2 zones in 1 room

[vision]

First, the problem. I want to be able to play multiple audio sources in one room independent of the video source. My most common activity is spinning records with friends. We switch off DJing while the rest play video games. I would like to be able to play some video game sound effects while most audio comes from the DJ mixer. Also, when I'm alone I like to spin and watch a movie on the TV.

My goals are to not have to plug/unplug wires (of course), and be able to do this "audio mixing" & "video decoupling" from several sources remotely - DJ mixer, HTPC, Xbox360, PS3, Wii, NES. I currently own a Harmony 890 remote, so I'm hoping this will allow even my girlfriend whose unfamiliar with the setup to be able to manage.

From what I understand, the mixing of audio signals is not a feature of receivers and would require a proper mixer. Thus, I thought that having two zones in the living room would accomplish my end goal. I can keep my current speaker setup, and add some smaller speakers I own for zone 2 whose audio can be controlled separately. For this to work, correct me if I'm wrong, but all video would need to go straight to my TV (Samsung LN-T4671F).

Let me explain the issue I see if I tried to repeat the video signal through the receiver. A normal day of playing video games would be the console video going to the TV (z1) & speakers (z1). Then, when friends come over, I suddenly want the video to continue to go to the TV (z1), but the audio to go to the secondary speakers (z2) and the DJ mixer audio to go to my main speakers (z1). I do not believe this is possible to split the video & audio of 1 source to multiple zones while playing the audio of a second source with the video of the first.

Has anybody attempted a setup such as this that has had 2 zones in one room & had success? Any advice or experience will be met with appreciation.

 

[highfigh]

The easy way would be to buy a receiver. That way, you can create an activity for each audio source when you want to change it, but not the video.

 

[vision]

Right. I guess I wasn't clear that my plans are to buy a receiver with at least two zones for the above setup to work, and was mainly asking if somebody else has tried this before and had success or had some caveats to watch out for. However, I think I can take your comment as it's a perfectly reasonable plan & I'm not following some pipe dream.

 

[highfigh]

Right. I guess I wasn't clear that my plans are to buy a receiver with at least two zones for the above setup to work, and was mainly asking if somebody else has tried this before and had success or had some caveats to watch out for. However, I think I can take your comment as it's a perfectly reasonable plan & I'm not following some pipe dream.

How much power do you want/need for each zone? I sometimes watch TV and play music, which is possible by having independent audio and video switching. As long as you have this in whatever receiver you buy and it receives discreet commands, your Harmony will allow this but, as I mentioned, you'll want to create a separate activity for DJ/DVD, DJ/TV, DJ/game, etc to make it easy for some people to operate it if they have a hard time keeping everything straight. While you can map the buttons on the 890 to do what you want in each activity, some receivers don't allow seamless command over Zone 2. Denon receivers are easy to control this way and the back of their remote has all of the Zone 2 commands (you slide a switch on the front to control Zone 2 but all of the Z2 commands are discreet and different from Z1, so it's hard to screw things up). You would need to add Zone 2 as a separate device in the setup of the 890. Once this is included as a device, you can add the functions you want in the 'Customize' section, where you would click on 'Change the operation of buttons'.

 

[vision]

Thanks, this is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I didn't realize that some receivers did allow for independent audio and video switching, so I'll definitely be looking for that.

I did realize I would probably need to create a separate activity for each, and I don't see this as a big deal. Although, I'm a little confused by what you meant by "some receivers don't allow seamless command over Zone 2". Do you just mean that I will need to create a separate device when programming the Harmony for Zone 2? If so, I see no problem customizing like you mentioned. Or, do you mean that there are not discreet separate controls? Like the volume controls are shared between zone 1 & 2, just depends on you hitting a previous button that changes the working zone. If this is the case, I guess I should look out for remote controls as well.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks, this is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I didn't realize that some receivers did allow for independent audio and video switching, so I'll definitely be looking for that.

I did realize I would probably need to create a separate activity for each, and I don't see this as a big deal. Although, I'm a little confused by what you meant by "some receivers don't allow seamless command over Zone 2". Do you just mean that I will need to create a separate device when programming the Harmony for Zone 2? If so, I see no problem customizing like you mentioned. Or, do you mean that there are not discreet separate controls? Like the volume controls are shared between zone 1 & 2, just depends on you hitting a previous button that changes the working zone. If this is the case, I guess I should look out for remote controls as well.

You can add Zone 2 buttons to Zone 1 activities but because of how Harmony's database is set up, it's best to add that receiver's Zone 2 as a device and just use the dropdowns when you add buttons. If you just add Zone 2 commands to Zone 1, they'll be removed when Harmony's database managers go through and check for incorrect names, code and other info. The Zone 2 codes are probably already in the database, so it's actually easier to add it as a device. Once the commands have been added, you can call them what you want as long as you make it a short name.

No, I mean volume, power and switching are separate, so you'll need to find a place for those commands. You can't have the volume control operating both zones with one button in one activity. You can, however, re-map the Zone 2 buttons in Device mode and control what you want, then go back to the activity. I find it's easier for people to understand having the buttons in the activities where they're likely to be used instead of flipping back and forth between several pages of activities and devices.

 

[vision]

I find it's easier for people to understand having the buttons in the activities where they're likely to be used instead of flipping back and forth between several pages of activities and devices.

definitely, this is how i've set it up in the past. thanks for the help, now I just need to read through the plethora of other posts on here to help me decide on the right receiver - it's a good thing there are so few options to make my decision easy...

 

[Lordoftherings]

definitely, this is how i've set it up in the past. thanks for the help, now I just need to read through the plethora of other posts on here to help me decide on the right receiver - it's a good thing there are so few options to make my decision easy...

Budget? Any brand you're interested in?