Anyone have experience with this Monoprice HDMI switch?

N

N8Nagel

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=21614

I have a super nasty lashup in my bedroom; I have to admit I'm mostly an audio guy and have a soft spot for interesting vintage stuff. Components are:

- Verizon FiOS cable box
- Roku streaming stick
- Oppo BDP-105
- Sansui QRX-7001 quadraphonic receiver
- Dual 1229Q turntable
- Older Sony 42" LCD TV

So what I'm doing is, the cable box is plugged into the rear HDMI input of the Oppo; the Roku is hanging off the front. The Oppo is set up for a 5.1 system with the sub and center channel deleted (because there's only room for four speakers in the bedroom anyway, and, well, the big Sui is pretty bada$$). The analog audio outs (well, four of them) of the Oppo go to the aux in of the Sansui; the HDMI output goes to the display. The whole mess is controlled by an AR Xsight Color. It actually works shockingly well and allows for watching multi-channel programming while still satisfying my need to be exceptionally contrary (and also listen to quadraphonic LPs or tapes, although I think if I moved the big quad reel to reel into the bedroom both I and the R2R might end up sleeping on the porch.) Literally indistinguishable funtionally from the "real" AV setup in the living room other than you have to get up and turn a knob to adjust volume in operation, and I have to admit that the soothing green glow and silver faceplate of the QRX is more appealing to my senses than a nondescript black box with a blue VFD. (now if I could ever get my Marantz 4270 fixed, or trade up to a QRX-9001, and rig something using the wired accessory remote connection and some custom bits to allow IR control of volume, that would complete this whole "vintage surround" system, but that's another speculation for another time)

I used to use a Psyclone PSC-47 HDMI switch although it's never worked completely right; even when I first got it (used, because it was already discontinued at the time) the display was flaky, and after a couple years of use it started to introduce jaggies into the picture (I know it's the Psyclone because the picture is just fine with the current setup). I would like to go back to using an IR controllable HDMI switch for several reasons; first, I don't like the Roku hanging out of the front of the Oppo because I'm afraid that someone will bump it and damage either the Roku or the Oppo (the latter being irreplaceable now, given the way I'm using it and the fact that Oppo is out of the disc spinner business) and second, the current setup limits me to only two video sources.

The sticky bit seems to be that most HDMI switches are auto-switching, which doesn't really work that well with this setup because that means I can't guarantee what input it will settle on when I power up the whole mess, and I really am trying to make this whole thing work seamlessly. I would ideally like something that is a) relatively modern and capable of passing a 4K signal for future-proofing b) either not auto-switching or capable of having the auto-switching feature disabled and c) has discrete IR commands to directly command the unit to switch to a certain input. Desirable but not necessary would be the ability to use ARC to pass back audio from the TV but a) I don't have an antenna hooked up and b) I've never actually tried anyway to see if the Oppo would handle that audio correctly.

This is the first unit that I've seen that appears to check all the boxes (the ability to disable auto-switching being the hangup with most products I've seen.) I would rather it be a component sized unit like the Psyclone so that I could stack everything all together (it looked really good previously, I had the Sansui on the bottom, then Psyclone, then Oppo, then the Dual on top of that - the Sansui is so deep that the cooling grille for the amp section actually was free to breathe because it was so much deeper than the other components) but I can work around that by making a stand to hold the switch vertically or something. Other than that minor quibble it appears ideal.

My question is, however, I do have some trepidation about dropping $70 on a Monoprice product - has anyone used it and have you had any issues with it? (FWIW I am using a Monoprice Redmere HDMI cable to connect the Oppo and the display as the gear is on a side wall and the cable needs to go over a doorway as well, and it is working fine with no issues 5 years later. I abhor some Monoprice stuff, like their audio interconnects, but some of their stuff seems to be really good.)

Thanks for any input on this, or recommendations for alternate products that will accomplish the task at hand.
 
I'm not sure how helpful this response will be, since I don't have experience with the component in question. However, I've found Monoprice stuff in general to be of good quality and well priced. There are exceptions, but they stand behind their products, and will accept a return if it doesn't work properly, or with your system.

I'm also curious as to what you don't like about their interconnects. I've only bought one or two from them, a set of long (50' IIRC) RCA stereo cords that were made of paired RG-59 cable rather than a thinner shielded cable, but the plugs were good quality, they worked fine, and were still a good price.
 
