AverMedia Volar Max Review for OTA ATSC

Added screenshot to show QAM+NTSC working in Windows 7

AverMedia Hybrid Volar Max Review... Hybrid contains ATSC/QAM/NTSC, non-Hybrid contains only ATSC/QAM



Reasons for buying a USB TV Tuner

I am living in a dorm, having a TV cramps my space. Using a USB TV Tuner on my laptop means saving space and having a portable TV available with me if I want to bring my laptop around. I have an analog PCI card in my desktop, so I know how these hardware works(aiming for ATSC + ClearQAM on a small USB stick) and which software(Vista Media Center is the best) work best.

[Vista Media Center is by far the most stable, low resource consumption, decent interface, recording PVR software that I’ve used. The only thing missing that I would want is for an internal on-the-fly recording to something besides DVR-MS(it’s a MPEG2 wrapper). ATSC OTA broadcasts are in MPEG2, so the USB stick doesn’t have to decode anything(unlike Analog TV), so VMC just reads the stream into the DVR-MS wrapper. Pinnacle/AverMedia software does allow you to record on-the-fly to avi/divx/h.264/etc, but it takes up a lot of processing power and doesn’t seem as stable/fast as VMC. I use Super to encode dvr-ms to h.264/avi, but its not on-the-fly…]

I bought the Pinnacle PCTV Pro on eBay and PCTV Ultimate (with ClearQAM)…. Pinnacle’s software sucks. They don’t work well on x64 systems, doesn’t work in VMC, really buggy software, and the PCTV Ultimate’s ClearQAM drivers were only available 6 months after product release, even though the product clearly labeled ClearQAM capable. Thus, I was looking for something else with ClearQAM.

During my search, I only found four USB products with ClearQAM. Pinnacle PCTV Ultimate(as mentioned above), Hauppauge WinTV 950Q(similar to the 950 in the link, but with ClearQAM), FusionHDTV7 USB and AverTV Volar Max. I only found forum posts that show Volar Max to have beta VMC drivers for ClearQAM.

NOTE: Windows 7 Media Center should see any device with QAM and search in QAM (along with any other features like NTSC)

Thus, the only thing left is to wait for Volar Max to drop to a low price. After a few months, it came up on sale on Buy.com for $52 after mail-in rebate.


(whoops.... actual shot of the USB device)




In the box

Travel pouch, A/V video plugs, CD, manual




Travel Antenna with a (removable) suction cup base or clip



Setup and Config:

I said I like to use VMC to record/watch shows. It was a simple download of the drivers from the Avermedia site, install, and VMC can detect the tuner
Using VMC to search channels, I saw 6 channels in the local region. Antennaweb.org shows that all 6 channels are within a 10 mile radius. Not too bad.

The included antenna is sweet. It is way better than the antenna that Pinnacle gave.


I have a Dell XPS M1330, 4GB, nVidia 8400M GS, T8300

decoding MPEG2... it takes about 20% processing power on full 2.4ghz..... if i just record, it takes less than 3% of processing power on 0.8ghz... (which is so much better than any other program i've used)

sample output
(2s of news preview, and 30s of House M.D. recorded live on Dec 2 2008 from WBFF-DT, FOx affiliate in Baltimore, 1.8 miles away with included antenna indoors about 20 feet from window on second floor)..... originally in dvr-ms container, used VideoReDo to cut and stream to a .MPG file (no recompression or anything)....
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6BCJXTF7
notice that its about 40MB per half minute ~ 6GB per hour.... (PM me if the link is down)

ClearQAM

I tested ClearQAM when i was home for thanksgiving.... it did pick up local digital (news) channels with my Comcast basic cable subscription using the VMC Beta Driver utility.... (sorry no pics here.... just a promise that it works)...

Added a screenshot of QAM+NTSC(comcast cable, directly hooked up to coax) working in Windows 7
for windows 7, ATSC/NTSC/QAM works out of the box w/o any manual effort
plugging the USB device in results in windows automatically finding drivers and recognising it as 'AverTV Hybrid Volar Max'.... open up Windows Media Center and set up the device... (it'll find a Digital(QAM) + analog tuner if you hooked it up to coax/comcast)



Final Thoughts
I think that this device is definitely worth the $52 cost to add TV functionality to a laptop in a cramped dorm room.

