Just bought a house with control4 system. Complete newbie to this and primary issue is getting 7.1 sound to work

[cnymike]

Hi, I am completely new to the Control4 world and also new to this forum so please have mercy on me.

We recently purchased a home which had a Control4 system installed. Apparently it is an older system and was installed roughly 12 years ago. I know essentially nothing about the system.

As a starting point let me tell you the configuration as best I can.

We have an AV receiver, Yamaha RX – V 2700. We have the HC 800. Apparently the system is running OS 3.3.0. The room that has the HD TV has a 7.1 surround sound. It was lacking a subwoofer and I just purchased an RSL 10SMK2.

I can only seem to get sound from the  front speakers (left, right, center channel and subwoofer.) It does not matter if I am watching TV or movies through the Roku Ultra which has been installed or listening to music through any of the various streaming music sources that I have configured such as Tune-In, Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora. The only speakers putting out any sound are the front speakers and subwoofer. Nothing coming out of the side or back speakers.

I have tried selecting each of the options available to me in the Receiver that shows up in the Control4 app such as DSP Stereo, DSP Music, DSP Entertainment, DSP Movie, DSP THX, DSP Standard, etc. I should also note that the RSL Speedwoofer has a crossover knob which can bypass the internal crossover of the sub and enable LFE which extends the sub's bass response. However if LFE is enabled, no sound comes out of the subwoofer. The sub only works when the internal sub crossover is enabled (LFE not engaged.)

I'm kind of a dummy as far as all of this goes so I hope I've given you enough information to at least ask me more questions if nothing else. All the equipment is in a rack and it's difficult for me to see the back of the receiver to see what's what as far as speaker connections but I hope someone can at least point me in the right direction as to why I can't get my surroundsound to work.

[RAV]

Call up the speakers settings in the setup menu, and try the test tone to see if all the speakers are indeed connected and functioning and the speaker configuration is set properly.
Ignore anything Control4 for the moment and concentrate just on the receiver setup. The only thing the Control4 could throw back is if it has surround recalls set when switching inputs, which you would be able to see after confirming the receiver is properly configured.

(As the processor is running OS3.3, the previous owner was keeping it up to date. So that's a good sign.)

[cnymike]

On 10/10/2022 at 8:12 AM, RAV said:

Call up the speakers settings in the setup menu, and try the test tone to see if all the speakers are indeed connected and functioning and the speaker configuration is set properly.

Thanks for your reply. I managed to figure out that the receiver was not set to 7 Channel Stereo so once I changed the settings I now have 7.1 sound.

I do have a couple more issues. I do not understand how to get the graphic user interface of the receiver displayed on my HDTV. I am also lacking the remote for the Yamaha receiver and therefore do not really understand how to invoke the test tones. And finally, the DVD player that was previously installed was misbehaving and I swapped it out for a Blu-ray player that I already owned. However there was an IR extender in place for the old DVD player.  I carefully removed the IR emitter from the old player and placed it over the IR receiver in the new Blu-Ray player thinking that it should work. It does not.

Any thoughts on these things?

[RAV]

For those things you'll need a Control4 dealer, there are a few here that could likely assist remotely.

If you see a Receiver or Surround under watch, invoke that and then try a menu command to see the receiver onscreen.
If you changed from DVD to Blu-ray then they use different codes, even if same brand, so reprogramming is necessary.
If it was a blu, you'd need to have replaced with same brand blu.

[cnymike]

1 hour ago, RAV said:

For those things you'll need a Control4 dealer, there are a few here that could likely assist remotely.

If you see a Receiver or Surround under watch, invoke that and then try a menu command to see the receiver onscreen.
If you changed from DVD to Blu-ray then they use different codes, even if same brand, so reprogramming is necessary.
If it was a blu, you'd need to have replaced with same brand blu.

When you say reprogramming is necessary are you referring to the Control4 remote needs to learn the codes for the Blu-Ray player?

I do have Receiver under the Watch menu. However when that is selected the only thing I see is various DSP choices, but no access to any other menus. The Receiver remote is also missing so I am hobbled there too.

I'm frustrated learning that I need to pay a Control4 dealer to do things to my system that I think I should be able to do.

 

Appreciate the help. Thanks.

Edited October 12, 2022 by cnymike

[RAV]

Control4 is not a DIY system, do a search on this forum, the topic has been covered many, many, many times.

Any frustration should be directed at the previous home owner for not disclosing what you were buying from him.

Those couple things are minor changes, but yes, a dealer will be required.
I would advise starting a new thread in the main forum, requesting remote dealer assistance, specifying what you have and what you need done.
 

[cnymike]

I am not directing my frustration at anyone, I am simply stating the fact that I am frustrated, OK?