The "premium" stereo interconnects? I hate those ends. They look nice but they are brittle pot metal; they will fall apart if you try to adjust the tension on the shield. Also, the signal pin on one broke off in my roommate's AVR when he was packing up to move.

If I wanted big coax interconnects I'd probably make my own before buying more (I think I still have a roll of RG-6 quad shield laying around from my last place; had to replace the old cable wiring to get a reliable HD signal.)

My rule of thumb now is to stay away from any of their heavy "premium" cables (I don't like the HDMIs either; they were so heavy they'd fall out of my PS3 if the cat walked behind the rack, so pretty much any time we wanted to use it we'd have to wiggle the cable to get a picture) but some of their other stuff has been great. I am using their standard optical cable in one location and my HDMI cables are a mix of their "metallic series" and gimmes from Verizon.
 
How are the Roku and FiOS box connected to the receiver?
I know this isn't answering your question exactly, but I had a mish-mash of HDMI switches, analog and digital cables going everywhere, etc. The best thing I did for usability, and sound quality for HT use, was to get a receiver that properly switches HDMI. I bought a nice used upper model Denon for this, but recently, I picked up a decent mid-level Denon for a friend from Goodwill for $30 that works similarly. The onscreen displays are crude, compared to mine, and there isn't as much flexibility, but for a setup that sounds like yours, it works great. Get one with preamp outs, and you can plug it in to your Sansui's four channel inputs. You can hide it and and control it with IR extenders and use the onscreen display for status. Used HT preamp controllers would work just as well, though there tend to be fewer of them. I control my entire setup with a Logitech Harmony remote, and I have one-button control for each device as well as single button power off.

As for cables... I've bought some really thick and stiff audio cables that are a pain; they are so stiff that smaller devices are moved by the cable, and they tend to come unplugged. Their decent regular thickness cables have been fine, and their balanced / XLR cables have been really good. I've not had issues with their HDMI cables other than older thick ones. The thinner, more flexible ones have been fine for me.
 
David_NC said:
How are the Roku and FiOS box connected to the receiver?
Click to expand...

Indirectly. The FiOS box is plugged into the rear HDMI input of the Oppo, and the Roku is plugged into the front HDMI input of the Oppo. The Oppo handles the DAC duties for getting analog 4-channel audio from the 5.1 or whatever digital audio is coming from the HDMI sources.

My whole reason for looking for a non-auto switching HDMI switch is so that a) I don't have the Roku stick hanging out where people are walking by and b) to allow adding an additional HDMI source if desired.

If it weren't for the Swiss Army knife nature of the Oppo, this would not be possible (and it would have to be a BDP-10x or UDP-20x to do this, nothing else would work I don't think.)

I actually have a Denon 3310ci in the living room and a Marantz SR5008 that is currently unused; I could certainly swap the Marantz into the bedroom instead of the Sansui but I a) would lose the ability to play LPs and b) I figured everyone here on this august forum would recognize that a QRX-7001 looks cooler than a SR5008 :)
 
N8Nagel said:
Indirectly. The FiOS box is plugged into the rear HDMI input of the Oppo, and the Roku is plugged into the front HDMI input of the Oppo. The Oppo handles the DAC duties for getting analog 4-channel audio from the 5.1 or whatever digital audio is coming from the HDMI sources.

My whole reason for looking for a non-auto switching HDMI switch is so that a) I don't have the Roku stick hanging out where people are walking by and b) to allow adding an additional HDMI source if desired.

If it weren't for the Swiss Army knife nature of the Oppo, this would not be possible (and it would have to be a BDP-10x or UDP-20x to do this, nothing else would work I don't think.)

I actually have a Denon 3310ci in the living room and a Marantz SR5008 that is currently unused; I could certainly swap the Marantz into the bedroom instead of the Sansui but I a) would lose the ability to play LPs and b) I figured everyone here on this august forum would recognize that a QRX-7001 looks cooler than a SR5008 :)
Click to expand...
Indeed (re the QRX). That's why I'd use the pre outs on an AVR and stash it out of sight. The onscreen menus and IR extenders would take care of controlling it. I can see the Oppo looking a bit odd with that Roku sticking out of it, but it's pretty cool that it's so flexible. At the least, you can get a right-angle adapter and optionally, an HDMI extension, so the Roku Stick isn't in the way. I did this on an old LCD TV that I use out on the deck; the Roku is all but invisible this way.
 
