Russound tch1

I don't use it as much because the interface is poor on the iPhone and a joke on the iPad, I am experiencing the same thing.

At least since IOS5, the interface doesn't work on either device anymore. The selection comes up, but when selecting zones (I have 18 zones) scrolling of any kind doesn't work and all buttons becomes disabled.

I have the latest firmware on it which is quite old already, so i am not sure if Russound really will bother to make any updates.

I certainly hope so as the device is useless as is...

PS. Sorry to be so negative, but the company from which they bought the device from was certainly more active in updating their software.

Hi Wolf. I just picked up a TCH1 recently and it is working for me on iOS5. I only have 6 zones, no idea if that might make a difference. Does the admin part work OK?

I must say I'm disappointed by Russound too. Being a software guy I see so much opportunity for them to put a better front end on their products and keep improving them but it looks to me like they get it out the door, issue a few critical fixes then pretty quickly kill off any maintenance activity. Classic example (and yes, I'm having a rant here) is the SMS3 - the web user interface is laughable - some kind of 90s jukebox looking thing. Quite apart from the looks though, it basically doesn't work properly with new browsers (hangs when I click "Music" in IE9, went back to Firefox 3.6 and it works perfectly) but I see no sign they'll fix it. As browsers evolve whatever odd methods it uses are gradually crippling it as I guess they are not standards-compliant. At this rate the SMS3 browser interface will be dead soon. Oh, and it doesn't work at all on the iPad either.

Oh, and on the subject of both the TCH and Russound software, why on earth can I not type when I am searching for artists/songs etc on my iPhone? I have a perfectly good onscreen keyboard but instead I have to arrow up and down through 26+ characters and then arrow to the next character?? Not surprisingly this isn't in the brochures and again, it's laughable. I don't care about the "whys", this just isn't good enough in this day and age.

Who on earth builds this software??? Have they ever watched anyone use it? Russound, is this really news to you, do you even care? There are people out here who can help, this isn't so hard. Hell, if you brought out a feature-packed upgrade for TCH, SMS etc I bet there's plenty of people who would pay you for it, I know I would.

R

Do not spend time with Russound TCH1. The price is tremendously high for what you get. Much better is application like IRule or CommandFusion with a Global Cache interface.

I already picked one up but only did so when I could get a great deal - it is overpriced.

To be honest I'm basically happy with the TCH - it was only the character entry thing that surprised me. Otherwise it's very handy and does what it says on the box, even looks pretty good!

I just purchased and installed the TCH1 this week and am having two problems:

1) I have 18 zones. The iPhone interface scrolling does not work and you can only see the first 7 or 8 zones. This is just like the OP posted. I wonder if Russound ever tested it with more than 6 zones?

2) When connected to the ST2 Sirius receiver for the source, the song name, artist name, etc all have a bunch of ZZZZZ's until you get to the end of the line. So for example Madonna looks like MadonnaZZZZZZZZZZ instead.

I am going to give Russound a call tomorrow, but has anyone else found any solutions?

TCH1 Version 2.00.09
CAV66 Version 4.00.01
ST2 Version 3.02.01

I just spoke with Russound tech support, and here are the answers I received:

1) The iPhone app scrolling broke with the release of ios5 and they are aware of the problem. No date on a new release yet. Until then, since you can see the first 6 zones on the iPhone without needing to scroll, a workaround is to rewire the first CAV66 controller to have the 6 most popular zones. Not too difficult given the keypads and the speakers have easy connectors.

2) The ZZZZZ text appendages are due to out of date sirius module firmware. Not the ST2 chassis firmware, but the sirius module inside the chassis firmware. This requires a firmware update that involves removing the ST2 cover, attaching a special serial cable from your laptop to the internal J6 header, and running some software on the laptop. The serial cable is Russound part number P/N 2500-121036 ($15) and the software is the Renesas FDT Basic Program tool available for free from the Russound website support area.

I know people don't care for the user interface on the iPad, using the TCH1. If I was to create a native app that could be purchased from the app store, would there be any interest in it? I'm thinking of doing one for the Andriod also.

I certainly would be interested in an app that works with decent support for an Ipad 2 or Iphone 5S.