Official Audio Authority AVAtrix Q&A Thread (AVX-661 and AVX-561) - Page 9

Well I'm sending my Xantech 291-80's back since I cannot get them to work with my Directv HR21. They are messing with the IR just enough that the HR21 doesn't seem to respond. I do have one channel vision IR-2105 that works pretty good from the bedroom wall plate but downstairs doesn't seem to work. THis IR stuff is driving me batty. I guess I will try the Niles lcd friendly receiver and see if I have better luck.

I am having some serious problems. It seems like my 1176 (the bottom part) has gone hay wire. I came home from work and had no TV. I checked my AVAtrix and the 1176 was off. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it came on and was recognized. My problem is now that it only outputs out of 3 of the 6 outputs. One of the working outputs displays video, but it has some banding. I'm going to talk to Trent this morning. Needless to say, I won't be messing with an IR stuff for a bit.

Oh man, sorry to hear that. I hope there's some easy fix but it doesn't sound good. Good luck.

There wasn't an easy fix, but a replacement is being sent and then I will send the other back for them to look at. Their customer service and tech support is top notch. No complaints there. It may have been a power supply problem the whole time. I'll update my progress when I get it swapped out. A bit of an inconvenience, but the situation will be resolved soon.

Rx, Did you talk to Curtis? He has been great every time I have had to talk to him...Trent give him a raise!

He just sent me a replacement for my unit. I got it at the end of last week and haven't had a chance to test it yet. The digital audio wasn't working on input #2. I was just going to live with that because I didn't want to go through the hassle of pulling my unit out of it's current location and send it back. But then I tested some more and found that the cat5 output for wall plate #2 wasn't working either. Since I had about 2 weeks left on my warranty, I decided to go ahead and do the return. The $3,000 temporary charge on my credit card until they get my original unit back should be sufficient motivation for me to get the new one tested and old one sent back!

In the year that I have owned my Avatrix I have had the following problems and solutions:

1. Channel Vision IR receivers not working. Trent bought my channel vision receivers and I purchased Xantechs.
2. Bad power supply. AA sent me 2 new power supplies.
3. One bad wall plate. Curtis sent me a replacement.
4. Bad input and output #2 ports. Curtis sent me a replacement (both parts).

So with 4 significant problems in one year of ownership, you might think I would not hold AA in very high regard. Actually just the opposite is true. Sure I would have preferred to not have been inconvenienced by these problems, but you never know about a company's comittment to customer service until you have problems and each and every one of these problems has always been handled great. They listened carefully to my problem, ran though some initial troubleshooting and didn't try to make excuses when it was apparent that there was a flaw with their hardware.

I'll be more loyal and more likely to buy another AA product in the future because of the way these problems were handled than if I had never had any problems at all.

Good luck with your issue.

Murray

Has AA considered carrying/suppling IR receivers that are certified to work with the AVATRIX? Or this more of an environmental issue that can't really be addressed until the customer has the unit in the field?

Just a thought.

Thanks.

Elmer

I will agree and disagree. Agreed that AA customer service is great, disagree about wanting to own this thing outside warranty. So....I got a replacement and sold it.

MurrayW, Do you have any plasma or LCD tv's being controlled and if so what xantech receivers are you using? Any issues?

I have LCD TV's (only one that is currently hooked up to the Avatrix). Hopefully one of these weekends, I will get the other 2 set up. I am using Xantech LCD/CFL proof dinky links http://www.xantech.com/products/ir_products/48085S.htm and on the one TV that I have controlling HR10-250's in my equipment closet in another room, I haven't noticed any problems.

I do have an HR20-700 which from an IR standpoint should be just like your HR21 that I haven't relocated to my equipment closet yet, but I am anxious to see if I have any problems like you seem to be having with yours. I've got a lot going on right now, so I can't make any promises, but I'll try to see if I can get it tested in the next week so I can let you know if these IR receivers would be good candidates for the HR2x boxes.

Murray

That would be great murray.

Gobuffs, what are you using now for hdtv distribution? I need to purchase something in a couple months for my new home and I need something rock solid.

Hi all,

I have a quick question and I don't even have my AVAtrix yet (see your PM Trent).

I have 3 wallplates right next to each other in the basement primarily for football season when I set up 3 TVs that control 3 DirecTV boxes.

Since the AVAtrix uses IR, how could I control the three boxes without changing all three?
My DTV boxes have RF capabilities, could I use an IR to RF converter?
IF so how would I accomplish that?

Any other suggestions or ideas are welcome.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!!

