BitWrangler wrote on 2025-01-04, 15:43:
I have seen 5.1 speaker sets from the noughts, home ent mini setups rather than PC targetted, that have 4 analog and optical and spdif on. But even the more common 2 or 3 analog input ones, you can just have stereo mixer on one of the analogs for all the older/basic stuff and three options for surround hookup.
Thanks. I hadn't considered those. Would probably sound better than what I am using, but I am very space limited in how big the speakers and controls can be. The Cambridge Soundworks 4.0 speakers are about as big as I can go, and the volume control is on a lead, which suits me. The volume control will be mounted on the keyboard tray.
You can see from this photo that the speakers sit on the pullout keyboard/mouse tray. They fit with only millimeters to spare.
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Aa shown, the 8 input mixers will be mounted vertically I think (though slightly elevated from where they currently rest), but haven't decided yet. I am thinking that the volume mix levels will need to change infrequently so doesn't matter too much if I have to stand up to access some. Probably will have the CD audio channels on the top mixer and maybe the Pocket 8086 and Psuedo 386 sound outputs also.
BTW, this cupboard is still being built. It is not painted properly yet, not all shelves are in place etc. I am putting PCs in there now just to get a feel for how it works before finalising the layout.
The KVM, currently, is mounted inside the cupboard, at the back, where it can't even be seen. I think that isn't an issue, as can switch between inputs by double tapping Scroll lock on keyboard and typing number.