of all my two channel listening is separate from from my HT system. ,  in the same  room. having said that here is what I have done recently
the TV 65 " Panny  Plasma ( old) , 1080i/p with two HDMI inputs
I do not have any cable or Satellite service just broadband from comcast ,  but do subscribe to Amazon prime, Netflix ,and Dvd.com for physical DVD.

Android Shield >Oppo 205 (via HDMI) Oppo 205 to > TV( HDMI) , OPPO 205 7.1 channel output to Emotive BasX 7 channel amp( reason to use the full capabilities of the ESS Sabre 9038 DAC chip) LCR are all KEF LS 50 center channel Kef R200c

Oppo automatically decodes to" 5.1 streaming," how ever if one goes into the Oppo Speaker configuration, you have options to use LT/RT , stereo , 5.1 or 5.1
the Oppo does a far better job decoding even the latest DTX- than my old Marantz SR5005 AVR. the emotive is still under 30 day trial period from Amazon like the unit but seems a bit underpowered so I am looking at the possibility of using Wyred4sound MC7150 mulit channel amp or the Nord hypex mullti channel amp both of those amps are Class D.  ( for music I prefer class A/ A/B amps but for movie watching Class D maybe fine ?)

Asghar

[WGH]

Did you configure this commuter specifically for AV purpose? Howm many cores, or does that matter? I know it does for my kids video games which might find some duty on the system I'm thinking about.
Please more specific about what service your streaming and the interface between the graphics card and whatever it is your streaming.
Thanks

I built the computer in Dec. 2011 so it's a little old by today's standards but still plenty fast for me, it can rip CD's and convert to .flac faster than any of my friends newer computers. The CPU is an i7 2600K, 3.4 GHg, 4 cores, 8 threads, turbo boost. Not specifically built for AV but an i7 with the Radeon card will do everything very well. I don't game anymore, I got old, slow and tired of dying.

I got the Radeon card so I can have dual screens at the same time: 1900 x 1200 on the Dell 24" and 1080p on the 60" Panasonic TV which is connected to the computer with a long Hi-Speed HDMI cable at one end and the Outlaw 975 processor at the other. Streaming is nothing special, just the internet. Log into Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, PBS, CBS, etc, grab the screen with the mouse and slide it to the TV, hit the Full Screen button and you got entertainment. Another advantage of using a computer is the free VLC Media Player, which will play everything from Blu-ray and DVD's to .mkv files. 

[lokie]

I built the computer in Dec. 2011 so it's a little old by today's standards but still plenty fast for me, it can rip CD's and convert to .flac faster than any of my friends newer computers. The CPU is an i7 2600K, 3.4 GHg, 4 cores, 8 threads, turbo boost. Not specifically built for AV but an i7 with the Radeon card will do everything very well. I don't game anymore, I got old, slow and tired of dying.

I got the Radeon card so I can have dual screens at the same time: 1900 x 1200 on the Dell 24" and 1080p on the 60" Panasonic TV which is connected to the computer with a long Hi-Speed HDMI cable at one end and the Outlaw 975 processor at the other. Streaming is nothing special, just the internet. Log into Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, PBS, CBS, etc, grab the screen with the mouse and slide it to the TV, hit the Full Screen button and you got entertainment. Another advantage of using a computer is the free VLC Media Player, which will play everything from Blu-ray and DVD's to .mkv files. 

OK... That sounds like the direction I want to go. An older gaming computer w a good video card sounds like it will be more than adequate AV machine. Love the dual screen capability.
 Still a little confused as to the advantageous of Home Media management software (and hardware) of Kodi, Plex and Windows Media Center etcc... A good remote needs to be contemplated. Maybe screen share on a tablet would suffice.

So... when you "log" into providers, there is a 5.1 signal to grab?

[WGH]

So... when you "log" into providers, there is a 5.1 signal to grab?

I don't know what the Outlaw 975 is grabbing, I guess whatever format the stream is in. The HDMI out from the graphics card goes directly into the Outlaw surround processor which takes care of the video too. The Outlaw automatically switches between true Dolby 5.1 and DTS to Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, this mode takes 2 channel streaming and converts them to 5.1. thus I always hear 5.1. On average Netflix sounds better than other streams. After Blu-ray and DVD, over-the-air digital broadcasts have excellent picture and sound, streaming comes in a sad 4th place but it does have the best content.

As for a remote, I'm totally old school - I have a 20' USB cable extension on my mouse and take the mouse into the living room. You could always go with a wireless mouse but that's too hi-tech for me.

[rif]

Fios tv (through a tivo), Netflix, Amazon prime, hbo now.  I use ARC so all switching is done by the tv, my denon av receiver handles sound only.

[lokie]

Correct me if I'm wrong... but it seems to me that you all are receiving 2 channel and your processors are turning it into muti-channel.

[WC]

If you have a streaming box like AppleTV, FireTV, Nvidia Shield, or Roku, you can get multichannel output if you connect with HDMI to the AV receiver/processor and connect the AV receiver/processor to the TV. This does depend on if the app you are using on the streaming box puts out a 5.1 signal or not, many do. If you are trying to use an app on the TV or a streaming box connected to the TV and trying to listen to an app in 5.1 through the AV receiver/processor, it will depend on your TV and its abilities. I have a Roku direct connected to my Vizio TV, I tried to pass surround sound back to the AV receiver, but the lipsync was so bad I changed to sending back 2 channel audio to the AV receiver. I do multiplex the 2 channel to 5.0 channel in the AV receiver (don't have any subs yet).

[rif]

Correct me if I'm wrong... but it seems to me that you all are receiving 2 channel and your processors are turning it into muti-channel.

My tv passes Dolby digital (usually dd+) to the receiver through the ARC or optical outputs.  Everything I've encountered so far on Netflix, Amazon prime, and hbo now is 5.1.  Tivo (really actually fios) only passes 5.1 signals on the hd channels.  SD channels get 2.0.