Home theater control suggestions

[Matthew J Poes]

what do you all use to tie your systems together and control them?

I’ve been living with the most ridiculous setup for the last year. I use the individual remotes and have it such that I have to open the door and walk to the equipment closet to control them. Originally I planned to buy the Harmony control system, but then kept waiting for something better.

Any suggestions or experiences. I’m trykng to avoid something as costly as Control4 or similar and stick to diy solitons.

 

[Mark C Flick]

Currently using a DirecTV remote, it's fair... not nearly as good as the Dish Network remote. Previously used a Harmony 680 which I really liked, just was not very durable. Whatever you decide on make sure it's backlit.

 

[JStewart]

Harmony. Can't recall how old. Over 5 years? These days it would be the Harmony Companion. That little remote works great. No backlit and doesn't need to be. Button locations make sense and can easily find the correct one. Remote uses RF to the hub. No line of sight required. App for phone or tablet available. Well laid out, but even so I never use it.
Also tied in are hue lights and amazon alexa.
Start it from wherever in the house and the PJ and source are on and ready to go when we walk in the room.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Thanks everyone. This is helpful. The harmony hub is what I’m looking at. My biggest concern is the complexity for me to set it up. I will possibly need to wire the IR Tx through the projector wire pipe as the equipment closet is fully enclosed.

 

[Sonnie]

Universal MX-890 in our great room and in our theater/listening room. Been using these for several years now. Can't imagine being without them. I don't like big and bulky... just something what has endless macro abilities and works.

 

[Peter Loeser]

I’ve used universal and Harmony. I love the customization allowed by Universal but you have to be/know an installer to get the software and it’s got a pretty steep learning curve. A Universal system is pretty outstanding once you’ve got it set up. I’ve stuck with the Harmony for a few years now in our living room system. More limited in terms of customization but very user friendly and compatible with just about anything. Not sure yet what I’ll set up when I get the new HT put together. Did you decide on anything yet?

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I’ve used universal and Harmony. I love the customization allowed by Universal but you have to be/know an installer to get the software and it’s got a pretty steep learning curve. A Universal system is pretty outstanding once you’ve got it set up. I’ve stuck with the Harmony for a few years now in our living room system. More limited in terms of customization but very user friendly and compatible with just about anything. Not sure yet what I’ll set up when I get the new HT put together. Did you decide on anything yet?

Hey Peter,

I talked with my contact at Logitech PR and I got a Harmony remote sent out. I've been reviewing it and will write it up in a month or so. I'm still working on review samples for other brands, so we shall see.

The Harmony is pretty great. I read all sorts of bad things online about how it didnt turn projectors off properly or would lose connections. Everything works perfect. I plugged the hub into my laptop, downloaded a piece of software, and set it up, about 20 minutes. I then downloaded the app, finalized setup in the app, another 5 minutes. Plugged everything in and it's been mostly flawless. I have very poor wifi in my theater (apparently soundproofing is bad for wifi, who knew?) so the hub sometimes loses its connection, but everything still works (just can't use the app or my phone if it loses its connection). For the price, this thing is impressive. Easy to setup and the automatically generated scenes are great.

I'll certainly be buying my sample of the Logitech, even if I don't keep it in the theater long term.

 

[NBPK402]

I am using CQC Software To control my Home Theater, and home automation. I use MyMovies for a video database, and will be using a Dune Pro 4k player to play my 4k streams(This will be controlled via CQC, and the catalog, and controls will be via CQC). I am currently working on designing my templates (while waiting for parts for my HT), and configuring it for my equipment. I used this software from 2006 to 2010 until I had no setup, and then never got around to getting it setup in my Negatron HT. Since we have a new home, and I am setting everything up from scratch I decided to get it setup too...plus my wife wants to have our XMAS lughts automated this year.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Does anyone have any experience with IR repeater gear for components that are stashed in a cabinet or another room?

 

[NBPK402]

Your devices do not have app or IP control? I gave up on IR years ago when serial control became available, and have since switched to apps or using a program that will control everything. For me using my phone or tablet is much easier than using IR.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Good point. The AVR... yes. Blu-ray...no. Although, I have a Panasonic UB820 incoming, and that might have app control (not sure).

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Does anyone have any experience with IR repeater gear for components that are stashed in a cabinet or another room?

Hey Todd I actually just installed 3 of these For some folks and one for myself in the living room. They are great anc cheap. What did you want to know?

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Your devices do not have app or IP control? I gave up on IR years ago when serial control became available, and have since switched to apps or using a program that will control everything. For me using my phone or tablet is much easier than using IR.

