Alternative Remote Control

See, this is why I got the Vivaldi. The remote was only 1/60 the cost.

Ha ha ha ha :rofl:

I bought the remote for my Bartok after I bought the DAC itself. Iā€™m very pleased I did. As with the Bartok itself, the pleasure of having the device remains long after the OUCH of the purchase has faded. Itā€™s a nice remote.

And itā€™s markedly cheaper in the UK (where I got mine) than it is in the USā€¦

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Hi @miguelito
I used the Harmonyā€™s ā€œsequenceā€ functionality to create the necessary IR commands. First I created a sequence named ā€œdCS Unit Settingsā€

Then I defined the sequence to do the same steps as I would using the front panel keys:

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Ok, understood. So I gather from this that the Harmony software knows what the dCS IR command codes are. Or are you entering the control sequences as detailed in the dCS white paper on IR commands?

You need to add the Rossini as a device in MyHarmony

Then you can assign the dCS remote codes to buttons or screen menu points

I also use a Logitech Harmony (Elite I think) to control Vivaldi. I previously used it to control Rossini and Bartok. Same IR commands for all units it seems. Use it to change volume, filters, inputs etc. Havenā€™t used it for streaming transport commands though. The Vivaldi remote doesnā€™t seem to do that either though.

Ok understood. One more question: is it possible to program a layout where different buttons command different devices. For example, I would like to program the remote to control my Cambridge CXC transport (which is supported) but would like the volume control in that layout to control the Rossini. Is this possible?

Thx.

Thatā€™s absolutely no problem. Logitech uses

  • Devices, which give the platform the necessary IR commands
  • Activities, which allow you to define which device is active and which button / which screen entry does what

The system is very flexible, it can really do almost anything. But you need to be prepared to go through a (relatively short) learning curve.

https://www.myharmony.com/en-ch/

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Indeed. I also get mine to switch on the smart tv and display the Roon web page which shows whatā€™s playing and associated cover art. Alexa can control Harmony so you can just say ā€œplay musicā€ and everything happens automatically including turning the lights on. Theoretically. As a computer programmed by humans it doesnā€™t always work perfectly.

Got a Harmony 665 remote yesterday ($60) and it does everything I wanted. Took me a little back and forth to understand that the activities and the devices customizations are separate but other than that it was super smooth.

Thx for the recommendation.

I presume you have your Roon core connected to an HDMI input in your TV? Otherwise I canā€™t imagine how you do that.

I have a TiVo Stream 4k on my TV and can Chromecast the Roon screen to it but thereā€™s some work in Roon itself to turn that on every time I want that.

Buy a Apple TV4K and you can install the app for the Roon Extension ā€œRoon TV Remoteā€
Then you can use the Harmony remote to use and look Roon on your TV.
Works perfect
More info: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/apple-tv-extension-roon-tv-remote/109448

No HDMI connection. Just a smart tv with browser and network connection. Quite easy to set up as described here in the Web Display section:

Got it, thx.

Check this out. Amazing.

Extension is not in beta anymore, you can buy it for $2.99.

Similarly, I bought a Logitech Harmony 665 but I can not program it. Please help or describe how you did it? I chose add a device and then the dCS manufacturer. I do not know what to enter as ā€œmodel numberā€ - I have a BartĆ³k but probably Rossini from the remote control side are similar - if not identical. I can not program the remote control to move from one track to another. This is the feature I care about the most.

Surely the Rossini setup would work. I donā€™t think I did anything special. Check and see if previous/next buttons need to be configured. I have the standard ones set for a Cambridge CXC transport.

Thank you for your response. I do not use external transport. I want to change songs that I have selected with dCS Mosaic. I choose the album. I start playing it. I put my iPad away. I use the remote control to play and stop or skip to the next track. Is it posible?

IR remotes for dCS equipment only affect the dCS units themselves and not any peripheral equipment that they may be connected to.

When you issue commands via Mosaic concerning network connected media e.g. local files from a NAS or streaming media from`the internet the commands have to pass through the network as they involve the NAS or internet service too. IR remotes do not have this connection.

So I am sorry Robert that you will not be able to change tracks with an IR remote except when using a silver disc transport such as dCSā€™ own - which is what the track commands are for. That is the case for all IR remotes including dCSā€™ own ( though you can control functions which lie solely within the dCS domain such as DAC inputs, filter choices, phase etc) . From your previous posts unfortunately I infer that you are not a silver disc user ( but I may be wrong) so this is not a route you can pursue. Of course most CD spinners come with a dedicated IR remote which I presume you would use in any case.

Iā€™m away from home for a few days so apologies if Iā€™m wrong but Iā€™m sure I can skip tracks up and down when play streaming from Qobuz or from my Melco, using my Harmony remote.

Cheers, Mike.

Please, after your return home, check the possibility of changing the track using the Harmony remote control when using as a streaming source, e.g. NAS or Roon. I donā€™t use Melco but I think it works similarly. Unless Melco has an IR receiver that responds to Harmony remote commands, it would be a very convenient solution for me to use Harmony in this scenarioā€¦