AVerTV Volar Hybrid Q - H837

[UncT]

Martin, I chair the CTA's R3 Audio standards group and one issue we have is low bit rate audio. Even though FM is old it is not compressed (or at least with a minimum of compression). The lossey bit rates used for IP use is really bad. Take a song that has reasonable dynamic range and record it at the 64 or at best 128k bit rates and play it on a decent pair of speakers - you will miss a lot of dynamics and some of the vocal or instruments timber.

So, this is why I still want FM.

[mvallevand]

You aren't going to get quality FM from the electronics in the a tuner with a shitty antenna. On top of that that it is still digital not raw and still compressed to mpeg 2 audio at a pretty low bitrate. On top of that it probably will be 48khz not typical 44khz you'd want for audio.

Finally it stays digital through the chain in NextPVR or Kodi etc, where it gets processed back to PCM for output to your stereo.

I believe your original intent was to have FM radio for your wife on your hifi, I would suggest that showing her the input button for FM will give you much sweeter analog sound then available through PC cards.

Martin

[UncT]

Gentlemen, Thank you. In my endeavor to make WAF (wife acceptance factor) high, I always look for a one button approach. I learned this from B&O when I helped design their first multi-room system. I guess it may be a two button approach in the end. LOL

[mvallevand]

FM radio was certainly much nicer to listen to in the 70's and 80's before dynamic compression. ClearChanel/iHeart helped kill the spirit of FM too, at least alternatives are still available on internet radio. But I digress....

Martin

[mvallevand]

@UncT how much effort are you willing to do to configure things to get your tuner working in v5 (Windows)? It isn't trivial, but I expect it could be easier than setting up MP just for FM support.

Martin

[UncT]

Martin, I need to tell you that I am over 70 and to make matters worse, I am a hardware guy. The only coding I have done for the last two decades is to implement DD, dts, etc or make a dsp flatten the response of a subwoofer. But to answer your question, I think it is worth it. If you haven't noticed there are over 30 pages on FM for NPVR.

[mvallevand]

I am 63 which is probably why I love FM it was such an improvement over AM and turntables with pennies on them. I could never afford B&O but I could dream.

In any case I can walk you through the hard steps, but lets see if your device can be supported

You need to install vlc and type.

vlc -p dshow --advanced --help-verbose

Martin

[UncT]

I get an error message. I installed the x64 bit version. Is that a problem?

[UncT]

Got it to work, No audio capture device found.

[UncT]

Not looking good here