Cyknight Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 1 minute ago, Matt Lowe said: How is that.... wait what.... why..... I even forgot that he was told he needed 8 MTS screens to feed it with audio..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c4fun Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 So, I have a house being spec'd with an EA-1 and customer now would like to add another EA-1 after the design. Can this happen? Would I have to setup the network differently to they don't clash ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 You can if the Are separate projects. However Will be very unintuitive. You Will need to upgrade one to hc250 or ea3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackstone Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 I'm not sure to understand the logic between the new EA controllers... EA1: Price is good, it's powerful enough for a small project, but not Contact/Relay, no Analog audio, no volume control, so not a direct replacement of an HC-250... EA3: Price is more than an HC250, not so much feature that justify it... This is aimed to be the HC250 replacement but raise the cost of a small "Condo" project where a HC250 fited perfectly, too small for large project... EA5: Not cheap, pricier than HC800, Ethernet switch built-in?? Why?? Any large project will include a dedicated Ethernet switch and a switch was never the priciest equipment of a project, and we're just waiting for C4 to tell us to not use the built-in switch because of some eventual communication bug (like we were told to not use the Sonos switch) and then tell us to use Pakedge switch that is now the reference (Luxul is no longer good?). Only two analog audio? + two digital coax??? But why? All C4 distributed audio gear still use analog (except the good old 4-Zone Matrix amp)... Where will goes those digital out? an ARV? AVR are already fed using HDMI, I don't see the goal of using digital coax in home automation controller that is meant to manage distributed audio... Audio input? Who use audio input in a controller? We do not want our audio sources to be digitized if you can feed the Audio Matrix directly to avoid playback delays. Lot of features I'm wandering why there are there and they raise the cost (again) of a large project where an HC-800 was a good fit. It's not a bad review of the product, but I'm just curious to know if you guys are really enjoying the new features of those controller and find them useful in your project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jreinardy Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Jackstone, I upgraded my primary controller from an HC-250 to an EA3 a few months ago and for my setup it has made a big difference in several areas. I was nearly maxed out on storage on the 250 due to my music collection, that is not an issue any more. I wanted to distribute my Sonos based sources, but digitizing the analog signal gave me poor sound quality. Problem solved with the digital input on the EA3, my Sonos sources are now available throughout the house. I also like having native Pandora and Shairbridge. I was able to repurpose the 250 to replace an HC-200 in my rec room, which also solved some problems without orphaning supported hardware. I have a small to medium sized installation with 13 audio zones, three TV's and two thermostats. I do agree that there is a big gap between the EA1 and the EA3 that a lot of installations might fall into, but the EA3 works well for me and I consider the upgrade very worthwhile. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackstone Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 17 minutes ago, jreinardy said: Jackstone, I upgraded my primary controller from an HC-250 to an EA3 a few months ago and for my setup it has made a big difference in several areas. I was nearly maxed out on storage on the 250 due to my music collection, that is not an issue any more. I wanted to distribute my Sonos based sources, but digitizing the analog signal gave me poor sound quality. Problem solved with the digital input on the EA3, my Sonos sources are now available throughout the house. I also like having native Pandora and Shairbridge. I was able to repurpose the 250 to replace an HC-200 in my rec room, which also solved some problems without orphaning supported hardware. I have a small to medium sized installation with 13 audio zones, three TV's and two thermostats. I do agree that there is a big gap between the EA1 and the EA3 that a lot of installations might fall into, but the EA3 works well for me and I consider the upgrade very worthwhile. Jim Why not connecting the Sonos directly to the amp/audio matrix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jreinardy Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Fair question. My system is something of a hybrid, with three controllers driving four receivers, and three standalone speakerpoints in addition to my matrix amp. So, connecting it just to the amp makes the Sonos sources available to less than half of my zones mostly on the main level of the house. Distributing it digitally is a much better solution in my particular situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 3 hours ago, jackstone said: I'm not sure to understand the logic between the new EA controllers... EA1: Price is good, it's powerful enough for a small project, but not Contact/Relay, no Analog audio, no volume control, so not a direct replacement of an HC-250... EA3: Price is more than an HC250, not so much feature that justify it... This is aimed to be the HC250 replacement but raise the cost of a small "Condo" project where a HC250 fited perfectly, too small for large project... EA5: Not cheap, pricier than HC800, Ethernet switch built-in?? Why?? Any large project will include a dedicated Ethernet switch and a switch was never the priciest equipment of a project, and we're just waiting for C4 to tell us to not use the built-in switch because of some eventual communication bug (like we were told to not use the Sonos switch) and then tell us to use Pakedge