[lacro]

I bought a new receiver to update to HDMI. Previously I had used 1/8" analog out from the PC to old receiver for music from PC. My PC has HDMI out from the ATI Radeon HD5670 video card. I ran the HDMI cable to the receiver, and HDMI to my display (TV). Everything works great! I now have a big screen PC monitor, and can stream Hulu, etc. Also, the sound quality while streaming Pandora One is great. However, I am having one issue: Now that I am using HDMI out to the receiver, when the PC goes into idle mode, and shuts down the monitor, it also shuts down my audio stream till I wake the idle by moving the mouse.
 When I was using the 1/8" analog out this did not happen. I could listen to the stream even with computer idled. Any ideas how I can let the PC idle but keep the audio stream while using HDMI?

Thanks,
Larry

[srb]

The display adapter will need to remain in an active state for the associated HDMI audio to continue functioning.  I'm not using HDMI audio, but you might try to go to Control Panel > Power Options and change the "Turn off Display" setting for your selected power plan to 'Never'.
 
This should allow your other components to go into their power saving settings but keep the display adapter active.  I'm not sure if the monitor will still need to be on for the HDMI handshake to remain active though, so let us know if this works.
 
Steve

[lacro]

The display adapter will need to remain in an active state for the associated HDMI audio to continue functioning.  I'm not using HDMI audio, but you might try to go to Control Panel > Power Options and change the "Turn off Display" setting for your selected power plan to 'Never'.
 
This should allow your other components to go into their power saving settings but keep the display adapter active.  I'm not sure if the monitor will still need to be on for the HDMI handshake to remain active though, so let us know if this works.
 
Steve

 Steve,
   Thanks for the help. Your idea works, and I can manually turn off the monitor; the sound stays on Also, I could use optical out of the PC for audio to receiver which would probably allow the monitor to sleep without losing audio, but my receiver only has one optical in which I am using for audio from my TV as the TV doesn't support ARC via HDMI. I do have coaxial in on the receiver, however, no coaxial out on the PC. Is there such a thing as optical to coaxial adapter?

Larry

[srb]

I do have coaxial in on the receiver, however, no coaxial out on the PC. Is there such a thing as optical to coaxial adapter?

My PC has both coaxial and optical outputs, and I am using the coaxial output as I felt it sounded a bit better than the optical.  Optical outputs originate as electrical S/PDIF signals which are converted to optical by the TOSLINK transmitter then converted back to electrical by the TOSLINK receiver, which is why optical outputs often don't sound quite as good as coaxial outputs due to this extra conversion layer.
 
Although there are inexpensive TOSLINK to Coaxial adapters, I would think that yet another conversion layer might turn the signal into a jittery mess, but a lot would depend on the DAC's ability to attenuate jitter.  They are obviously a great solution where no alternative exists.
 
The converters also use a cheap wall wart power supply.
 
RadioShack Optical to Coaxial Digital Audio Converter ($10.99)
 
Monoprice Optical to Coaxial Digital Audio Converter ($11.72)
 
They are inexpensive enough to give it a try to see how it compares with your HDMI audio.  I can't imagine the converter using much power, so it should offer power savings compared to the power consumption of the video card always being active.
 
Steve

[lacro]

My PC has both coaxial and optical outputs, and I am using the coaxial output as I felt it sounded a bit better than the optical.  Optical outputs originate as electrical S/PDIF signals which are converted to optical by the TOSLINK transmitter then converted back to electrical by the TOSLINK receiver, which is why optical outputs often don't sound quite as good as coaxial outputs due to this extra conversion layer.
 
Although there are inexpensive TOSLINK to Coaxial adapters, I would think that yet another conversion layer might turn the signal into a jittery mess, but a lot would depend on the DAC's ability to attenuate jitter.  They are obviously a great solution where no alternative exists.
 
The converters also use a cheap wall wart power supply.
 
RadioShack Optical to Coaxial Digital Audio Converter ($10.99)
 
Monoprice Optical to Coaxial Digital Audio Converter ($11.72)
 
They are inexpensive enough to give it a try to see how it compares with your HDMI audio.  I can't imagine the converter using much power, so it should offer power savings compared to the power consumption of the video card always being active.
 
Steve

 I can also use composite connections from TV to receiver for TV sound. Don't know how degraded it would be compared to Toslink, but after all it is just for TV listening. That would free up the optical port for the PC. BTW/ is HDMI audio as good/better/same as coaxial or optical? I am looking for the best sound quality from the PC.

Larry

[srb]

BTW/ is HDMI audio as good/better/same as coaxial or optical? I am looking for the best sound quality from the PC.

It will vary depending on the implementation and HDMI chipset.  What I would do is compare HDMI and optical from the PC.
 
If the HDMI sounds better, then you would continue as you have it set up now.
 
If the optical sounds better, then consider getting one of the Optical > Coaxial converters for the TV which would still likely give you better sound than the analog out from the TV.
 
Steve