Help me plan a layout for surround/gaming

[seanyc5]

Hi all,

Ill be moving into a flat within the next month or so.

Here is a proposed layout for surround. Am I right in thinking the surround speakers should actually face in the direction indicated by the crude arrows? Or slightly more angled - honestly that's a non issue anyway.



I suppose my real questions are..

1. If I buy a Nvidea shield and plug say an 8TB drive in, will I be able to map that drive to the network and send files to it from the PC from within windows files explorer?

The shield would be used mostly to playback 4k files along with the soundtrack (I may go atmos but with the speakers that fire up only).

2. I think some gigabit powerline adaptors will be the only realistic way of getting from the router near the TV to the PC? Should be ok right? I can then finally have a proper desk setup for PC only games ie. mouse and keyboard - also I want a little midi controller to use with FL studio just messing around.

I don't have a monitor yet though, I think maybe a 32" 1440p 120hz or something like that should be good. I have never gone above 60fps so wouldn't mind trying that.

3. No here is the toughest problem.... How to get a 4k HDR 60fps signal from the PC back the main TV?

This is where I am coming up short with my plan so far. I wonder if those ethernet to HDMI things would work when combined with powerline adaptors?

Building a seconds PC just for playing on the sofa seems a bit overkill considering I dont game much anyway, I just want the option really.


Any thoughts, ideas or total shift it setup is all welcome!

Just to add - All I have for now is the TV and a 2.0 setup with Dali Zenzor 1s on stands that will be used until I add more/upgrade maybe down the line.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[seanyc5]

Yeah surrounds should face each other. Height wise personal preference really. I personally prefer just above head height angled down so other peoples heads don't get in the way.

Can map a drive on the shield and send files over the network yes.

I've tried the powerline thing myself and could only ever get 1080p and that was still a ball ache. Don't think they would do HDR 60 FPS, or if you find one you are talking thousands of pounds.

I'd see about running either a fibre optic cable through ceiling, or going for 4k over Ethernet with a hdmi extender. (Unless you have network points in the house)?

Any reason why you need the PC to access the TV?

As you can have Nvidia shield plugged into TV. USB hard drive plugged into shield. Then set it up over wireless so your pc can send files to the drive.

Thanks for your response.

PC would need access to the TV so I can game on the TV hopefully in 4k HDR but I dont not think that's going to happen without spending a lot of money!

Thats the plan with the Shield (plugged into AV receiver at some point).

I just thought it would be better to connect the PC via powerline rather than wifi. The shield will be plugged straight into the router/switch along with the TV/AV receiver etc.. as that's all close by.

 

[seanyc5]

If it's just you and no gf/wife to moan Then could run a long network cable and just put away when don't need to use it, then grab a hdmi extender. Will set you back about £150.

Otherwise just take the lazy option and cast it to the Nvidia shield using Nvidia game stream and yeah would use powerline for this.

Yeah just me hence doing this haha. Ill put the powerline adaptors in that just makes sense.

Good point, yeah I can try then game stream first. If I'm not happy then I could use a long fibre HMDI or extender for that odd time I want to play a game then just put it away. Never even thought of that haha.

Just looked at the floor plan. A 10m HDMI could do it at a push, 15m no problem at all. Might not even need fibre at 10m ill have to have a look. Yeah that's way easier seeing as how often I would play on the TV anyway.

Cheers!

 

[seanyc5]

Flat + Subwoofer + 5 surround speakers = Good times for your neighbors.

Please do keep us updated. Especially when the poo comes through letterbox.

I will be on the end so nothing behind me, ie Fronts and centre will be facing an end wall.

On the other end you have the main bedroom in the way then another end wall.

Above true, there is one flat I believe.

I won't be blasting it late at night, don't worry. Or blasting it at all for that matter. Doesn't need to be crazy loud to be immersive, off course it would be nice but I would always ask the one neighbour (at least I'm sure there is only one more flat to worry about) if it's too loud etc.. and dial back to suit. It's not like I have not thought about this.

