Official Pioneer SC-68/67 Thread - Page 22

yeah, sometime this afternoon I came across a post or 2 about it in one of the Denon threads I think.
Edited by ss9001 - 12/21/12 at 1:48pm

I have a question.

I've just discovered Internet Radio & figured out how it works in the receiver but I'm confused about the vtuner registration is it needed to get something?

because I get hundreds of channels from the US country list, without doing anything to register it online or on the radio-pioneer web page. the manual mentions it but I have no idea what it's supposed to do for you - get more channels or something else?

I'm a newbie on internet radio anyway...

^^
+1 no problem for me either but that was when I first got it so don't remember exactly what I did but it wasn't anything special. WinXP Tablet PC edition. I don't remember if I got any kind of confirmation dialog box after installation.

I checked files to see what was installed. In windows-system32-drivers, at least these 3 will be there after installation:

usb20asiop.dll
usb20asiop.ini
PioneerNap.sys

By all means, try it on another PC. My laptop is a Tosh with XP Tablet PC edition. And last year, I discovered much to my surprise that the software for the SVS EQ1 audyssey sub EQ'r couldn't recognize the EQ1 over USB on that laptop but it worked with std XP Pro on a desktop and another laptop. In talking to SVS, neither they or Audyssey tested it or verified it with XP Tablet PC version. I tried each USB port on the Tosh & even tho the software installed OK it never recognized the device. never had that problem with any USB device before or since.

the disc structure has 3 directories with all the files, one each for XP, Vista & W7 so the installation seems to be OS specific probably determined by the installer.

also, try a shorter USB cable. when I installed it I used a cable <=6 ft to the receiver & obviously had the receiver turned on to complete installation...no problems.

you don't need AV Nav installed, just click on the box for USB-DAC driver on the 1st splash screen after the disc spins up. then accept the license, and it will pop up with the usual file run-save box, click run, Installshield starts up and goes to normal windows program installation screen. I just tried mine again and the only radio button option available for me was to remove the driver so I couldn't test the installation any further.
Edited by ss9001 - 12/21/12 at 2:20pm

stu, thanks for the help. I'll take help even from ex-Pioneer owners

you explained things perfectly, I understand now. Pioneer could have explained it a whole lot better (sigh)...Denon is probably no different. the companies probably assume that everyone by now is familiar with how vtuner works. none of my Pioneer's ever had internet radio capability, even the susano didn't have it so I am really new to this

even luddites like me eventually get modernized

have a great holiday!
Edited by ss9001 - 12/21/12 at 2:29pm

no but a key factor will be Pioneer MCACC vs Audyssey. NAD does not use the most advanced version of Audyssey, they have used MultiEQXT instead of paying the cost to go to Multi32XT. NAD is a good name & known for excellent gear & conservatively rated amps. I can't help you with a direct ears 1:1 comparison sorry...I can give you my own thoughts on the 2, not including actual listening auditions.

to be honest, I have considered NAD as an alternative to Pioneer but the fact that Denon has used the best form of Audyssey while NAD stays with older & less advanced versions keeps NAD off my own list. but that is only my own opinion.

and even if you can't directly compare them, you could
1. audition each one at respective dealers, hopefully in similar room layouts, and ideally with same speakers
2. download each one's manual and familiarize yourself with each one's features

I admit to personal bias in what I'm about to tell you but for my tastes & what the 2 companies offer, I'd take the SC-68 any day of the week over the NAD due to several unique features the 68 has, and NAD not having the best form of Audyssey room correction. for me the only reason to consider an alternative to Pioneer is to get Audyssey and if I was going to do that, I might as well get the best flavor of Audyssey

If I were looking at options to the SC-68, I'd consider a Denon 4520 or Marantz 8801 prepro long before a NAD, just because of the Audyssey version. you may have totally different needs & desired features than me

if you haven't done so yet, downloading product sheets & manuals will help on what each offers in features & functionality. that is something owners can help you with if you have questions.

good luck, let us know how your shopping goes
Edited by ss9001 - 12/22/12 at 5:19am

actually, I'm going to amend my suggestions I've downloaded the T757 manual and looked over its setup and Audyssey features.

this is a no-brainer - the 757 is not even in the same ballpark as what the SC-68 has & does. if you're seriously interested in NAD, the only receiver worth comparing with the SC-68 is their flagship T787, the T757 is way behind the Pioneer SC-68 technologically.