John

John, what model DirecTV boxes do you have? Depending upon the model, you may be able to set each box to a different remote control address. I have mostly DirecTiVo's and there are 8 different remote addresses you can choose among. The newer DirecTV branded HD DVR's (HR20's and HR21's) only have 2 possible IR code sets but almost unlimited RF remote addresses.

I assume you want to use one remote for all 3, correct? If not and you were to use an individual remote for each DirecTV box, I would just use the RF capability of the remotes and not use the IR capability of the AVAtrix.

Just my opinions.

Murray

For those using the IR router included with the AVAtrix. Which firmware version do you find to be the best? I recently went all the way from 1.6 to 2.4 and it seems like sometimes it goes crazy with either no response or many multiple button presses. I scanned through this thread, but wasn't sure if there was a consensus.

I've been using the 2.4 version. I think it's better than previous versions. Sometimes I do notice that it counts two button presses but I think it's from the dinky links reflecting a second signal off the cabinet and then the device receives two signals instead of one. Not sure though.

Obviously, it would be much easier to use 1 remote for all 3. The 3 wallplates in question will be in the basement. The D* boxes will be one floor up in the media closet. I have 3 H20's and 1 HR20 that will be kept in the media closet.

So if I were to want the one remote solution, how might I go about choosing only one of the 3 IR receivers when I want to change channels?

Thanks again,

John

Are the 3 wallplates in different rooms in the basement?

I am not sure about the H20's but I know the HR20's only have 2 IR addresses that can be set -- I would guess the same for the H20's. If the H20's and the HR20's have different IR addresses, then maybe you could swap out one of your H20's with an HR20 to give you 2 of each and allow you to have different IR addresses for each one.

Another option would be something like this:
http://www.xantech.com/products/ir_products/RT8.htm

Or if you have a universal remote that can send both RF and IR (I assume they make such a remote), then you could use the RF to control your boxes and the IR to control the source selection for the AVAtrix wallplate.

These are the only things I can think of. Let me know what you decide, because somewhere down the road I'll be replacing my HR250's with HR20's and will need to do something to address the limitation of only 2 IR addresses on the HR20's.

Murray

I am just hooking up my AVAtrix. I bought the 1172 so that I can carry the sound through my amp, into ceiling speakers. When an 1172 is attached, does the sound still go to the wall plate as well? I ask because mine isn't and before I try to track down the problem, I wanted to make sure it is a problem.

Thanks.

Is anyone using rf to control components with avatrix? Just wondering if this is more reliable than the distributed IR control?

Good question. I'm looking forward to the answer.

I have done just that... using D* RC32RF's. I wish I would have saved the time and money from the start.

Anyone having trouble reading the flash card that is required to perform firmware updates?

Maybe this is a silly question, but when I drop it in the SD reader on my laptop it's not recognized. Other cards read no problem? Is it a FAT32 thing?

Any quick advice?

Thanks!

The Rick,

The Genesis is the MX-900, right? How easy was it to program (sounds like you do this for a living and I would have to program as Universal Remote.com tech support told me the Aviatrix is not in their code base)?

I've just got my AVAtrix 1166 and want to investigate integrating Control4 to manage everything.

I have a central control closet and want to manage the home theater + HD to the other zones.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who's done something like this

Thx

I am interested in the AVAtrix AVX-661 and have a few questions before pulling the trigger.

1. Can the wall plates Model 9878 be switched with 9879 at purchase?

2. What other IR Receivers are supported than the 291-00 (maybe something smaller not so revealing)?

4. Would a MX-850 remote work with the panel IR and receiver? I understand the remote to use RF but does it transmit IR as well?

5.From what I understand HD/Blu-ray disks can play though component cables but if they are set to require DRM you will only get 480p playback. Also, up-conversion of regular DVDs require HDMI/DVI connectivity. Does the AVX-661 system handle either of these items in a different manner since the system is component based or plan to in the future?

6. Using the 1172 unit I assume you would have to use multiple AVR systems. What kind of device (brands/models) would be classified as whole house audio distribution system to switch between AVRs?

7. With the 6X7 matrix is it safe to assume that all TVs connected can view the same image from the same source if desired?

Some of these are better off being answered by Trent, but I'll take a stab at the ones I am qualified to answer:

2. I use the Xantech dinky link 48085's
http://www.xantech.com/products/ir_products/48085S.htm

3. Yes, if I understand your question correctly.

5. There is no upconversion in the Avatrix. It will output whatever resolution is input into it.

7. Yes you can play the same source on all TV's.