Switch from FM (Wintv) to XM no audio for 15 seconds

antimatter · 03-21-2006, 04:03 PM

Guino,

I am having a problem when i switch from FM (using the wintv usb fm) to XM.

When i switch the XM portion of the Skin loads up and it starts recieving data (i can tell this becasue the updated song info appears) but when i select a channel I get no audio. If i let it sit for ~15 seconds the audio suddenly turns on.

Any thoughts.

guino · 03-22-2006, 12:38 AM

is this very consistent ? I mean, does it always happen and is it always about the same time till you get audio on XM ? what kind of signal strength do you have ? how long does it take to start XM from music mode (mp3) ? This should all be fairly imediate, I mean the tuner should take up to say 5 seconds to unmute.. but normally this is done in 1-2 seconds..

GizmoQ · 03-22-2006, 01:42 AM

I have this same issue, but I believe mine is because I have the audio out of the XM going into the audio in of the WINTV. The WinTV is my culpret cause it takes 26 seconds to shut down the FM; once thats done the audio in is passed through.

(My way of conserving audio inputs into the CarPC)

antimatter · 03-22-2006, 11:43 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by GizmoQ

I have this same issue, but I believe mine is because I have the audio out of the XM going into the audio in of the WINTV. The WinTV is my culpret cause it takes 26 seconds to shut down the FM; once thats done the audio in is passed through.

(My way of conserving audio inputs into the CarPC)

I have the audio ran throught the Wintv aswell

@guino
This is very consistant, like everytime. I only have one line in and it is connected directly to the Wintv module, but the XM radio is connected to the input on the Wintv.

Should i maybe get a splitter or something and run them seperatly. I avoided that because signal strength loss.

One thing to note is that i have both Radio and XM set to Mute/Unmute the same channel (line in)

guino · 03-22-2006, 05:18 PM

how long does it take to start XM directly (say switching from mp3/music mode) ? does it start quickly ? what if you're in radio mode, then switch to audio mode, then switch to XM, all within say 5 seconds ?

it would help for you to make a log of your FM->XM switch and of the above cases.

GizmoQ · 03-22-2006, 05:23 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by antimatter

I have the audio ran throught the Wintv aswell

@guino
This is very consistant, like everytime. I only have one line in and it is connected directly to the Wintv module, but the XM radio is connected to the input on the Wintv.

Should i maybe get a splitter or something and run them seperatly. I avoided that because signal strength loss.

One thing to note is that i have both Radio and XM set to Mute/Unmute the same channel (line in)

I actually have the FM run through Winamp LineIin plug-in v1.80 and XM mute/unmute the line. This allows me to adjust the incoming line level separately for each and add some eq to the FM. (XM doesn't need any help)

Again the problem(if you can call it that) is the WinTV USB needs that time to shutoff the FM and open the passthrough. Something I've just accepted as a tradeoff for using the same line into the CarPC. There's nothing a frontend can do about it.

To test this, try running another XM software like XtremePCR or TimeTrax, then open the WinTV Radio. The XM will cut off almost immediately and a few seconds later you'll hear the radio. Then close the radio program and time how long it takes to hear the XM. Mine takes exactly 26 seconds - EVERY TIME!! And no front-end to interfere. The WinTV is doing something, i.e., a reset/shutdown sequence internally that takes time.

guino · 03-22-2006, 10:12 PM

glad you had made the effort to test this, cause I'd never figure it out since I only have a WinTV PCI to work with and it works fine as far as I can tell, plus, I've never used that input on the back of the WinTV.. if you guys want to avoid this issue, I'd say you should simply use another input line for the XM.. say for instance the AUX or CD-IN that is normally found on the motherboard/soundcard -- I discourage using the Mic-In (poor quality).

antimatter · 03-23-2006, 11:26 AM

sounds good to me. Thanks

GizmoQ · 03-23-2006, 10:46 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by guino

glad you had made the effort to test this, cause I'd never figure it out since I only have a WinTV PCI to work with and it works fine as far as I can tell, plus, I've never used that input on the back of the WinTV.. if you guys want to avoid this issue, I'd say you should simply use another input line for the XM.. say for instance the AUX or CD-IN that is normally found on the motherboard/soundcard -- I discourage using the Mic-In (poor quality).

I agree the quality isn't nearly as good as a dedicated line in, but my tablet does stereo through it and unfortunately it the only input line available at the moment.

Gotta work with watcha got