I was wondering if it is possible to control a FM radio tuner installed on the motherboard of the computer via the CasaTunes key pads.  I assume if I were to control the FM radio through Windows Media Center it should work fine, correct?  Would this take up one “internal source” on the XLi card?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Chris,
There are a couple of ways you can do this:
- Best Way, that does not use an internal CasaTunes source: Use the on-board audio (or non-XLi audio card) for the FM tuner. Assign the on-board or audio card output to the tuner and plug a 3.5mm stereo cable from the on-board output or card output (usually green jack) to the external input of the XLi. In CasaTunes Setup change source 5 to “Unknown” and set source 5’s gain to +15. You will control the tuner using Media Center and select the tuner using CasaTunes. Setting the external source gain to 15 makes it very close to the sound level of the internal sources.
- This method will use the first CasaTunes source for the tuner: Open the Windows Sound window (right click on the speaker icon in the lower right of Windows desktop and select Playback devices OR find Sound in the Control Panel). In the Playback tab, highlight the CasaTunes Speaker device and click on the “Set Default” button. If the tuner uses the default device for output, you should now hear it when Source 1 is selected. Remember, if in CasaTunes you select music to play on Source 1 and you turn on the tuner using Media Player, you will hear both sounds through the speakers. Sources 2, 3 and 4 still work independently.

Kim

Thank you very much for your quick reply Kim!

Just two follow up questions:

1: Is it possible to control the tuner (switch from one preset radio station to another) using the keypads with both methods?
2: When using the first CasaTunes source for the tuner you write “...you will hear both sounds through the speakers.”  So effectively using this method I will be doubling up the first internal source?  Is it possible to not assign a music player to source one in order to not double up? I think I actually prefer this method because I’d rather not sacrifice the only external source for the FM radio.

Thank you for your help,
Chris.

bump

I’m sorry for the slow reply, Chris, I missed your last questions.

1. I am afraid that neither method allows you to control the tuner from any CasaTunes UI or the Keypads, other than volume level. CasaTunes does have built in controls for certain external tuners, such as the Onkyo, but not for motherboard based tuners.

2. If you use this method, you would have to set it up as a “CasaTunes Player” source and set the CasaTunes Audio Device as the Windows default audio player in order for your tuner software to find it and play through it. Then, CasaTunes can change the volume and turn the zone on and off.

To be honest, the best idea is to either use the built in internet radio service: TuneIn Radio (formerly known as RadioTime) and SHOUTcast or to use a supported external tuner. TuneIn Radio, in particular, gives you a large selection of local stations to listen to.

That said, the methods I described at least gives you the ability to listen to your tuner through CasaTunes.

Kim