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Control4 Integration of Home Theater Recievers


3fingerbrown

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I'm shopping for a new receiver and trying to figure out what works best with C4. Here are my questions:

What receivers are capable of IP control besides the Sony STR-DA5500 ? I think the Denon AVR-4308CI has IP control, any others?

Is there any advantage of IP control over two-way RS-232 control? One article about the Sony says: "It will also support special Control4 developed and certified IP network applications, such as advanced configuration and diagnostic tools for dealers, email and text alerts, and more." Not sure if this amounts to anything worth the money, any thoughts?

Finally, is there a driver for the Onkyo TX-NR807 and any of the and/or any of the Onkyo receivers above this (which are just PC networking receivers, but not IP controlled as I understand it)? What about the Denon AVR-4308CI, any drivers?

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The Onkyos have drivers as well as the Denon 08/10 series have IP drivers, but they dont really offer much benefit over the RS-232 drivers at this time, in regards to Control4. What you can do, is access the receiver from a web browser, and do all the setup that you used to have to do with the remote, on your PC.

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So is there a difference between a receiver with "PC networking" and a receiver that also has "IP control" ? Or do they go together?

One doesn't always include the other. For example, the Sony 400 Disc ES blu-ray changer has a network port, but only for profile 2.0 enhanced content from the discs. There is no protocol for control, and sony would have to release a firmware update for the changer to change that if it was possible.

IP control means, control over the network. PC networking, means it can play music from your computer or network. My Onkyo TX-NR801 that I had a couple years ago let you do that, and from their site: "The Ethernet connection* on the back lets you stream your MP3, WAV and WMA files from your computer, in addition to being your passport to the music of the world via Internet radio." It was kind of hard to use though, so I streamed through Xbox 360 instead. Now you can get your mp3/flac through control4 as well as internet radio with XBMC.

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It seems that IP control does offer some, but not much more benefit over RS-232 control. So the Onkyo TX-NR807 has this IP control as well as a IP control driver? It seems like a great choice for a 7.1 theater with 135 watts x 7, all for about $800. Thanks!!!

One of the biggest benefit of IP control is that you don't serial ports for each device you want to control. If you only have one receiver it is not a problem but once you have a bunch of devices that you want to control via serial you will need more serial ports.

Another benefit is that the manufacturer does not have to add a serial port the their equipment. More and more AV devices are being equipped with Ethernet ports. Why add an Ethernet and a serial when a single Ethernet will provide device control, firmware updates and media streaming?

The future of AV device control is Ethernet. Serial will die off. RIP serial control, you served us well.

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So with a receiver that has IP control, for example, you simply hook it up to the ethernet network, install the driver into the C4 system, and an HC-300 home controller would find the receiver on the network, and send to it control commands over the ethernet network? Is that how it all works?

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So with a receiver that has IP control, for example, you simply hook it up to the ethernet network, install the driver into the C4 system, and an HC-300 home controller would find the receiver on the network, and send to it control commands over the ethernet network? Is that how it all works?

Pretty much. Your dealer needs to load the driver and plug the receivers IP address in so it's identified to the project. Then once your dealer makes the connections from the receiver to the peripherals, you're good to go.

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