Crazy madness? 5.1 Question

[LastLokean]

OK I know here there is no love for BOSE, and I completely agree they are terrible.

Up until recently I had been using two outdated BOSE 201 Series IV stereo speakers with a 50W sub. To be honest this was treating me quite acceptably for a few years.
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However, I recently got two 8" Yamaha HS80M 'studio' monitors along with the 10" HS10W sub woofer along with a Behringer XENYX X1204USB 12-Channel Mixer.

I am currently using the system in stereo powered over USB audio interface... Sounds great for music, but so-so on movies... lacking surround.

Instead I would like to get surround sound. So I would get 3 - 3.5mm to dual 1/4" stereo outputs. This will let me pass all 6 channels into the mixer.

L/R will go out the XLR mains.
Center and sub will go out the 1/4" room control to a Frontman 25R fender guitar amp.

BL/BR is where **** gets crazy in my mind. I want to pass this to my 300W technics receiver to the two BOSE speakers to function as my BL/BR.

As everything else is active powered. Will this even work or will the timing get way off?

Also being as the HS80 and HS10 are meant to be interconnected in stereo, could I output the SUB signal to a 7th input I mix into the mains (L/R) going from device output -> its own input I know can be dangerous for grounding loops, but also sometimes possible?

 

[shadyJ]

Lol, what you are describing sounds mostly possible (except maybe for mixing the sub with L/R in a mixer or after the mixer), but wow it sounds like it could be a real sonic mess. There is a reason why front stage speakers are recommended to be similar if not identical, and you have a group of very dissimilar speakers. The only thing I see that just might not be doable is the way you are mixing the sub going back into the mains, you might be setting yourself up for a short, but I don't really understand well what you are trying to accomplish from your description. I wouldn't worry about the timing of the Bose/technics receiver for the surrounds, that is not your biggest problem.

 

[LastLokean]

So being as I have 2 decent quality monitors I am going to use them as my L/R.

I will be using my two Bose speakers as side L/R. If anything, and only for movies to get the extra sounds.

For the center I am thinking of getting another identical monitor, and using its built in filters to 'tune' the center for voice.

So my real confusion begins when it comes down to music vs movies and stuff on my computer. If I play a blue ray I will get 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound coding so all 5 speakers should get some data. If I play a stereo song (mp3 or flac) how can I make sure it only goes out my L/R channels in stereo? Is it possible to use the L/R and center in some configuration with stereo music? I don't want the poor quality BOSE speakers firing when playing quality music.

I am just torn which way to go with setup. The yamaha sub takes stereo input and has 3 outputs. The obvious 2 for L/R but the third output is L/R mix. I have been led to believe this is to go to a second sub or a center? So for music I think it would be ideal to have stereo out via usb to the mixer, through DAC to Sub -> 3 monitors. L/R being High pass and C being Mid Pass.

On the other hand, For movies I want to use full 5.1 so I would have to output through my sound cards 3 x two channel outputs to the mixers 1/4" inputs. This will be lower quality audio for a number of reasons... Primarily my sound card is not as quality as my studio DAC on my mixing board.

I guess I could setup both, then choose my primary output between my 5.1 capable sound card and my external usb DAC. Except then for the center and sub to get there proper channels all the speakers need to be re-wired. I.E. the Center, Sub and L/R need to be independently connected to outputs from the audio interface (mixing board). So I'm really torn is 5.1 worth that much fiddling? If I have it wired in 5.1 system is it possible to play stereo music out only the sub,L/R?

 

[Actran]

Welcome to the forums and you, sir, are the king of making the best use of what you have.

I tried to diagram this out for myself but needed a little clarification.

Please confirm the below:
1. You're audio source and initial connection point is your PC
2. You want to connect your front/center/sub via USB output, but use the soundcard as the source for your rears (though you then connect them to a mixer to serve as an amp)

Are you sure that your PC will output from both ports simultaneously?

If it can, you can probably go into your sound card settings and select the surround mode based on what you are doing. While I don't use my PC as my receiver, the setting for the card allowed me to pick Stereo, 5.1 surround, etc. Does your soundcard have discrete connections for each speaker or is it a single out type card?

 

[shadyJ]

The Bose will work fine as surrounds, I wouldn't worry about that. You are going 5.1 from analogue jacks on your computer but two channel from a computer USB Audio interface, correct? It sounds like you can skip wiring the surrounds through the mixer, but you will have to connect the 5.1 left/right/center fronts and sub out into the mixer unless you wanted to reconnect the monitors and sub everytime you wanted to watch a movie. You might try connecting the sub out and center to the mixer via the 2-track/USB RCA jacks on the behringer, and then, using the alt 3-4 channels, switching it into the main mix when you are doing 2-channel stuff, but turning it separate when you are doing 5.1 stuff. You would want to connect the sub and center from the alt 3/4 outputs on the back of the Behringer to do this, but it looks like it can be brought in and out of the main mix with the push of a button. Does that make sense? This solves the problem of using the sub for both two channel mode and 5.1 without having to reconnect it every time.


I can't be sure it will work though, because I don't know your overall scheme or your mixer very well, but that is just how I would try it from your description of your setup.

 

[LastLokean]

Thanks much for the input! Sadly I can only output either my 5.1 outputs on my sound card or on USB. At the same time. So if I want to use surround sound all 6 signals must come from the sound card. 4 through the mixer and 2 through the receiver.

But then if I want to listen to music things become all different. Then I want to use the USB output to stereo.

Unfortunately as much as I would like 5.1 with a movie it just doesn't seem a reality. I think I've decided after playing around with it today that I prefer really high quality stereo to 5.1... Mostly because I do more music than games / movies.

 

[Actran]

Have you looked into any of the Home Theatre in a Box - HTiB systems? It sounds like you just want something basic and there are a ton of systems out there that would greatly outperform the capability of what you have. I enjoyed the one I had for several years despite it being inadequate for the room I was in and only spent about $200 on it as an open box system. It got me over a hump until I learned to more effectively spend money on things I don't need and the wife insists I can't afford.