switch that is now the reference (Luxul is no longer good?). Only two analog audio? + two digital coax??? But why? All C4 distributed audio gear still use analog (except the good old 4-Zone Matrix amp)... Where will goes those digital out? an ARV? AVR are already fed using HDMI, I don't see the goal of using digital coax in home automation controller that is meant to manage distributed audio... Audio input? Who use audio input in a controller? We do not want our audio sources to be digitized if you can feed the Audio Matrix directly to avoid playback delays. Lot of features I'm wandering why there are there and they raise the cost (again) of a large project where an HC-800 was a good fit. It's not a bad review of the product, but I'm just curious to know if you guys are really enjoying the new features of those controller and find them useful in your project? EA1 is not a replacement for the HC250. Its primary purpose is a cheap entry level 1 room solution, Hc250 used in most cases in this manor was a waste. Its secondary is as navigator,zigbee zap in larger homes. hc250 used in this manner would be a waste. Ea3 is meant for medium to large projects. Remember these are now entertainment controllers the inclusion of additional audio outs allows consumers to consume digital media in which ever fashion suits them best. EA5 Is for Large projects or consumers who want the best audio they can. The built in Ethernet switch is likely to not be used in very large projects but it may come in handy feeding c4 matrices, io extender, or other non network critical devices. C4 bought Pakedge to give a the dealers a tride and true solution. Luxul is still available and still a suggested product nothing changed here other than c4 would rather push their own products. 5 audio outs is a lot for most every home. The additional digital audios are great for high end DACs for music. This includes the need for digital in's to help keep the integretity of digital sources that may be fed to the same DAC Audio input delay? This should not matter unless you are feeding a video source in which would be the wrong way of doing it. Music having a delay should have no impact on how you listen to as long as it is all distributed by Control4 products the audio will be sync'd across all outputs. The additional IO of the ea5 really didnt increase the cost of a large project as you would also likely need more IO. Via IO extender $500 or another hc250 $750. So really the cost is the same or less. This example is further proven with the additional HC250's you would need for multiple navigators or Zigbee Zap or servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackstone Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 6 minutes ago, jreinardy said: Fair question. My system is something of a hybrid, with three controllers driving four receivers, and three standalone speakerpoints in addition to my matrix amp. So, connecting it just to the amp makes the Sonos sources available to less than half of my zones mostly on the main level of the house. Distributing it digitally is a much better solution in my particular situation. That make sense. in fact, i was thinking of using the digital in and out of a controller to get into a multiband compressor and have the musique to play at constant level without degrading much the quality by going analog, this is a feature that does not exist and would be very useful for background music diffusion from a local collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 UPDATE Life with the EA5 has been great as expected. I have continued adding more automation with mockupency, Dish Media, Underground weather, motions, contacts. I am getting to the point where i may decommission my IO extender as well as it have been moving more devices to ip control. Reliability as always has been rock solid, but this has not changed from hc800 or even hc1000 that has ran my projects. Streaming media has allowed me to rely less on sonos, which limited my simultaneous steams any how. Programming really didn't change as both use the same proxies. Adding even more camera streams, have still not even barely touching the resources the ea5 has. my hc800 was seeing an average over 10% on processing where my ea5 has been below 3% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Stop seeing the EA 1/3/5 as a direct 'swap' for the HC250/800. This is a whole new line of controllers. What USED to be the 250/800 is split up into a small system controller with EA-1, and a medium size system controller with EA-3, with the EA-5 reserved for large systems. Before that you'd have a small to mid and a mid to large spit - the current split seems much more reasonable to me. As for digital in - I use them regularly, having the option to do either digital and analogue is nice - though the EA-5 does have a lot. For digital out - you may spec all receivers to be fed HDMI - but that only gives you a single feed to...how many? We use digital switches on top of analogue switches, and being able to feed two digital to those to split among 3-4 receivers, with two analogue across other zones is rather nice. Like I said, comparing EA line directly to HC line isn't the right way of looking at it, there's a good reason why it was created as a new line, vs the next set of HC controllers. The built-in switch? I've tested it extensively just for the heck of it and works perfectly fine, but I don't disagree that it's not really needed. Unless it'll prove to have some sort of special purpose down the road... