Problems with XM input thru any front end

CyberLogic · 05-04-2006, 03:06 PM

I'm having problems getting XM input to come through ANY of these front ends. I have an in car pc with only line out, headphone, and microphone jacks. Using line out to goto amps and microphone to input the XM signal from the XM direct box. I have gone into sounds in control panel and made sure that the only sound card available is indeed selected as the playback and recording device and also that under recording in volume controls microphone is selected as the input device. I goto any of these front ends and .... nothing. I have complete control of the XM Direct box thru the USB cable and can change channels and see signal strength and everything. But no sound. Now the only exception to this is when i use Frodo's XM player... not his whole frontend but just his player. When I use it a large amount of distortion comes through the speakers and a very very very poor quality sounding xm can be heard... sounds like it's being played on a phonograph. Just aweful. Mind you mp3's movies and everything else play beauifully. And if i take the rca's coming out of the xm direct box and plug them directly into the amps it sounds wonderful...I have no volume control... but sounds great. So at this point i figure maybe it's the microphone jack so I've gone out and gotten 2 other usb devices. 1. is a philips usb external sound card with line in and mic in and 2. is just a usb to RCA input box I found. Both of these devices I installed and selected as the recording devices in volume control and in the sound properties under control panel and now not even frodo's player will play anything. I've used every front end I can find on this site and configured them (through there gui's mind you) to use my com 3 for xm connection and when given the option in the gui Line in or mic depending on what i was trying and nothing will pick up the signal. Can anyone give me a suggestion of what i'm doing wrong here? Maybe a front end i've tried that we know works with xm well and maybe i'm just not doing something like modifying an .ini file or something... Any opinions most appreciated

god_of_cpu · 05-04-2006, 03:31 PM

Problem 1: The microphone jack is not the same as a line input and wont work that way.

Problem 2: The phillips sound card does not route the line input to the sound cards output. It won't work unless you route the incoming audio stream through the pc and back out using software. This isn't supported in any XM software I know of and usually has some audio quality issues. Long story short the phillips won't work for you.

Problem 3: Your line input device has the same issue as your phillips sound card, it requires software to take the audio stream as an input and route it back out to an output.

Answer: Get a sound card that has a line input that routes the audio *in the sound card hardware* to the output. I think all creative products work this way.

CyberLogic · 05-04-2006, 04:55 PM

Thanks very much for the answers. I have been looking over Creative's external sound blaster cards and can't seem to find one that would be differnt then the phillips one I have. Is there an external creative usb powered sound device you could recommend? My fear is your gonna say it can't be external and that's not good since i have no upgradability as far as slots in my in car pc and the on board card only has the jacks listed. Please let me know.

god_of_cpu · 05-05-2006, 12:53 PM

Audigy 2 NX

CyberLogic · 05-05-2006, 11:33 PM

OK I went to local shop today and none carry it... Gonna order it online but before I do i wanna make sure it's gonna work. I guess the thing i'm still confused on is this item i'm getting looks to be very similar to the one I already have. My phillips unit has volume and line in and line out just like I'll be using on this Audigy device so what's the difference?

sfay93 · 05-06-2006, 12:20 AM

When you had the Phillips hooked up did you use the output on the Phillips to your amp?

CyberLogic · 05-06-2006, 12:33 AM

Yep going in Line in of USB phillips device and going out line out or front speaker port on same device

CyberLogic · 05-06-2006, 12:55 PM

Well i've gotten the Phillips USB external device working now. But it's acting just like my onboard card. None of the front ends play sound but all do control the xm direct box with the exception of Frodo's XM player.... That one player works but sounds aweful and has a large amount of distortion in the background when it kicks on... sounds like engine whine. No front end including frodo's front end will play xm.. only frodo's xm player... This is driving me nutz... any ideas ?

god_of_cpu · 05-06-2006, 05:37 PM

Read post 2

CyberLogic · 05-07-2006, 12:58 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

Read post 2

OK went out and got the Audigy and it worked after some playing around with settings in all my front ends. Now my problem is the sound quality. The quality of the XM signal sound is good but whenever i open the Line In port I get aweful engine whine through all my speakers which of course ruins the sound quality. Any idea's how to get rid of this? I assume it may have to do with how i powered the xm direct box... went off the same switchblock as the amps and in car pc was this a bad idea? Any suggestions appreciated!

CyberLogic · 05-07-2006, 01:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by CyberLogic

OK went out and got the Audigy and it worked after some playing around with settings in all my front ends. Now my problem is the sound quality. The quality of the XM signal sound is good but whenever i open the Line In port I get aweful engine whine through all my speakers which of course ruins the sound quality. Any idea's how to get rid of this? I assume it may have to do with how i powered the xm direct box... went off the same switchblock as the amps and in car pc was this a bad idea? Any suggestions appreciated!

Disregard... I went to local Audio Shop to get something I remembered from a while ago a engine noise reducer I used to have to use on my audio systems in my old hot rods... hooked up a lightning audio version of it and BAM Crystal Clear sound with no engine whine! Thanks to God of Cpu and other who helped me through this... i can FINALLY enjoy my in car pc!