I have already contacted a local dealer and at $150/hour I am not inclined to continue paying for the assistance, or lack thereof, that they have provided so far.

In any case your prior comments have been helpful.

[zaphod]

Whenever you put in new devices, like a new BR/DVD player, you will likely have to pay a dealer to install a new driver.  It is possible that if you replace an old device with a new device by the same manufacturer that it will still work as they often keep the same IR codes.

IMO you have two choices - rip out C4 or pay someone to get it up to snuff.  You may want to add some more modern video sources, like a Roku.  There are dealers on this forum who can help you remotely.

Your HC-800 is good up until OS 3.3, but it was just EOLed a week or so ago.  But there is no reason that you can't keep using it for years.  Replacing it will cost about $900 with a Core 3, but there is no need to do that in the short term unless you want to go to the new Halo remotes that are coming out.  The four zone amplifier that you have is still really good, presumably that is used for music from ceiling speakers in your house.  That amp is older but is pretty rock solid - I have a few of these in my system and they keep working without issues.  C4 had a newer version of amps that were much less reliable.

[therockhr]

55 minutes ago, cnymike said:

I am not directing my frustration at anyone, I am simply stating the fact that I am frustrated, OK?

I have already contacted a local dealer and at $150/hour I am not inclined to continue paying for the assistance, or lack thereof, that they have provided so far.

In any case your prior comments have been helpful.

You are in a tough spot. With the age of your Control4 equipment you are certainly at a point where you could switch to something else but it sort of looks like your equipment is centrally located so you are going to need some kind of control system to control your AV gear and there aren’t really any DIY options outside an IR repeater. It may be worth contacting a remote dealer to get everything working while you do some research and what you want to do moving forward. 

[cnymike]

1 hour ago, zaphod said:

When I had to have the local C4 dealer come over to change the system over to my name, he did install a Roku Ultra for the family room TV where the surround sound is. I added a new RSL 10SMK2 subwoofer that has made all the difference in the world.

I don't know what kind of speakers are installed in the walls, but they're not what I would consider all that great. But at least they sound better with the addition of the sub.

I did finally figure out why I wasn't getting surroundsound and it was just simply because I didn't have that set correctly on the Yamaha receiver. Unfortunately I'm lacking the remote control for that receiver which has completely made it impossible for me to make other adjustments.

We also have speakers in our guest bedroom, in the front sitting room, upstairs in our master bedroom and master bathroom and those are all controlled by the C4. Honestly, my Sonos speakers sound better than those and that's what I listen to when I'm upstairs rather than the C4 system. The only other thing under the control of C4 is the HVAC.

I don't mind doing things myself and I actually prefer to do it that way. On the other hand I don't mind paying a competent person who is efficient to do things that I am just unable to do. But when I'm paying a guy $150 an hour and he spends most of his time complaining about how old this is and how old that is and how difficult it will be to add anything and how expensive it will be, I just regret even having that system in my house at all. $600 to add a balun to the guestroom TV? No thank you. The single touch panel that we have in our family room has a dead zone of pixels. He quoted me something like $1200 for a new one. No thank you.

I will probably eventually try to find someone on this forum who can remotely get me up to speed in a couple areas if the price is reasonable. I do appreciate your comment. Thanks.

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by cnymike
clarification

[cnymike]

1 hour ago, therockhr said:

You are in a tough spot. With the age of your Control4 equipment you are certainly at a point where you could switch to something else but it sort of looks like your equipment is centrally located so you are going to need some kind of control system to control your AV gear and there aren’t really any DIY options outside an IR repeater. It may be worth contacting a remote dealer to get everything working while you do some research and what you want to do moving forward. 

Yes I believe you are correct. I'll try to make do with what's installed at the least possible additional cost.

[Cyknight]

On 10/11/2022 at 11:41 PM, cnymike said:

I managed to figure out that the receiver was not set to 7 Channel Stereo so once I changed the settings I now have 7.1 sound.

Uhhhh. No you have 7 speakers and a sub firing full tilt, that is not 7.1 surround sound But if it's what you like, enjoy it.

[cnymike]

16 hours ago, Cyknight said:

Uhhhh. No you have 7 speakers and a sub firing full tilt, that is not 7.1 surround sound But if it's what you like, enjoy it.

I have 7 speakers and an LFE subwoofer. If that is not 7.1, then what is it?

 

[Cyknight]

21 minutes ago, cnymike said:

I have 7 speakers and an LFE subwoofer. If that is not 7.1, then what is it?

 

With it set to 7ch stereo it's not a surround system anymore - it's just a lot of speakers.

Like I said - if you like it that way, by all means enjoy it. But no you won't be hearing any surround sound that way.