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 Stop seeing the EA 1/3/5 as a direct 'swap' for the HC250/800. This is a whole new line of controllers. What USED to be the 250/800 is split up into a small system controller with EA-1, and a medium size system controller with EA-3, with the EA-5 reserved for large systems. Before that you'd have a small to mid and a mid to large spit - the current split seems much more reasonable to me. and As someone earlier said and I experienced the same, the HC250 was single room us growth. It initially ran 1200 ft of 7 room / 5 audio / 1 avr / panellized-hybrid-dmx lighting apartment well but as drives ans more functions went in it got unreliable. So an HC800 went in. Now an Ea3 would be the spec from the outset. Never likely to see a ea5 use case in this space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 however by c4 recommendations the ea5 would be the better fit for 5 or more rooms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 however by c4 recommendations the ea5 would be the better fit for 5 or more rooms Is that for system power or the 5 rooms / 5 audio sources? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 On 7/29/2016 at 0:15 PM, SMHarman said: As someone earlier said and I experienced the same, the HC250 was single room us growth. It initially ran 1200 ft of 7 room / 5 audio / 1 avr / panellized-hybrid-dmx lighting apartment well but as drives ans more functions went in it got unreliable. So an HC800 went in. Now an Ea3 would be the spec from the outset. Never likely to see a ea5 use case in this space. So the EA3 can cover you from a small multiroom system to a good size one... And this is a bad thing how? Though I will say that that system would have been a BIG push for a 250 I'd expect.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 So the EA3 can cover you from a small multiroom system to a good size one... And this is a bad thing how? Though I will say that that system would have been a BIG push for a 250 I'd expect.... I was agreeing with you Cy. That system got cranky before the upgrade. Most obviously the cover art did not play nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 15 minutes ago, SMHarman said: I was agreeing with you Cy. That system got cranky before the upgrade. Most obviously the cover art did not play nice. Ah - I misunderstood then - my bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Ah - I misunderstood then - my bad. And if my dealer had not offered an HC800 for a steal, in an EA3 would have gone. He sold it to me at trade in price. He's stockpiling them to use as additional serial / relay / contact and to give new installs a backup controller to be able to fail over to on site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake0508 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 So here goes a stupid question from someone just getting involved. I want to dip my toe in this stuff before putting out any serious amount of cash. Can the EA1 handle this? One room with TV,sound bar, cable, an Apple TV and a digital streaming box Lutron Caseta- i have 15 switches. Sonos- i have three speakers Ecobee3 x 1 Myq garage Correct me if I'm wrong but it would appear that the only major processing power would be going to the A/V equipment Would caseta and Ecobee3 and MyQ stress the EA1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave w Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 as long as 4 IR/Serial outputs work for your setup it would be fine. The processor is more than enough. The question is once you are addicted, will you have room to grow if your are already making out connections. I won't be long before you want to add more rooms, distributed audio, alarm system, IP cams, doorbells, intercoms, etc....trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drake0508 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Oh I'm certain the addiction will grow. Right now my fiancé is entertaining the idea so I'd rather get it in here before she changes her mind. So it should be able to handle 15 caseta switches and 3 Sonos speakers? When it says it's a one room solution I'm picturing being unable to have more than one room in the GUI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave w Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Same GUI and software as all the others. Its just limited in I/O, matrix control, and processing power, so not suitable for larger applications. Another major limitation is that it can't be run as a primary or secondary controller when you want to expand. So adding a sub controller or using as one is not an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 58 minutes ago, Dave w said: Same GUI and software as all the others. Its just limited in I/O, matrix control, and processing power, so not suitable for larger applications. Another major limitation is that it can't be run as a primary or secondary controller when you want to expand. So adding a sub controller or using as one is not an option. Not true. It can MOST CERTAINLY be used as a secondary controller - and while limited, it can still control i/o extenders for added IR and serial. But it's drivers like Caseta and Sonos that will eventually start to stress the controller more than anything else. That said, the EA1 should be able to handle what you initially propose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Lowe Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 So per control4 standards the ea 1 will control 1 room 10 devices you would be controlling 1-4 rooms 25 devices. so the ea3 would certainly be the better fit. However the EA1 would be a great start and this is a modest system and not outside the realm of what the ea1 is capable of. Likely your network will be your weakest point so you should look at that as well and be sure your network is just as strong or none of this will work any how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarch Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 So I will ask for opinions as well. Sorry if I'm hijacking Currently for controllers have 1 x 800 2 x 300's and 1 x 200. I need to upgrade the 300's and 200 badly. Question is do I go with 1 x EA5 and 2 EA3? or 1 x EA3 and 2 x EA1? I hardly ever use the music streaming between controllers as I have sources everywhere I have a controller, so that ins't needed for me. At each controller is a TV with a between 1 and 3 sources. At the 800 is a projector and 6 or 7 sources. I was planning on keeping the 800. Confused.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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