With the writing being not just on the wall but having worked its way into the studs regarding multichannel analog inputs on current hardware, I suddenly had what passes for a thought: Would it be possible to use a multichannel USB audio device to get four or more channels into a Raspberry Pi which it could then output via HDMI?
The Pi itself would be cheap, but I have no idea if an appropriate input device exists nor whether output redirection to HDMI is possible.
My main Onkyo receiver went into the shop on Monday (a shop with a FOUR MONTH backlog!) and I'm a pessimist by nature, so I'm worried that I will have to replace it with something that will render my Surround Master useless. We already know there aren't off-the-shelf gadgets to convert multichannel analog to HDMI PCM, but it seems like building something like this just might be doable. Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough myself.
Maybe this is even something Involve could engineer? They wouldn't have to pay the Hate Defecation Murder Interface Mafia any royalties as they'd just be selling a (modified?) Raspberry Pi. And if they came up with an input device that only worked for this particular purpose, maybe it would be cheaper than what's out there now since versatility wouldn't be any concern.
In a perfect world:
1. Small device with four RCA inputs that digitizes the signal and sends it to the Pi over USB.
2. Software on the Pi to send the input straight to HDMI with no other conversion.
3. Software could even run entirely in RAM (as piCorePlayer currently does), which would mean no wear on the MicroSD boot card and no concerns about corruption if it's struck by a sudden power loss.
Have I lost what's left of my mind or am I onto something here or am I just on something?
The Pi itself would be cheap, but I have no idea if an appropriate input device exists nor whether output redirection to HDMI is possible.
My main Onkyo receiver went into the shop on Monday (a shop with a FOUR MONTH backlog!) and I'm a pessimist by nature, so I'm worried that I will have to replace it with something that will render my Surround Master useless. We already know there aren't off-the-shelf gadgets to convert multichannel analog to HDMI PCM, but it seems like building something like this just might be doable. Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough myself.
Maybe this is even something Involve could engineer? They wouldn't have to pay the Hate Defecation Murder Interface Mafia any royalties as they'd just be selling a (modified?) Raspberry Pi. And if they came up with an input device that only worked for this particular purpose, maybe it would be cheaper than what's out there now since versatility wouldn't be any concern.
In a perfect world:
1. Small device with four RCA inputs that digitizes the signal and sends it to the Pi over USB.
2. Software on the Pi to send the input straight to HDMI with no other conversion.
3. Software could even run entirely in RAM (as piCorePlayer currently does), which would mean no wear on the MicroSD boot card and no concerns about corruption if it's struck by a sudden power loss.
Have I lost what's left of my mind or am I onto something here or am I just on something?