Acoustic Research XSight Remote - Page 6

A fantastic, very in-depth review of the Xsight Touch was just published HERE at remotecentral.

Took your advice and I'm sending the H1 back and they are cross-shipping me a new XSight Touch. Read the review as well and while the one outside reviewer was negative, the main article was very positive. I should have the XST18 later this week and hopefully it'll handle the tasks I need to get done.

OK... If anyone here is using a XSight Touch to control a Mitsubishi-DLP TV and has a HDMI-enabled AVR in the mix, I'd like to hear how this is working for you.

A. My TV is a Mitsubishi WD-65737 DLP (3-HDMI-IN)
B. The AVR is a Yamaha HTR-5063 (4-HDMI-IN/1-HDMI-OUT)
C. I have a Sony Bluray BDP-BX57 DVD (HDMI-OUT)
D. I'm using a DirecTV HR20 PVR (HDMI-OUT)
E. I intend to connect my APPLETV (HDMI-OUT)
F. I have Comcast Cable (basic package) connected to the 75 OHM-IN (No Cable Box Needed).

G. And my remote is a AR XSight Touch

I connected the DVD and D*TV HDMI cables to the Yamaha #1 & #2 HDMI-IN ports. I connected an HDMI cable from the Yamaha HDMI-OUT to the Mitsubishi's #1 HDMI-IN. I want to use ONE (1) remote... the XSight Touch, to turn on the Yamaha AVR and the TV and select the source (D*TV, Cable, or DVD), and if its Cable or D*TV... change the channels, control the volume, and hopefully... manage my D*TV PVR activity.

Even though I have the cables connected and the remote handy, I can't seem to get any signal/picture from D*TV unless I use the Mitsubishi remote to select "Satellite" as my source, and then manually turn on the DVD and select the corresponding HDMI port on the XSight. I have a sneaking suspicion that there's some sort of weird "lock" on the Mits that won't let me change the remote selections unless I perform some sort of reset ritual LOL. I've asked about that in the Mits section but as of yet, nobody has responded.

So if anyone is in my boat or has experienced similar issues, please don't hesitate to post your solution(s). TIA!

Just a quick update. I gave up trying to program this unit myself and called AR Tech Support. OH MY GAWD... the guy I dealt with was a RC Wizard. Spent a couple of hours with me, walking me through the process which is not simple or trivial. When I hung up, I had the XSight controlling the basic functions of my AVR including selection of HDMI ports, we also got it to control my D*TV HR20 well enough to suit me, but it can be tweaked even further. And lastly, he set me up with a "Activity" called Watch DirecTV which turns on the DLP set, waits 4 seconds, and then turns on the Yamaha AVR and makes sure its switched to HDMI-1 (not HDMI-2 which is DVD).

It was so refreshing to have a patient, young guy walk me through everything. I am extremely pleased to say the least. Have a trip with our grandson tomorrow or I'd be trying to add a device, or tweak a new activity. That'll have to wait, but this remote seems to be flexible enough to deal with my mix of IR and RF needs without a hiccup.

Those of you that are still using this remote, are you still happy with it? I'm looking at getting a new universal, I'm looking at this one and the Harmonys.

Thanks

So no one has this remote still?

I have the XSight Touch remote control and use it every day; works great. Although the web-based setup is bit awkward (and slow) I like its overall functionality. Eg, I have a second tv connected to a cable box thats in a different room and can fully control it using the (optional) RF extender. BB often has the remote on sale.

... and if you have DirecTV and want to use RF, go for the Touch model, not the Color one. You can find cheap ones on ebay from time to time as well.

So I'm giving the XSight Touch a try, I've had two Harmony's in the past - the 880 and the 890 with RF. Both have failed in the same way about 18-20 months after first setting up. Both times I used my Amex Extended warranty to get my money back .The problem with both is the volume-up key stops working and the top three hard keys on the right side of the LCD screen stop working.

Here is my setup:
DirecTV HR24
Pioneer VSX-1020K
Oppo BDP-83
Home Built HTPC
Monoprice 402E HDMI Switch
Sony 55A2020
Panasonic PT-AE4000

All of the equipment is kept in a cental closet (TV and Projector excepted), the GE is on the outside wall of the closet with a 3.5mm cable running to the IR connectors on the back. All HDMI goes through the AVR to the Monoprice HDMI switch where it is split to the TV and Projector.

Here is my experience with the XSight so far....about 4 days:

• The software is just as shi**y as Logitechs but its gets the job done if you persevere.

• Only thing I haven't been able to do is re-order the devices which is mildy annoying.

• My Lutron Grafik Eye QS worked when connected to the Logitech RF extender via 3.5mm mono cable - this doesn't work on the XSight Extender - very annoying

• DirecTV is controlled via RF out of the box - this is good

• Power State tracking was good on Harmony but not perfect. The XSight has no power state tracking which for my setup causes no real issues. You just have to work around it with some creative activities. The best option here is equipment with discrete on/off which means you will have no issues.

• Device database is not as good as Logitechs. No Discrete Power commands for my Panasonic Projector is a problem. Some devices do not have all the functions listed. That said it is pretty easy to program the missing buttons if you have the old remote.

