USB PC Link?

[Phyltre]

I have recently purchased a Philips stereo system that accepts input from a usb cable with a square end on it. It comes with Musicmatch (ugh) software for the link. How can I configure winamp to send data across the cable instead?

And yes, I did a forum search on this beforehand. It's called a "USB PC Link" by Philips.

[griffinn]

It sounds proprietary. Good luck finding drivers for it. (I might be wrong. It may just be a plain ol' USB audio interface, in which case you would have seen it as an additional sound card from Windows' list of playback devices.)

Be prepared to fall back to these:
http://www.edifier98.com.ar/fotos/r1900/cable-rca.jpg

[Phyltre]

People, this is insane. I was all worried that I'd have to install that MusicMatch crap on my computer, so I went ahead and only installed the drivers to see what would happen (this involved turning on the stereo and connecting the cable.). All the instructions explicitly stated that the USB PC Link was musicmatch only, so I figured I'd have to find some plugin for winamp to get it to work.

Imagine my surprise when my stereo system suddenly told me I had mail! It turns out that the bundled musicmatch software is deceptively placed so you'll install it; the usb cable just transmits all audio to the stereo, turning them into another set of PC speakers.

How sad is that? Nobody wants your software so you ship it as a "necessary" component of a simple audio-output receiver? I wonder how many people they tricked into installing that crappy MusicMatch.

[MStar]

My minidisc player came with one, I used the SonicStage software Sony provided.

[Phyltre]

Incidentally, how can you get output to the stereo while still getting sound from your PC speakers? i have nice PC speakers too, and I'd get a nice surround sound effect if my pc still gave me audio when the stereo was connected.

[griffinn]

I guess Windows considers it as just another sound card.

[mark]

set windows to use your soundcard and winamp to use the usb link.

I think you can set windows NOT to automatically switch over to teh usb link.

[Rellik]

hmm, the only disadvantage I can see to not using Musicmatch as far as this stereo is concerned is you loose the functionality of the remote that controls Musicmatch, and I don't know if any of the existing Winamp plugins would work.

[mark]

is there a make/model number/serial code on the remote you could google with?

Never underestimate the power of a serial number.i managed to find a working xp compatible driver for an obscure keyboard that was about 5-10 years old just using the numbers printed on the bottom and google.

[deeder7001]

i've seen the usb link thing before. the boombox with that stuff on it was like $100 or something like that. it was from sony.

[Phyltre]

The Philips remote has this under its battery cover:

RC19532003/01
3139 228 61791
HK01 05328 A 003045

I'm not getting anything from Google from any of that. The remote is supposed to control the computer as well? I hadn't realized that...but I'm not particularly worried about it, because I'd be at the computer anyway when I was using it--and if I weren't, I'd switch the thing back to whatever other input I wanted!

By the way, the stereo is a Philips fw-C577, though it also says FWB-C577/17 (probably a revision.)

So, is there any way for the computer to use both sets of speakers simultaneously? I know how to switch between them in windows, but it seems like there'd be a way to configure multiple outputs, right? (I know that's probably not really winamp-related, but hey, this is the General section.)

[mark]

there may be a plugin to use multiple outputs.

[Lapikas]

Originally posted by griffinn
Be prepared to fall back to these:
[Image] (http://www.edifier98.com.ar/fotos/r1900/cable-rca.jpg)

I broke my Pioneer receiver with those and Sb-live 1024. :( Actually I did it twice, until I asked from my friend if it's possible that computer soundcard breaks your stereos. I was lucky that I still had a valid warranty :D

Been working fine since I unplugged my receiver from soundcard..

[mark]

optical cant overload recievers. ;)

[Lapikas]

Sb-live 1024 doesn't have optical output.. unfortunately..

[Phyltre]

To anyone trying to use multiple speaker-systems (multiple audio devices) at once, I offer the following words of wisdom:

1. The plugin you need is called "Output Stacker."

2. You can only configure Winamp (not Windows) to use two outputs at once.

3. It is possible that if your outputs are of different kinds, or connected through different methods, there will be a delay of 1/8 a second or so between the speakers; this delay will resolve and then re-emerge pretty much at random as your PC performs different tasks.

Hopefully this will help the odd soul wanting to use multiple outputs.