 

[seanyc5]

If you're talking about streaming 4k movies files then just setup a Plex server on your PC and stream them via the Plex app on the Nvidia Shield.

My Plex server is wired to the router via ethernet but I use WiFi for the shield and it easily copes full 4k rips in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

Yeah basically, but I thought I may as well just plug in an external drive to the shield and run the server directly on that (its the only place ill watch). Do not need to worry about getting a good signal then. I will try it first though, I will shuck the HDD and stick it in the PC then if the Wifi is all good. If not I will just plug in USB direct to shield.

I only have SSDs in my PC now anyway so will need to buy an external HDD anyway so may as well just play straight off that.

I have been doing a bit of research on powerline adaptors, it seems most of them are pretty rubbish regards to speed and non get anywhere near gigabit despite the outlandish theoretical claims, the best seem to top out at about 100MB. So game streaming back the shield over powerline is not going to work by the sounds of it.

The best broadband I can get is about 67MB so will be fine for the internet but no good for attempting a 4K HDR game stream to the shield!

I think my best bet will just be to run a 12-15m fibre HDMI for those times I want to game on the TV.

I will try the game stream on wifi before buying the HDMI but they ain't too bad, I seen a fibre for about £80 for that length.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[seanyc5]

wouldn't put your router next to your sub Interference will be a B*, (coming from a guy that works with Radio frequencies all day along)

i do powerline 4K HDR all day along with TP-LINK power adapters from hall way to lounge works fine

to the point i have 2 switches running off the powerline average ping is 2ms to router & get full speed through speed test

Tp - link -> Tp Link> 2 switches then following devices
sheild TV
2 Computers
XBox Series S
Synology NAS
bunch of other consoles

Noted - Honestly the sub in the picture was just random haha, I will move it around to where it sounds best.

Good to hear you can do 4K HDR over powerline. I was talking about 4K HDR game streaming but I assume they use about the same bandwidth anyway?

What is the exact model of your powerlines adaptors if you don't mind?

Thanks,
Sean

 

[seanyc5]

over powerline i have 4+ devices streaming 4K with no issue over powerline doing iperf im getting full 1000Mbps speeds

TP-Link TL-PA8033PKIT AV1300

Thats good to know. I read an article and they tested a load of them, the best one was about 100MB with most around 64MB or something like that. must have been a huge house with crappy wiring or some interference then or something.

Wow those are about half the price to the ones I was looking at, cheers mate.

EDIT -- Oh it was the 2000Mbps variant I was looking at, it tested as the highest speed. Even though I would need the 4 ports on it.

 

[seanyc5]

So this is a "detached flat" where there is only someone above you and nobody else is connected to your building?

You may want to research how subwoofers and vibrations work. IMO ditch the subwoofer completely if you are in a flat. There is no need for one if you will be using it on low gain anyway it will simply be wasted. Just get decent full range speakers that go low enough to give you good enough bass. Floor standers should be more than good enough or even decent bookshelfs.

Yeah pretty much detached. The main "block" is the other side. My one is on the other side of where cars drive through.

Here is what I think would be a worst-case scenario, depending on many subs I get...

 

[seanyc5]

Tbh they're probably angry as somebody has coloured their wall with a blue squiggle . Not sure if a sub would transmitted noise upwards. Try it and see if they complain.

Haha, yeah, I think it probably would. I will have to wait until I actually move in and check the place out some more and make a decision then.

I may just end up using my Zenzor 1s for rear surround and get some better bookshelf or floorstanders then along with a centre and just go 5.0 haha

 

[seanyc5]

There's nothing stopping you from getting a smaller sub and/or not running it as hard. I'd have thought most speakers will be poor at base, unless you spend car money on them (before anyone is triggered, I mean as in able to go to say 20/30hz).

Yeah, I was thinking just a compact unit, surely some bass is better than no bass. Obviously, it would be better when driven harder.

What sort of size would advise or any rough suggestions would be awesome!