• My Tilt sensor is faulty or just a little bit insane. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, suspect I'll be returning it for this reason alone.

• RF Extender has six ports to Logitechs 4, I hear the new one's only have two which is a major step back for Logitech

I think I'm going to keep it (once I get the tilt sensor fixed) just because the Harmony's have seemed so unreliable for me. The GrafikEye problem really does annoy me, but I can point the remote at that and it's ok.

The tilt sensor's on both my XSight's work pretty well so I would definitely exchange it.

Both Best Buy stores in my area are clearancing the XSight Touch ($108) and the RF extender ($59). The salespersons at both locations speculated (I know, grain of salt, etc) that a new model was coming out. Anyone heard of a new model from Acoustic Research?

I don't think a new model is likely. Europe had the xsight at least a year before the US, and there's no new Xsight over there yet. Perhaps it's just a poor seller, and best buy dumping it (also speculation).

Since we are speculating, I will also speculate that Best Buy is dumping it due to a combination of low sales and a high return rate.

My XSight Touch is about 50% programmed so far... relative to what I want it to do. But I am extremely happy with its ability to handle my HR20 D*TV receiver in RF mode and everything else in IR mode. The online stuff is not really very intuitive. As noted above I confess to calling tech support and they helped me get it going to this level and the guy even told me to call back when I decide what else I want to do with it. How do you top that?

So right now I have just two activites; Watch D*TV and Watch DVD. I have all my devices with the exception of the AppleTV in my device list. At this point, I'm going to write up a list of activities then give it a try... but more than likely I will call tech support again LOL and make this less painless. I still need to add a "Watch Cable" that will allow me to use my Yamaha AVR in a non-HDMI setup (I think). Then I need to edit the other activities so that a shut-down shuts down only the TV and the AVR but leaves my D*TV receiver on. My D*TV feeds my Kitchen TV via HDMI Splitter/HDMI cable, so I like to leave it it on.

Overall... I am very happy with the AR XSight Touch. Harmony is missing the boat on the IR/RF ability.

I bought arrx18g for $110 at BB on Friday, and very happy with it. It did take a lot of time learning (both for me and the remote). Some of the codes on the website do not work, e.g. my slingcatcher, so I had to learn all keys. I have set up 13 devices and 10 activities, for devices in living room and bedroom. I actually have a slingbox in livingroom with switch to watch 4 devices in HD (blue ray, gci cable, wd tv plus hd, and dlink dsm-320). My switch has a remote that also I used as a device. Other devices are Mits TV and Denon in living room, and Vizio TV, another WD media player, and Sony receiver in bedroom. It took me almost 3 days to get all the activities working right. Although I can fine tune it over next month, I think I am 90% there.

The software is flunky, but I never lost any work. I use both codes on website, as well as learned code, in my my devices. Unfortunately, trhe learned functions can not be transferred to the web based device for use by other activities. For example I use Denon for audio downstairs, and Sony for audio upstairs. So I like to keep audio keys on lcd screen in activities. Some of thes keys were not in the web (I have Denon 891, the web has Denon 881, so some keys I had to learn). I undertook painful task of adding the denon keys on other devices lcd screen (like cablebox, wd mediaplyaers, etc.). After more than 20 hours on customization, it works very very well. I have basically gotten rid of 10+ remotes that usually lie around my living room and bedroom. My wife is pretty happy with the remote. Not that shes uses it. (She watches only reality shows on cable and never needed more than one cable remote to begin with).

I hope more people bye this remote. At $108 from Best Buy, it is worth the time you spend on it. I have tested all 11 activities several time, and they work right 70%. If not, I can always use ASSIST to fix things.

Hoping to see more people buying this remote. By the way, this is my first advance remote. I never owned Harmony. My last customizable remote was the one that came with yamha RX-795 4 years ago.

You should be able to get it right pretty close to 100% of the time. Even though the web interface is strange the remote itself is pretty flexible.

If you can provide some examples of what does not work we can probably help.

Just as some general guidance though if your activities are inconsistently working the most likely cause is delays not being set right or using power toggles instead of discrete on and off when available.

Thanks dalto. Let me take a note when this happens and post details here.

Hi dalto. The problem is changing input on my Mitsubishi WS55809 remote code device I am using from the Web based setup. Some commands like HDMI 1, DTV 1, Antenna A/B are not working. I am connfused why would AR keep such codes under Mits WS55809 device if the codes are not correct. I found a way to do this. The INPUT command works. So I keep the INPUT command on the LCD screen of my cable box. Once the Activity button turns everything on, I push INPUT on LCD to get the right input. So if the TV was left at Antenna, I need to push it to get to DTV. If the TV was left at DTV, no need to push INPUT.

I wish the DTV and Antenna A/B codes on the Mits WS55809 remote on the website (AR) wer correct. This is another code in addition to Slingcatcher that is wrong.

So my experience is similar to everyone else, it is a great hardware, but the remote codes on the web and software not as good.

Now I am wondering whether I return to BB before 30 days are over, and buy more expensive Harmony 900? What do you think?

