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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 10:42:59 GMT -5
I just received my Fusion 8100 over the weekend and I have to say it sounds amazing. Aside from a couple of minor issues (that may be either user error related to HDMI standby pass through and autodetect on my subwoofer), I'm really pleased overall. The one thing I can't figure out relates to the remote. I bought a Harmony 6500 yesterday and since the Fusion 8100 is in the database, I thought I'd be set. I've used these remotes before and setting up an activity is fairly straightforward. Unfortunately with the 8100, life isn't so simple. Every time you switch from one activity to another (e.g., from "watch TV" to "watch movies") via the remote, the input won't switch on the Emotiva. Everything else seems to be controlled properly after you manually switch the input, but the manual switching is a pain for my wife and kids. Pressing the "help" button is no help. It walks you through the following questions and prompts you with a "yes" or "no" to fix them: - Is your TV on?
- Is the Emotiva on?
- Is the TV on HDMI 1?
But when it gets to the Emotiva input, it merely says: "Make sure that the Emotiva is on Optical 1" and the only prompt is an "ok". You can't fix it via "help" - you have to change it manually. My wife and kids hate it so much that every time I come into the room they're trying to work the bypass so that they can just listen off the tv speakers. Does anyone else have a universal remote that works with this? Given that the 8100 isn't ethernet-enabled I knew there wouldn't be any tablet/smartphone apps to control it, but I thought I'd at least be able to use a programmable universal remote. At this point, I'm about ready to send the AVR back. I hate the thought of spending more, getting something that sounds inferior, but is mainstream enough that I can get a simple iPad remote app to control everything.
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Feb 16, 2015 11:26:00 GMT -5
I just received my Fusion 8100 over the weekend and I have to say it sounds amazing. Aside from a couple of minor issues (that may be either user error related to HDMI standby pass through and autodetect on my subwoofer), I'm really pleased overall. The one thing I can't figure out relates to the remote. I bought a Harmony 6500 yesterday and since the Fusion 8100 is in the database, I thought I'd be set. I've used these remotes before and setting up an activity is fairly straightforward. Unfortunately with the 8100, life isn't so simple. Every time you switch from one activity to another (e.g., from "watch TV" to "watch movies") via the remote, the input won't switch on the Emotiva. Everything else seems to be controlled properly after you manually switch the input, but the manual switching is a pain for my wife and kids. Pressing the "help" button is no help. It walks you through the following questions and prompts you with a "yes" or "no" to fix them: - Is your TV on?
- Is the Emotiva on?
- Is the TV on HDMI 1?
But when it gets to the Emotiva input, it merely says: "Make sure that the Emotiva is on Optical 1" and the only prompt is an "ok". You can't fix it via "help" - you have to change it manually. My wife and kids hate it so much that every time I come into the room they're trying to work the bypass so that they can just listen off the tv speakers. Does anyone else have a universal remote that works with this? Given that the 8100 isn't ethernet-enabled I knew there wouldn't be any tablet/smartphone apps to control it, but I thought I'd at least be able to use a programmable universal remote. At this point, I'm about ready to send the AVR back. I hate the thought of spending more, getting something that sounds inferior, but is mainstream enough that I can get a simple iPad remote app to control everything. If you choose the 8100 device on the Harmony, do the inputs work from there? Or you could always teach the input select buttons to the Harmony then add the proper commands at the end of the activity in the Harmony setup unless that's something you can't do with the 6500 which I am not familiar with.
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Post by MusicHead on Feb 16, 2015 11:33:35 GMT -5
Have you tried to contact Emotiva Tech Support? They are very helpful in general and of all people I guess they would be the most qualified to tell if and how the specific remote you have can work with the 8100.
There is a posting saying that Emotiva is closed today due to bad weather, you may want to call them tomorrow or send them an email today, so that it is already in their inbox by tomorrow.
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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 11:48:08 GMT -5
Have you tried to contact Emotiva Tech Support? They are very helpful in general and of all people I guess they would be the most qualified to tell if and how the specific remote you have can work with the 8100. There is a posting saying that Emotiva is closed today due to bad weather, you may want to call them tomorrow or send them an email today, so that it is already in their inbox by tomorrow. Thanks musichead. I did try to call Emotiva this morning and their voice mail states that they're out of the office today, but planning on being back in tomorrow. I also wrote up support tickets to both Emotiva and to Logitech and sent them in as well. I'd hate to have to send this back and get a Marantz or Denon simply because I can't figure out how to make a remote work. My 15-year old Lexicon was breeze in comparison.
