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[btjr]

Hauppauge's online store started selling their new quad tuner, WinTV-quadHD, Item # 01609, for $99.  My question since this board contains 4 internal digital TV tuners is does JRiver support it yet?  The follow on, and very important question, is to ask will only 2 tuners be recognized by MediaCenter, or will all 4?  I read other current 3rd party TV software releases only recognize 2 tuners on supported cards because having 4 tuners on a single card is a new implementation.

This new WinTV-quadHD should be a great asset for people wanting to get 4 tuners in a computer while taking up only one PCIe slot.  The only thing I can see that people should be aware of is there is an internal 4x splitter in the card with just one antenna jack in, so if people live in areas with poor reception, the splitter would probably hurt their ability to pull in weaker stations.  In strong signal areas, this should not be a noticeable problem.  In any case, I wanted to see if JRiver supports the card, and how many tuners will work with MediaCenter 21 software before I got enticed to get one.
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Update on 3/30/2016 - Well, I got brave and ordered a Hauppauge WinTV-quadHD from Hauppauge's online web store for $99.  It came from NY in less than a week, which is great considering I'm all the way across the continent.  I installed the card today and it works great.  JRiver MediaCenter 21.0.66 sees the new tuners (all 4 of them on the card), and when I tried a test recording of 4 channels at once, the recordings all came out great without any pixelation or lags.  So far, I'm pretty impressed with this new Hauppauge quad card and am glad Hauppauge is not giving up on the computer TV market since Microsoft removed the feature from Windows 10.  I am thankful JRiver cares so much about its customers to support TV on computers which is reinforced by the excellent job it does with this new quad tuner model.  My system uses an Intel 3770K i7 CPU, and the WinTV_QuadHD card works well in this environment.  I'm currently running Window 8.1 Pro, and will be upgrading to Windows 10 before the Microsoft deadline now that I know this TV solution works well.  Thanks to the people who replied with their comments.  That encouraged me to buy the card, and I'm glad to report the successful outcome.

[Yaobing]

We have not tested this device,  so I am not able to say for sure.  It appears to be a bda device which we support generically (there is no device-specific stuff for this type of tuners).  Since we have not tested it, I can not say anything about only recognizing two tuners either.  I can't imagine what could cause that.

[RoderickGI]

I have an internal 4 tuner PCIe DigitalNow (local Australian brand) DVB-T card using BDA drivers. MC works with that perfectly. All tuners are recognised and used.

Unfortunately the supplier has stopped producing the card, apparently because he couldn't get some critical parts for it any more. I think this card works so well because of the specific chip it used, which is no longer available. So maybe my card was just a very good implementation, with very good DBA drivers, and is therefore an exception, but I doubt it.

That is a nice new card. Pity I can't use it in Australia, if my current card ever dies!

[RoderickGI]

Since we have not tested it, I can not say anything about only recognizing two tuners either.  I can't imagine what could cause that.

BTW, there have been reports that some software only recognises two tuners on my card because the software doesn't allow long enough to detect all the tuners. For example the MediaPortal server has been reported to only find two tuners. MC doesn't have that problem, but if it did it shouldn't be hard to fix. In MediaPortal users just add a delay to the startup process.

[vicjak3000]

Hi, I saw your entry about quad DVB-T tuners. I live in Sydney. I have the same quad DVB-T tuner card from Digitalnow (ACT), and I know they no longer available. Mine is going strong, like a dream on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 and Media Centre, since I replaced old NOVA-T-500 dual PCI with this one.
I don't know if you can help but I do have a problem. I have replaced my livingroom system with Z170 based MSI board, DDR4 and nice and low powered i3-6100T- the newest stuff you can get. Problem is that Digitalnow card (and NOVA-T-500) would not work on this new system. I have tested both of these tuner cards on four past generation systems (including your Z77) and they work like a dream, but not on this you beaut Z170 chipset system. I tried MSI and Gigabyte motherboards, both Z170 chipsets systems crash with my both cards to the point hard reset is required (windows would not shut down). Media Centre crash every time I start changing channels. I have been talking to Intel (hence Z170 intel chipset), intel blamed BIOS and sent me to motherboard manufacturer, so I spoke to MSI, they blame TV tuner makers, as they tested current WinTV tuner card with apparently no problem.

So I am basically stack with $1000 of new hardware absolutely useless.
Any ideas? I am really desperate, I tried so many ways to get it going.
Regards,
Victor

[JimH]

Did you check with the manufacturer of the tuner?  They may have a driver update.