When I ran out of HDMI inputs on my Emotiva UMC-200 I bought a five into 1 switcher. It was $10 and works great.
https://www.amazon.com/VILCOME-Inte...&sprefix=5+into+1+HDMI+switch,aps,310&sr=8-17
71%2BPNn8wX1L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
E-Stat said:
Had you asked, I would have given you one of mine since I use only three (Cable DVR/Oppo/Roku). :)

You need five or more?
Click to expand...

Yes. Fios box, Roku Express, Blu-Ray player, Xbox 1, PS3, Retro-Bit Sega Genesis, gaming desktop PC

N8Nagel said:
Does that one have auto-switching, and if it does can it be disabled?
Click to expand...

Yes, it has auto switching. I don't know if it can be disabled. I use the remote to select what I want. The switcher itself is out of site. I stuck its IR sensor to the top of my Roku Express.
 
JoeESP9 said:
Yes, it has auto switching. I don't know if it can be disabled. I use the remote to select what I want. The switcher itself is out of site. I stuck its IR sensor to the top of a Roku Express.
Click to expand...

I was hoping to get something that I could use discrete commands to with an Xsight Color. I'm just thinking that auto-switching could hork up my startup sequence which has taken me long enough to get working correctly in the first place... What's her face enjoys good sound and vintage aesthetics but does insist that everything work pretty much transparently.
 
Just ran into this issue with a new tweak to the audio system. I added an HDMI splitter so I could run both the HTPC monitor and an overhead projector for the light show simultaneously. I can get it to work, but there's a specific sequence it needs to boot up properly.

- turn on projector and let that boot
- turn on monitor
- boot HTPC
- rub head counterclockwise while rubbing belly clockwise
- pray to whatever audio gods might be listening
- shut it all down and try again
- mumble and mutter a lot

If it DOES manage to work, half the time there will be an annoying color bar along one side of both displays.
(MUMBLE AND MUTTER A LOT MORE, AT GREATER VOLUME, AND POSSIBLY TOSS STUFF

Anyway, looking for options. They're cheap enough I just got another off Amazon and am hoping for the best.
 
HDMI can be a difficult mistress at times with its required handshaking. My first HT processor, an Emotiva UMC-1 was kinda cranky and very slow to switch.

Now I use a newer UMC-200 like Joe uses and problems went away. :)
 
E-Stat said:
HDMI can be a difficult mistress at times with its required handshaking. My first HT processor, an Emotiva UMC-1 was kinda cranky and very slow to switch.

Now I use a newer UMC-200 like Joe uses and problems went away. :)
Click to expand...

It's not actually HDMI that's been causing me issues (other than the Psyclone crapping out on me) believe it or not it is the long boot up time of the Oppo. I have to turn it on first, then turn on all the other components, send the commands to those, then select the correct input on the Oppo twice just to make sure it takes because even after the longest delay I can program in it only works 50% of the time if I send that command sequence once.

Now that I think about it, having a full size Roku would be good too because the sticks are (were?) BT only, so the Xsight can't control it. But I am trying not to spend money on non-essentials these days and concentrate on a few project receivers (yes, it's almost Christmas and my Scott 340B was supposed to be done Christmas break two years ago... I did buy the parts FWIW...
 
E-Stat said:
The sticks are HDMI only. Have two of them.
Click to expand...

Right, but they are remote controllable only through Bluetooth not IR, and I haven't yet stepped up to the big leagues and purchased a universal remote that will do both IR and BT. I'm thinking it might actually be cheaper to get a full size Roku than it would be to try to get a remote that does BT.
 
sKiZo said:
Just ran into this issue with a new tweak to the audio system. I added an HDMI splitter so I could run both the HTPC monitor and an overhead projector for the light show simultaneously. I can get it to work, but there's a specific sequence it needs to boot up properly.

- turn on projector and let that boot
- turn on monitor
- boot HTPC
- rub head counterclockwise while rubbing belly clockwise
- pray to whatever audio gods might be listening
- shut it all down and try again
- mumble and mutter a lot

If it DOES manage to work, half the time there will be an annoying color bar along one side of both displays.
(MUMBLE AND MUTTER A LOT MORE, AT GREATER VOLUME, AND POSSIBLY TOSS STUFF

Anyway, looking for options. They're cheap enough I just got another off Amazon and am hoping for the best.
Click to expand...

:), :lurk:
 
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