Well, some more playing around and found that button DTV 2 and Antenna A do work. This together with increasing the delay time on on power to 4 secs changes the inputs correctly both by Denon on HDMI and Mits to DTV 2. So my system works for now. Still think that AR should put correct device codes.

The reality is that nobody has a perfect code database. There are lots of problems with the Harmony database as well.

As for the software, it is definitely unique. You have to decide if you want to trade off the ease of use of the Harmony software for the additional flexibility of the Xsight software.

I did not know that Harmony database has also similar remote code problems (Grass is greener on the other side). I am going to stick with the Xsight since I was able to find the code that works.

By the way, I increased the delay time to 4 secs on all power up device times (Cablebox, TV, slingcatcher, Media players etc.). Initially it was 0.3 secs when I was having problems. Is 4 secs too much? With 4 devices in an activity I am holding the remote for 12 secs. Do you have experience and suggestions for delay time? Trial and error is quite painful since you have to connnect deisconnect remote to PC. Thanks.

Only devices with inputs need power-on delays. i.e. TV's, receivers, input switchers, etc....

Unfortunately, the amount of time varies per device. For TV's expect between 5-15 seconds. Most of mine are in the 5-8 range but I have one that needs 13 seconds.

Also, what you typically do is power on all the devices and then pause once for all of them rather than delaying after each.

I find the quickest way to get your delays right is to manually perform the steps and time them. With a little trial and error and rearranging, you can get your macros 100% reliable. Luckily, my sony tv responds almost instantly after power on, so I can get away with zero delays. I still do all my discrete on's first in order of slowness, then come back and change inputs. I put my receiver input last in my macros since it's the slowest thing to start up in my system. This way, none of my macros require any pauses (except for my HTPC). So most are done in 2-3 seconds. Harmony can't go anywhere near that fast, even with zero delays. The same macros take around 10 seconds on harmony.

I have a DLP set, so its not instant on. The guy at AR tech support told me at least 4 seconds between turning TV on, then turning on AVR. I actually think longer might be better in my case because sometimes the AVR or the TV gets confused.

Anyone successfully extended the IR LED cables on the RF extender for the XSight Touch? I know that 3.5mm mono cables work for the Harmony 900. What should I try for my XSight when it arrives?

Thanks dalto, mdavej, IronHorse with delay advise. With my 4 sec delays, my macros are working 100% at least for last 2 days. With your advise, it will only get better. I like the idea of powering up all devices up front, then use only one delay that is the maximum. For me it is my WD Mediaplayer which is 10 secs. Now what is the command for delay with no action? Is it PAUSE xxx?

If God had intended man to watch TV 24/7, he would have given him rabbit ears • That is really funny.

Has anyone listed the feature differences between the ARRX18G XSight and the Harmony One? The data sheets look pretty similar. I like the dedicated four color buttons on the XSight but I know there are a lot of people who swear by the Harmony One.

Hi Raddle, I don't know about the one, but I was interested in the xsight also till I went to BB to check them out. The one thing that turned me against them were the button clicks. Wow were they loud, and this was in the large BB and they were really loud. If the clicking don't bother you it seemed like a nice remote though. I know this wasn't what you asked, buy just a little insight, especially if ordered from the net.

I just picked up an AR XSight Touch at my local Best Buy for $56.99.

Yep -- fifty-seven bucks -- I figured I couldn't pass up something like this for that kind of price.

I'm not really into "activity-driven" stuff -- I really just want a universal remote that will handle the about a dozen different things I want to control. And I want it to be able to 'learn' things from several different controls onto the same 'device' -- something this can do just fine.

I actually like the 'beeps' and 'clicks' and such -- I have no issues there. And, the computer-based setup wasn't all that bad. Nor has been going through the routine to get it to work with my different devices without inputing the model numbers -- that has worked just fine.

Learning has been just fine, with the exception of having to re-choose the device between learning each of the buttons. Being able to keep the original remote below the AR, so both remotes are pointing in the same direction, has been wonderful.

The only real "gotcha" so far has been the inability to move the devices around on the screen -- without planning everything out to begin with, I got a couple of lesser-used devices near the top of the list, relegating more-important ones lower in the list. I'll probably blast everything away and set it up right, now that I know how it goes, but that won't be too much of a hassle.

So, these are minor setup issues, I suppose -- nothing else I've ever tried hasn't been frustrating in one way or another. In the end, the remote has all of the "hard buttons" I want, and I like the layout of the transport controls and such. In the end, I really think I'll be able to use this one control to manage everything -- something I haven't been able to accomplish for years. Not bad for $56.99.

I am having a serious problem with adding a new macro on ARRX18G remote. I had manually added a few codes on the remote using settings button on the remote. I then connect it using USB and login to arr website. I upload the setting. Then go to advance menu to create a new macro. I go through the whole procedure of setting the macro all the way to asign it to a key on the remote. Then when I put NEXT, the webpage returns to login screen. This has happened 20 times, under all different variations I tried. Any ideas? Is my setup on the remote screwed up since its a mix of remote codes from AR website and manually added codes? Can someone try to set up a macro on their remote and post here if that works?

Thanks.