Some advantages are:

• Vista x32/x64 compatible
• ClearQAM and OTA works in Vista Media Center
• Works with Linux under OTA ATSC, not sure about QAM
• Doesn't run too hot
• Rights to laugh at dorm-mates who pay $10 for comcast to get 20 basic channels

Some disadvantages are:

• Antenna sensitivity (get a good indoor antenna, i recommend the Terk HDTVa
• Remote not included
• 'Hybrid tuner'... cannot use both analog and digital at the same time... though a disadvantage in all small USB-stick TV Tuners

 

so im planning on getting this...
is there a way to use a remote?
any recommendations?

 

PaperWastage:

Nice review..and pictures you provided...I really enjoyed reading this!


Cin

 

my Dell XPS came with a travel remote, whose channel up/down buttons with in Vista Media Center

either get an expresscard remote if you have built-in IR sensor in ur laptop(make sure reviews show it works in VMC or whatever PVR program you use), or AverMedia sells two remotes.... go email them on which ones work best... site says the first one works definitely on the AverTV Media Center, second one works definitely in VMC

http://www.aver.com/mpd/mpdmcsrmkit.html

http://www.aver.com/mpd/mpdmceukw.html
(i have the second remote for my desktop... works at a decent range)

remotes can be found for under $20

 

How did you get it to work ?I have a HP TX2600 laptop I installed the drivers
and hooked it up to my roof top antenna which also has an amplifier and all i get is a snowy picture? should I uninstall the Avemedia driver and let vista auto detect instead? I tried the software and the WMC and I get the same result. I live in the NY area ( Queens) and all I want to do is get channels 2, 4 ,5, 7 on my laptops as I have Directv HD PVR for regular viewing of televison. is there a better USB TV tuner out there.. I am extremely frustrated.


[email protected]

 

im assuming ur using this for VMC:
install the Vista Media Center drivers from their website(choose ur version... x64 or x86)
then plug it in, the Plug&Play Device Manager will show that its detected..
open Vista Media Center.. it'll say new tuner found, setup?
go setup, then (im assuming OTA), so click Antenna, continue blahblahblah, continue

it'll then ask if you want Guide data... say yes... it'll go onto the internet downloading the data guide after asking you for your zip code(or somewhere along this order)..... then, it'll go and detect the digital strength for each channel in your area... you should see green bars for active channels, red for non-active channels... deselect the inactive channels

 

Thanks for your input I sent the Volar back to buy .com I picked up the Hauppauge 850 from Radio Shack for 45.00 and it worked as soon as I plugged it in and install the drivers and open VMC. by the way do you know what battery number is used on the HP Moblile remote control I got a remote with my TX2635US Laptop but no battery! I contact HP Support but as usual they where no help they said go to an electronics store and tell the clerk you need a battery for the HP mobile remote control.. but most of the stores I go to want the battery number..

 

a lil too late...the pinnacle ultimate is on it's way...nice read btw

 

just another info... AverMedia just released beta(0.03) versions of linux drivers... will test soon

 

You ever have any luck getting it to work under linux?
Installed the drivers in Ubuntu 8.10, MythTV finds it, but does not work in that nor any other TV app I have tried. Never got the LED indicator to turn on either.

 

couldn't get it to work on linux either... the driver installation worked fine, but mplayer or (teh other player that the README suggests) couldn't connect... but the README also only said DVB and NTSC, not ATSC......

i guess we'll have to wait, or contact them for more info..

