Dear Friends, Groovera strictly prohibits stream recording and our service to you may be refused permanently upon detection. We hate to do this and we love serving you but we cannot make any exceptions so please do not try it. If you have any questions, please read this fine article. Thanks!
Jet City Lounge
A fine mix of chilled instrumental future lounge, nu-jazz, groove jazz, downtempo, soft techno, brokenbeat, electro-bossa, deep house, and ambient house, with intermittent vocals.
An aficionado's mix of chilled adult alternative pop, future lounge, vocal downtempo, nu-jazz, ambient pop, trip-hop, neo-soul, synth pop, deep house, and a few surprise classics.
Connecting Your Computer To Your Audio Receiver
So you've been listening to Groovera for awhile and now you would like to hear it over that high-end home or commercial sound system you paid big bucks for? Well it's about time! Here are some tips on how you can easily make that happen and fully enjoy Groovera the way it was intended! - by Tim Lumen
We were in operation for nearly a year before I had ever heard our music stream on desktop speakers. Seriously. Even in the pre-Groovera days when the streams were only available in 32kbps mp3PRO, it still sounded great over a high-end Dolby Surround Pro Logic™ receiver while ordinary low-bitrate streams only sound worse the better the sound system gets. In fact, I personally have rarely ever connected desktop speakers to any PC I have owned since 1997. Meanwhile, many fine PC speakers and desktop audio systems have been introduced to the market, neatly distracting many of us from realizing the simple and immediate possibility that we can enjoy music from our computers through the hi-fi or surround sound receivers we already own. It is so easy that some might just slap themselves for investing another $300 in PC speakers they never even needed!
There are several ways today that desktop audio enthusiasts can bridge the sonic gap between their computer and their commercial or home entertainment system, varying in complexity of installation and price impact. This article presents four of the most common methods of meeting this goal, most of which require no real technical knowledge and can be as simple as plugging one end of a cable into the back of the computer and the other end in the back of the audio receiver. You will also find here some resources to help you obtain the devices or accessories required to begin enjoying desktop-to-home media convergence.
Nearly all pre-assembled desktop computers today come equipped with a sound card. The inputs and outputs of these are typically minijacks, also described as 1/8-inch or 3.5mm jack. These are just like the connectors for the headphones that come with portable personal stereo devices. In this case, all you need to get started is your choice of the cable accessories / combinations noted below.
Locate the line output on your computer. Look in the back of your computer at your sound card and identify your audio connectors. They might look something like this. Typically, the connectors are engraved with their function and also color-coded. We will be using the line output (i.e. "Line Out") which is usually color-coded in a light green.
If you are using choice two from "Required Accessories" (above), connect your adapter to your RCA component cable
Plug the minijack end of your cable into the line output on your PC sound card.
Power off your audio tuner and plug the RCA plugs into an available component input on the back of the receiver. That's it!
Warning: Avoid using any phono (phonograph) component input on your receiver as they are usually pre-amplified more intensely than the other inputs and will overdrive the audio input.
NOTE If you choose to use this method, Monster Cable produces some of the finest premium/high-end audio cable on the consumer market and it DOES make a difference to a discriminating ear enjoying a high-end audio system. These cables may cost more but you get better performance as all cables are not created equally. These cables are shielded to eliminate the hum caused by radio frequency interference (RFI) and to prevent noise caused by issues with the electrical grounding of some equipment. Check the Recommended Purchases below for some of the finest options.
This method is my favorite. Optical connections (S/PDIF, SPDIF, TOSLINK) provide the purest, clearest outbound signal possible from your computer to your audio system. Most audio receivers today have at least one optical port for those of us who have the most discriminating ear and want the most optimal, unimpeded audio signal traveling from the source to the receiver. Most computers do not come pre-equipped with an optical port, therefore mandating the installation of one if you choose to go this route. At one time the best bargain came by the way of PCI cards, but now you can get equal value in an external USB device, sans the potential headache of opening the computer box for a hardware installation.
Install the optical interface. Whether you choose a USB interface or a PCI interface, the purpose of this step is obvious.
Remove the rubber protection sleeves from the connectors if they are present. [Show Example]
Plug one end of the optical cable to the signal OUT port of your computer optical interface. Some devices may only offer an outbound port. Be sure there is a slight snap when you insert the cable connector into the optical port.
Power off your audio receiver and plug the other end of the optical cable into an available optical port on the back of the receiver. Be sure there is a slight snap when you insert the cable connector into the optical port.
This is probably the simplest method as all the preparation required is simply setting the frequency on the transmitter and your home tuner and plugging the transmitter into your computer's headphone jack or the audio output. I had ordered one such transmitter online by a California company who specializes in gadgets but was dissatisfied and returned it and have since been gun-shy to trying any others. However, I have been most satisfied with the FM transmitter I use in my car to listen to music from my Pocket PC, so I am confident from my own experience and the reviews given by satisfied purchasers of these kinds of devices that there are some really good ones out there.
This is the only one of these options we have never tried ourselves. Frankly, I personally do not see the need for one, however, I hear great things about them and I know that the users of these devices love them. I also know that several Groovera listeners tune in frequently and successfully with various kinds of network audio appliances. The only one of these I will recommend is simply out of pragmatism, Philips Streamium. Streamium is actually a product line of network audio appliances that all come with one key feature - mp3PRO decoding. There are some outstanding reviews of the Philips Streamium and if you are considering a network audio appliance to get further enjoyment from Groovera, this is a great option.
Run through this checklist before you run out of patience.
No audio
Make sure that the adapter is plugged into the correct computer sound card jack. Typically, it will be the sound card jack coded in green, labeled "out" or "line out". View Example
Receiver input cannot support a digital signal or is not working at all
Try a different input on your receiver.
Sound from receiver is overdriven and distorted
Be sure that the input you are using on your receiver is not "phono" or "phonograph".
Pervasive hum is present in audio with direct wired connection
You will need to clamp a ferrite-core radio frequency interference (RFI) suppressor to your cable at a point closest to either the computer connection, the receiver connection, or one on each end of the cable.
The computer's output is too low or muted
Open up your audio controls. In Windows, you can usually do this by double-clicking a speaker symbol in your system tray. If not present:
Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Volume Control
Make sure "Mute" isn't checked below the Line Out or Wave column on your audio properties, and check to see that the volume slider isn't near the bottom.
This article is offered to inform and inspire and is not intended to replace professional technical guidance and services. Your system hardware and software may be different from what is described and Groovera is not responsible for troubleshooting or system failures. This information is provided "as is" and without warranty.
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