I need to try some standalone software and see how it goes. I have had terrible luck with app control. It’s a bunch of different problems. One is that my older IP controlled devices seem to lose their connection or just stop responding to IP controls once in a while, even with wired connections. My Onkyo is the worst for that. I also have spotty WiFi in the theater which impacts my ability to use my phone or a tablet as a remote (not an IP control issue but a legit logistical problem for users). My worst problem is that there isn’t enough standardization across devices for IP control and as such some will connect only to 2.4ghz channels while others can connect to 5.8ghz or even switch to whichever is best. Here is why that has been a problem, since my phone can switch and take advantage of the advanced features my WiFi router has, but my nearly brand new Sony Blu-ray player or Logitech remote cannot, they can’t see each other. I had this problem with the NAD I was using and was informed by one of their software developers that this is a known issue. He told me that the way mesh networks and band switching works is. It standardized and so they all work differently. He was telling me that these two technologies have been a nightmare for them.

I’ve even had devices Incapable or using a 5.8ghz channel/band switch to it anyway and my only fix was to reset the device to get it working again.

I know a lot of other people haven’t had the problems I have and So I’m not giving up on it. I just need to figure out how to get it all setup to work best.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hey Todd I actually just installed 3 of these For some folks and one for myself in the living room. They are great anc cheap. What did you want to know?

Was basically looking for what kind of options are out there. I'm assuming you have one IR line for input that you hide in the front of your room? Do then run hard lines to each device? is it wireless?

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Was basically looking for what kind of options are out there. I'm assuming you have one IR line for input that you hide in the front of your room? Do then run hard lines to each device? is it wireless?

Hi @Todd Anderson I have two use cases that use two different products. Where I need to have a transmitter inside a closed closet but the receiver in a very far away place, they make split rf based wireless solutions. The receiver is in the room where you need it, the transmitter is in the closet. If it’s an enclosed cabinet, then it’s an all in one unit and the receiver is wired into the device. The transmitter is a set of IR transmitters that come off the device and adhere with adhesive to each device.

I’m sure there are numerous other variations but these are what I’ve used. I bought the all-in-ones from amazon for less than $20 each. The rf system was more expensive, so just be sure that something like the Logitech for $100 isn’t a better viable option. In my theater, I replaced the RF type system with the Logitech and it’s a lot cleaner. The cost difference was about $50 and the Logitech was much easier to install.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Good points Matt (on Logitech)... okay... is there a good reasonably priced model?

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Which kind do you need? Do you need the split system that allows a receiver to be far from the transmitter or an all in one for enclosed racks?

 

[Todd Anderson]

Everything is moving to a rack that will be in another room

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Will you be able to run a cable? Any idea the distance?

The reason I mention this is that the RF works but has a slight delay. I try to avoid it unless I have no choice.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Cable for IR? Sure, I can do that.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07CZ37X7N?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

And

https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Selec...wall+plate&dpPl=1&dpID=41MD7BsdWvL&ref=plSrch

Could work. You would need to make or cut up a 3.5mm cable to wire into the wall plate. This is the pieces I used.

I didn’t buy this one, but for similar money and ready to go, there is this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Direc...wall+plate&dpPl=1&dpID=411nLj2xcSL&ref=plSrch

Now one thing to keep in mind is that you also need to have an IR emitter for the Projector. What I did was run an emitter through the hdmi chase and that worked. They also make a special HDMI adapter that lets you run IR through the HDMI cable.

https://www.amazon.com/Inteset-Exte...ds=hdmi+IR&dpPl=1&dpID=41JHD+mVWgL&ref=plSrch

I’ve never used the above linked device and make no guarantees. It’s a problem solver and it can make life easier but with HDMI, sometimes anything added to the signal path can cause issues.

The cables can all be extended with 3.5mm TRS cables if need be.

 

[Todd Anderson]

This is great info Matt. THANKS!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I'm using the NEEO system, and I am consistently impressed. I've had Harmony remotes in the past, but they never lasted long. I'd eventually tire of it not hitting everything in a macro, and then having to get up and do stuff manually, etc.

NEEO has been great. I started a thread on it a while back.

https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/neeo-remote.1385/#post-24655

 

[Todd Anderson]

Ah yes... I remember that thread. NEEO is Wi-Fi, right? So no need to run IR extenders?

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

NEEO is both IR and WiFi, and can also do CEC via HDMI for certain devices.

I initially had the base in the back of my room, on top of the rack. It worked on everything except my projector. I'm not sure why the NEEO signal would not bounce off the screen back at the projector like the actual projector remote does, but it didn't. I moved the base to the front of the room and it hits everything now, without fail.

It comes with an IR repeater which I could've run, but I have an outlet right by the current location, so it was a better option to move the (attractive) base next to that outlet instead of running a repeater out front of the projector.