While NAD doesn't say, the version of Audyssey in the 757 looks to be one of the basic versions not even as advanced as the MultiEQXT version in the T787. and certainly not as advanced as Pioneer's room EQ. I say this because NAD specifically states Audyssey MultiEQXT in their lit on the 787 but doesn't even mention Audyssey or display the name anywhere in their specs except in the manual. And the setup menu is far less advanced than what's in the Pioneer.

and on top of that, even though NAD rates its amps conservatively, the 757 is only a 7 X 60 wpc amp! while the SC-68 is 9 X 140 wpc and is capable of maintaining high power 5 & 7 channels driven at same time. amplifier comparsion is not even close. The NAD also only has Dolby ProLogic IIx and DTS Neo6, so is using 10 yr old matrix processing, doesn't do height or width channels if you have any interest in expanding past 7.1. The SC-68 has all the latest, PLIIz & dts NeoX. the list goes on but I hope I made my point

the 757 is possibly less costly but also far less advanced receiver than the SC-68, not even in the same league. if you want to compare the 757 with a Pioneer, you should be looking at the SC-61 for a better comparison or the T787 with the SC-68.

to repeat, the only NAD I would compare the SC-68 with is the T787 or don't bother....there are much better alternatives.

my 2c...
Edited by ss9001 - 12/22/12 at 6:43am

same CD# as what came in my US SC-68.

weird, for XP you wouldn't have to do a "install as admin" that Vista/W7 users sometimes have to do to install software, so I'm at a loss. you did say XP Pro and not a Media Center edition? just XP Professional?

and you tried on more than 1 PC? I wonder if your error meant if couldn't find a file on your hard drive to start this service not missing a file on your CD? is it possible you have some hard drive/windows corruption? I think you said it was a clean OS install but you didn't mention if you had done service pack update.

I'll root around my XP files & services shortly & see if I can find something useful.
Edited by ss9001 - 12/22/12 at 5:25am

OK bbear, I googled cmiainfo and don't know if this will help but...

cmiainfo is associated with a C-Media audio driver. apparently there's something not present in your XP OS, missing driver, or not running correctly. My Toshiba uses Realtek sound & has CMedia installed, according to the registry. I also found from googling "Realtek Cmedia" a site with reference to service pack 2, that some have needed to reinstall CMedia drivers. My OS is SP3, with the all the latest updates incl the latest .Net Frameworks. You didn't mention but if you aren't updated with SP3, that may be part of the problem.

if you know how to check your registry...regedit...look for a CMedia key under HKEY_CurrentUser_Software. if it's not there, I suspect that may be the issue...what I don't know is it's from the Pioneer disc (IMO, I doubt it comes from the disc since IIRC, CMedia had long been present on my laptop) or from Windows XP installation or Service Packs. mine is an imaged drive so the install was pre-done. and it's possible it's from your PC vendor, since I found reference to Asus motherboard on one of the search returns.

maybe you can 1) verify with Pioneer if it's supposed to get installed by their disc 2) do an add hardware, sound card drivers, and see if the driver is anywhere in cab files or your XP disc or 3) last resort & riskiest, install from a driver site off web but I don't have a clue which specific C-Media driver(s) to install 4) get advice from Pioneer or Microsoft what to do.

mine is a work laptop so I can't fool around experimenting installing drivers...I used to do that kind of stuff all the time with my own PC's just to learn things when I was building them. if I made a big boo boo, I just wiped out the partition and started over it was fun for a lot of years but I don't have too much patience for it now - now I hate it when I have to "maintain" my wife's PC

hopefully, u won't have to do PC/OS stuff and you just have a had CD

keep us posted...
Edited by ss9001 - 12/22/12 at 5:28am

I wouldn't give up hope yet. I'm only going by the error message you mentioned which may or may not be related

From what I've found by searches, Cmedia makes USB audio chips & drivers/codecs for sound cards so you may still be OK depending on what Pioneer says. it's possible it's what's in the SC-68 and that it's the driver itself that the disc is supposed to install for the PC to communicate. again, it may still be a defective disc

all I can do is throw out possibilities based on the info you got back from Windows services. see what Pioneer has to say. I hope they can help sort it out for you.
Edited by ss9001 - 12/22/12 at 1:52pm

I can't directly speak to Pandora but I was stumped how to navigate the Internet Radio settings with the Pio remote, none of the up/down, < > buttons did anything. The iphone app worked just fine, so I got out the manual and you have to hit the "Net" button first on the remote, then its nav buttons work on the menu. The menu for Pandora may work the same way. Try it...

also, I haven't gotten my URC programmable remote's nav buttons to work on the Internet Radio yet. Either the discrete codes aren't in the list or I didn't program them. But at least the Pioneer remote & iphone work very well.