FlyingDiver Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 What's the minimum I need? Need to control a Sony XBR TV, Denon AVR, AppleTV, Sony Blu-Ray player. I have more, but that's the minimum for trying it out. Oh, needs to work with my Lutron RRa2 system. I figure it's an EA-1 and an SR-260. Plus Composer Home. I'm looking at buying some used hardware on eBay and paying one of the remote programmers from here on the forums to do the setup. What are the real differences between the EA-1 and EA-2? It's really hard to tell looking at the product sheets. There's no comparison tool on the website - I guess they figure that's the dealer's job to explain. Oh, and the EA units have one HDMI out and none in? So the default operation is that they set the AVR to the C4 input to put the menus up, then switch to another input (in the AVR) for the activity? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 There is no EA-2, but there are EA-3s and EA-5s. The number represents the number of audio outputs but it includes HDMI so the EA-1 doesn't really have an audio output. The EA-3 has two audio only outputs plus HDMI. The EA-5 has four audio outputs plus HDMI. Audio out is used for whole home audio - like Tidal, Amazon Music, Spotify Connect, Shairplay or your own MP3 (or whatever format) audio files. The EA-3 and EA-5 have better CPUs as well so that they can handle large systems with more devices. The EA-1 is only recommended for a single room system. I have well over 120 devices such as C4 dimmers, keypads, plus about 10 TVs, cable boxes, Rokus, several audio matrix amps, blinds, fireplace, door locks, security system, SR260s, SR250s, etc. For that many devices you will want an EA-3 and maybe multiple controllers to handle lots of Zigbee devices. The controllers don't act as audio or video switches. They use other devices, like your AVR, or TV and switch inputs. They do this by sending IR commands or IP or serial if your TV and AVR has that. What you suggest should work, but if you ever think you want more you might want to consider an EA-3. FlyingDiver 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDiver Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 Yeah, I meant EA-3. Typo. I'll look into the EA-3. I can see where there might be some value there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrokenNote Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Everything Zaphod said is correct, but to answer your original question of "what's the minimum I need?" Short answer: EA-1. It will do everything you listed. FlyingDiver 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 7 hours ago, BrokenNote said: Everything Zaphod said is correct, but to answer your original question of "what's the minimum I need?" Short answer: EA-1. It will do everything you listed. Well.... and a remote, or a phone, and the ability to network it. On 4/27/2022 at 4:04 PM, FlyingDiver said: What are the real differences between the EA-1 and EA-3? Basically, EA3 is EA1 with these additions: - 1 analogue Out AND one Input -1 Digital coax Out AND input -2 extra IR outputs AND a total or 3 of those can be used as serial outputs instead (as opposed to EA1's 4 and 2) -1 relay built in -1 sensor input built-in -Separate audio chip (EA1 audio is handled by main processor) -Oh I guess the EA3 adds a network loop-out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDiver Posted May 1, 2022 Author Share Posted May 1, 2022 Well, I did say in the first post that I was going to get an SR-260. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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