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GUI/Program for controlling Yamaha receiver???

1385 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by smoothtlk, Jan 20, 2008

firedawg24

Discussion Starter · Jan 19, 2008

I have read through many posts concerning CQC, mainlobby and Girder, while awesome programs, are all expensive options when all I want to do is control my receiver from my htpc. I have a YAMAHA HTR-5890 which from what I gather uses the same RS-232 protocol as the RX-V1500. All I want is to be able to turn it on, volume and input switching and maybe some program functions thats it. The other programs I mentioned do all that but they are several hundred dollars and they do a whole lot more than I need. I run MCE2005 if that is any help.

All comments are welcomed and any help would be greatly appreciated.

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fcorona76

· #2 · Jan 19, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by firedawg24 /forum/post/12866519

I have read through many posts concerning CQC, mainlobby and Girder, while awesome programs, are all expensive options when all I want to do is control my receiver from my htpc. I have a YAMAHA HTR-5890 which from what I gather uses the same RS-232 protocol as the RX-V1500. All I want is to be able to turn it on, volume and input switching and maybe some program functions thats it. The other programs I mentioned do all that but they are several hundred dollars and they do a whole lot more than I need. I run MCE2005 if that is any help.

All comments are welcomed and any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can do most all of this with the Microsoft MCE remote (comes with 2 IR blasters), can't you? And thats a "cheap" $30 from Newegg....

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ChrisL01

· #3 · Jan 19, 2008

Instead of using software to control it on the PC, a much better option would be a universal learning remote, specifically anything in the Harmony line. Not only will it give you full control of all your AVR functions, but it can also control MCE 2005 and everything else you have.

There are several different editions, but you can find older ones (that work the exact same as newer models) for under $100.

Chris

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firedawg24

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 19, 2008

I suppose I mis-spoke, I have MCE 2005 but I don't use it. The reason is, I use Itunes for music due to Iphone/Ipod. I use Power DVD because of the HD-DVD and Blu-ray and my HD camcorder, and I use the fusion/dvico for my DVR/TV because MCE 2005 wont support a single digital tuner card. So it just seems to be a pain in the butt to switch every thing around. I suppose I will take a look but I really like the software option, I like tinkering too.

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smoothtlk

· #5 · Jan 19, 2008

firedawg24,

The software solutions you mentions are geared exactly for the issues that you are having. An IR remote control won't do the problem justice (relatively speaking).

You might also be interested that we just released an iPHone / iTouch user interface for selecting movies via DVDLobby (that interacts and controls PowerDVD). So, today, you can control PowerDVD and launch movies from your iPhone. Pretty neat

We will be adding more support for the iPhone and other similar devices in the very near future. This is just the start of leveraging capabilities that MLServer3 has.

But, none of those powerful solutions is free, and it is subjective whether they are expensive. I think Girder is the cheapest, but also will require you hours upon hours to not get where CQC or MainLobby would be, and in one night you can have implemented in at least MainLobby (subject to user experience, etc).

When considering expensive...what is your time worth, and how much have you already spent on nice hardware that no one other than you in the house can use? Think ROI

And, if you like to tinker, tons to play with and customize and tweek (all three you mention). Not really the case of an IR solution (other than macros). And not the case for sure with MCE unless you are a capable software developer.

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firedawg24

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 19, 2008

So far of the three I mentioned I seem to like the Mainlobby, the Iphone thing is pretty cool. From what I gather I would have to purchase the ML3.o the MLServer, the DVDlobby, the Musiclobby, and the Yamaha plugin in order to get what I wanted and now the IPhone plugin if I wanted. I would love to get them but the initial upfront cost is somewhat limiting. I got all my hardware prior to having a baby, so now my disposable funds have been rerouted. Hopefully in the future I could get them, but that is why I wanted a simple interface to start off with.

I am not saying the programs are not worth it, I think they are awesome, just not practical for me right now.

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smoothtlk

· #7 · Jan 20, 2008

Hi firedawg, the iPhone interface comes with DVDLobby375 (due out this week). And, you don't need MusicLobby for movies, So that's two less things to worry about

Congrats on the baby. That's a big thing to worry about (and enjoy!)

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