[RoderickGI]

Hmmm, difficult.

By all means, if you haven't contacted DigitalNow then do so. They may be able to help. I believe that they stopped making these tuners because they could no longer get parts at a reasonable price or at all, rather than they wanted to stop making the hardware. I am pretty sure that they contracted the driver development specifically for it, rather than in-house development, so they won't have people who can just tweak the driver for you. But they may be able to share information which points to the cause.

The DigitalNow quad tuner actually uses an internal USB connection, so it is possible there is a conflict between the USB functionality on the new chips and the tuner.

What you definitely should try, and you probably have, is inserting the tuner in every PCIe slot and see if it works in one of them. There were reports of "Slot dependence" at one time. Even the slowest PCIe slot is fast enough for the quad tuner and HD TV signals, I believe.

But if you can't get it working in the new hardware, then I think you need to find a replacement. I really like the idea of network tuner cards, but they give some people problems. Two dual USB tuners to replace one quad tuner would also work well, if you use a commercial quality splitter, and not a "Dick Smith" version. I'm not convince that the DigitalNow offerings are the best any more either. They seem to be mostly old stuff, or maybe it is just their old looking web site, and love of hybrid tuners. Who needs analogue? They also have a warning that their "TinyTwin Dual Digital USB Receiver V3a" may not work with Windows x64 systems. I haven't looked at alternative suppliers in ages.

[btjr]

I don't have a Skylake-based PC yet, but I can give some input on Windows 10 and TV PCIe cards from 2 manufacturers:  AverMedia and Hauppauge.   I have the AVerTVHD Duet (A188C), AVerMedia PCIe Combo TV (M780), Hauppauge HPVR 2255, 2250, and new WinTV-QUADHD cards.  I have had the best luck with the Hauppauge cards, which continue to be actively supported by Hauppauge.  I can use them without issue in any of my systems.

The A188C and M780 AverMedia cards are legacy cards and I have found each to either work or not work depending on what motherboard is used.  The M780 has only one usable digital tuner (due to the digital and analog tuner combo feature).  I have tried these AverMedia cards on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, MSI and Intel motherboards.  I discovered each different model of motherboard allowed a unique set of the AverMedia cards.  Some motherboards froze up under Windows 10 when adding a second AverMedia TV card, whereas other motherboards worked with two (although I had to use one A188C and one M780, as two of the same model would not work/motherboard would not allow).  MSI motherboards (Z77A-G43) would only work with one A188C. 

So, from my limited experience and testing with these two TV card vendors, I have had spotty luck getting older AverMedia cards to work under Windows 10, which worked well under Windows 7 and 8.1.  I have had smooth sailing with the newer Hauppauge cards, and am thankful Hauppauge continues to actively develop and support TV card technology.

For the TV tuner cards that Windows 10 recognizes with installed drivers, JRiver Media Center 21 works great with them.  The challenge is to get the older AverMedia cards to work, either alone, or in combinations described above that the motherboards will accept under the Windows 10 OS.

[rikster]

I don't know if you can help but I do have a problem. I have replaced my livingroom system with Z170 based MSI board, DDR4 and nice and low powered i3-6100T- the newest stuff you can get. Problem is that Digitalnow card (and NOVA-T-500) would not work on this new system.

Hi Victor,
I am in exactly the same boat as you.  I have a new I3-6100 CPU, with a H110 chipset motherboard & a DNTV Quad card.  Card starts to work, then freezes the system.  Did you ever get it working?  What did you do.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[CountryBumkin]

Hauppauge's online store started selling their new quad tuner, WinTV-quadHD, Item # 01609, for $99.  My question since this board contains 4 internal digital TV tuners is does JRiver support it yet?  The follow on, and very important question, is to ask will only 2 tuners be recognized by MediaCenter, or will all 4?  I read other current 3rd party TV software releases only recognize 2 tuners on supported cards because having 4 tuners on a single card is a new implementation.

Update on 3/30/2016 - Well, I got brave and ordered a Hauppauge WinTV-quadHD from Hauppauge's online web store for $99.  It came from NY in less than a week, which is great considering I'm all the way across the continent.  I installed the card today and it works great. 

Hauppauge makes a really good product. And that's a great price for the new quad-Tuner. It's still going for $99 on Amazon in case anyone is thinking of buy a card.