 

just an update... AverMedia released 0.07version of their linux drivers

i am currently using their x64 (on x64 ubuntu 9.04) drivers... in USA

NTSC works in Mplayer... but there is no ATSC support currently (README didn't mention anything about ATSC, will try to see if it works but no guarantees)

README says DVB-T, PAL and NTSC are supported

 

just another update, i managed to get it installed and working in Linux (ubuntu 9.04), ATSC works ( in case anyone wants to know, ATSC is grouped with DVB. Install Kaffine and do a channel search, you'll see channels)

unfortunately, maybe because of un-optimized drivers, the video smoothness isn't as good as if you use Windows Media Center

EDIT: looks like the video smoothness's decent enough if i record/stream it from Kaffeine and watch it in VLC, probably some mess-up in the Kaffeine code...

 

Hey nice review. I'm deciding between this one or the Hauppauge. In your review, it seems like in the last picture in Win7MC, it shows both analog and QAM channels together. Does that mean you can flip between such channels now in Win7? I always thought you can use either the analog or digital tuner but not both.

Anyways, my main question is how fast is the channel switching in QAM with Win7MC? Is it as fast as a regular TV or should i expect some level of delay from channel to channel? I also have Comcast here with about 70 QAM channels in the clear since they made the digital transition. Hoping to use this as a good DVR setup.

Thanks

PS. you should change the heading of this review to the Hybrid Volar Max Review since they also make a non-hybrid version without NTSC analog tuner

 

In Win7, when you config your TV signal, WMC should be able to detect the signals that you're getting

For Comcast, it detects Digital Cable(QAM) and Analog Cable(NTSC)
For OverTheAir, it detects Over The Air(ATSC)

Then it continues searching for unfound channels, sets up guide, and you can manually add channels at the end... WMC shows all the channels you get(NTSC or QAM) and allows you to switch between both

------------------------------

For Linux, you can view NTSC using mplayer, and QAM/ATSC using Kaffeine after installing the drivers AverMEdia gives you

in Linux, Using AverMedia Volar Max (ATSC/QAM/NTSC) on my Ubuntu 9.10 x64 Karmic Koala with Kernel 2.6.31-15-generic, had some problem installing

received this error while trying to use the 0.07beta Linux x64 drivers posted by AverMedia on their site

snd_card_new error

Code:

===== .err BEGIN HERE =====
/tmp/avm-install/installer/src/aver/osdep_alsa.c: In function ‘SysAlsaInitCard’:
/tmp/avm-install/installer/src/aver/osdep_alsa.c:206: error: implicit declaration of function ‘snd_card_new’
/tmp/avm-install/installer/src/aver/osdep_alsa.c:206: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
make[3]: *** [/tmp/avm-install/installer/src/aver/osdep_alsa.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** [_module_/tmp/avm-install/installer/src] Error 2
make[1]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
make: *** [default] Error 2
ls: cannot access /tmp/avm-install/installer/src/h826d.ko: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /tmp/avm-install/installer/src/averusbh826d.ko: No such file or directory

AFAIK, in the kernel that i have, snd_card_new isn't used by the ALSA driver (google shows this guy with a similar problem)

solution is to go to
/tmp/avm-install/installer/src/aver/osdep_alsa.c

go to that line(206), comment it out, use snd_card_create instead

Code:

card = snd_card_new(-1, deviceid, THIS_MODULE, sizeof(struct alsa_card_context));

replace with

Code:

snd_card_create(-1, deviceid, THIS_MODULE, sizeof(struct alsa_card_context), &card);

but for some reason, VLC doesn't play with sound(Kaffeine outputs sound though, so maybe some problem with this hack.... need to play around with it after finals though)

 

well... another update...

0.10-beta drivers support V4L2 (analog) and DVB (digital), the standard for TV Tuners in linux...

it works perfectly on MythTV for OTA ATSC... watching, recording, shifting... can't test QAM yet

 

would this work equally as well quality wise http://www.amazon.com/AVerTV-MTVEXM...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269283899&sr=8-1

 

looks like no linux drivers (not like most people really care?)

software included for most TV-tuners usually suck really bad... Windows Media Center on the other hand is really good... so if you have Vista/w7 home premium or ultimate, then you can get it... otherwise, you might have to suffer from the software, or get some other 3rd party software like MythTV

and you should get a good antenna if you are >10 miles from the broadcast tower