May 27, 2010 - Internet music streamed through the entire house!

If you want the extended version of the saga regarding trying to play Internet radio through my AV system and through the in-ceiling speakers, click here. Otherwise, the short story is that I hadn't found a way to stream my favorite Internet radio station through the AV receiver to enjoy a whole-house experience. I'd tried different media adapters, the ZVBox, and even a direct laptop-to-receiver connection, but nothing worked. The direct connection came closest, but with a really annoying buzzing sound.

Today, thanks to the help of a Verizon technician, I've got a clear stream from WOI FM from Ames and Des Moines (yes, there is classical music in Iowa) playing throughout the house! The Verizon technician ran some updates on the Media Manager software, and he tried to get WGUC out of Cincinnati running first. However, he told me that because radio stations tend to be all over the board with exactly how they are distributing their streams (even if they all use either Windows Media Player, Real, Flash, or other solutions), Verizon can't support every stream. I thought that this was an interesting point. They've managed to put YouTube on my TV in a really nice application, but audio will still give them problems in some cases.

At any rate, it's a cool application, and one that will come in handy, particularly on those work-at-home days or the hour on Sunday mornings when I have time to read the paper and listen to some baroque or St. Paul Sunday morning.