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[sapnho]

I am wondering what method people use to control the volume of their jukebox. I am using MC (plus a USB FM radio) with NR connected to an amp. The amp (hidden in a closet) only has IR control, the rest is being controled through wifi. I thought of various ways to control the amp volume but can't really say that I found the ideal solution yet.

1) Control through MC: Doesn't work because I have set ASIO and it wouldn't control the volume of the connected FM radio anyway.

2) Control the monitor mixer of my Delta audiophile 2496: Could have worked but for some reason, the mixer is really difficult to control via girder and crashes often.

3) Buy a UIRT and send those IR commands through girder to the amp: Expensive (>$50 incl. shipping); in addition not easy to install in the closet.

Any other "best practise" that I haven't looked at?

[glynor]

3) Buy a UIRT and send those IR commands through girder to the amp: Expensive (>$50 incl. shipping); in addition not easy to install in the closet.

You probably really want Mastiff to answer this question, but... If I had a similar problem, that would probably be the route I'd go with.  That's assuming you're not willing to run the FM radio through the PC.  They do make FM PCI cards, or you could get an ATI TV Wonder... Or just run the FM radio through the line-in on your 2496.

[sapnho]

The FM radio does run through the soundcard but the girder control of the soundcard's monitor doesn't really work. Plus this means that I would have to leave the volume of the amp turned up quite high all the time which may increase the noise level.

[eruji]

for a long time i was using girder and a usbuirt to control my amp. i wrote a girder script that basically turned on a timer that repeated a vol up transmit from the usbuirt on the down event of a button, and a cancel timer even on the button up event of that same button. It worked, a little slower than the amp's vol button, but you got used to it. Now i use the MCE remote because you can teach it the volume buttons (as well as the power button) and it works great for controlling my amp.

[Bill Kearney]

What amp is it?  And what is it driving?  How are you likely to want to control the volume level?

It may be simpler to go with a wall-mounted volume knob and an amp that supports it.   

But if you want fancier control then using a USBUIRT is probably the least difficult route.

[sapnho]

It's an Onkyo Digital Amp without a lot of gimmicks and just good stereo sound.

Would USBUIRT allow a smooth volume up and down or is it rather different?

[milknkukis]

Have you tried just leaving the amp at a slightly-above-normal level and just adjusting it with software? It works for me, remember there will always be the background hum of the pc to drown any slight noise from the amp.
I find this works fine most the time, the rare occasions i want to play stuff REALLY loud i can make the effort to get off my butt and walk to the amp.....
hope you find a solution
mark

[sapnho]

remember there will always be the background hum of the pc to drown any slight noise from the amp.

Not if you have a genuine 0db system like I do...

The problem is though that I can't control the mixer of my soundcard properly and with ASIO other options are limited.

[modelmaker]

Have a couple of more beers and it won't matter.

[sapnho]

Have a couple of more beers and it won't matter.

I am still recovering from a nice summer (!) evening with wife & wine...

[modelmaker]

Hair of the dog...

[Mastiff]

milknkukis, not everybody has a computer in the same room as he amp. I for one don't. I would choose either the USB-UIRT route, come to think of it, I have chosen that route! And you don't have to put the UIRT where you have the amp, just use external emitters.

[sapnho]

Yeah, I ordered an UIRT from John last night. Now I have to find an inexpensive source for the IR extenders. I found one in Belgium for €10 but shipping is €20... (to Germany!!! They should be in a letter for €1.50)

[Mastiff]

Wow! You should be able to find it cheaper from the US. Don't you know anybody there who can buy it for you and ship it?

[sapnho]

I have family over there but before I manage to describe to them what exactly I need ... I am sure I'll find a local solution somewhere.

[glynor]

They just need to go to Radio Shack and ask for a Remote Extender.  They're little Pyramid shaped things similar to these:

[Mastiff]

Those we've got in Europe as well, they're sold as Marmitek here. But he needs a wired emitter, not an extender.

[MerlinWerks]

Hi Saphno,

In the mean time, until you find some emitters, have you tried right-clicking on the volume icon and choosing "internal volume (audio only)".  This works for me using ASIO and a RME card where the Windows mixer is totally unavailable.  Although, as you pointed out, it does not help with control of your analog input, I hope JRiver considers analog control in the future.

[glynor]

No, I meant to use them instead of emitters.  It's not as cool, but could certainly work.  USB UIRT near the computer, with Extender Transmitter Pyramid thing in front of it, and the Extender receiver in the closet.

Is there some reason this wouldn't work I'm not thinking of?