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Feb 16, 2015 12:19:29 GMT -5
Have you tried to contact Emotiva Tech Support? They are very helpful in general and of all people I guess they would be the most qualified to tell if and how the specific remote you have can work with the 8100. There is a posting saying that Emotiva is closed today due to bad weather, you may want to call them tomorrow or send them an email today, so that it is already in their inbox by tomorrow. Thanks musichead. I did try to call Emotiva this morning and their voice mail states that they're out of the office today, but planning on being back in tomorrow. I also wrote up support tickets to both Emotiva and to Logitech and sent them in as well. I'd hate to have to send this back and get a Marantz or Denon simply because I can't figure out how to make a remote work. My 15-year old Lexicon was breeze in comparison. Logitech should be able to help you with it. It's all in the setup. Give them a call.
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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 12:44:46 GMT -5
Thanks musichead. I did try to call Emotiva this morning and their voice mail states that they're out of the office today, but planning on being back in tomorrow. I also wrote up support tickets to both Emotiva and to Logitech and sent them in as well. I'd hate to have to send this back and get a Marantz or Denon simply because I can't figure out how to make a remote work. My 15-year old Lexicon was breeze in comparison. Logitech should be able to help you with it. It's all in the setup. Give them a call. Geeboo - are you using a Harmony remote (or anything else) with the 8100 by chance? I've used these remotes before and they really don't give you many options in the setup. You pick the devices to be included in the activity and tell then pick the inputs for those devices. The TV switches inputs, the STB switches on or off, but the Emotiva input selection doesn't move. It just stays on whatever input it was on. Incredibly frustrating. I see one other post relate to this issue with the 8100 in the Logitech forum and it doesn't look like it's been resolved.
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Feb 16, 2015 12:52:57 GMT -5
Logitech should be able to help you with it. It's all in the setup. Give them a call. Geeboo - are you using a Harmony remote (or anything else) with the 8100 by chance? I've used these remotes before and they really don't give you many options in the setup. You pick the devices to be included in the activity and tell then pick the inputs for those devices. The TV switches inputs, the STB switches on or off, but the Emotiva input selection doesn't move. It just stays on whatever input it was on. Incredibly frustrating. I see one other post on pertaining to this issue with the 8100 in the Logitech forum and it doesn't look like it's been resolved. I'm using a Harmon Ultimate and in the setup there is a chance to adjust the type of input changing. Direct or cycling. It was the same with my Harmony 900. The default for the XMC was to cycle through and I had to change it. If yours is trying to cycle, it may be trying too fast and the input delays may need to be increased. And of course, it must be aimed carefully during the entire process or the 8100 won't receive all the commands. Whatever you can do with the included remote, you should be able to do with the Harmony. Even if it means teaching commands and adding them to the end of the activity.
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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 13:13:57 GMT -5
Logitech should be able to help you with it. It's all in the setup. Give them a call. Geeboo - are you using a Harmony remote (or anything else) with the 8100 by chance? I've used these remotes before and they really don't give you many options in the setup. You pick the devices to be included in the activity and tell then pick the inputs for those devices. The TV switches inputs, the STB switches on or off, but the Emotiva input selection doesn't move. It just stays on whatever input it was on. Incredibly frustrating. I see one other post relate to this issue with the 8100 in the Logitech forum and it doesn't look like it's been resolved. Unfortunately, I don't see anything in the MyHarmony program for the Harmony 6500 or in its user manual that lets me choose direct or cycle. It may only let you cycle which is ridiculous. The default should be direct.. To make matters worse, you can reprogram either the screen or the buttons, but the only inputs it lets you select to drag/drop over are AM/FM tuner, bluetooth, or the HDMI inputs. You can't pick optical or analog. Maybe I need to upgrade to another remote.
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Feb 16, 2015 13:27:43 GMT -5
Geeboo - are you using a Harmony remote (or anything else) with the 8100 by chance? I've used these remotes before and they really don't give you many options in the setup. You pick the devices to be included in the activity and tell then pick the inputs for those devices. The TV switches inputs, the STB switches on or off, but the Emotiva input selection doesn't move. It just stays on whatever input it was on. Incredibly frustrating. I see one other post relate to this issue with the 8100 in the Logitech forum and it doesn't look like it's been resolved. Unfortunately, I don't see anything in the MyHarmony program for the Harmony 6500 or in its user manual that lets me choose direct or cycle. It may only let you cycle which is ridiculous. The default should be direct.. To make matters worse, you can reprogram either the screen or the buttons, but the only inputs it lets you select to drag/drop over are AM/FM tuner, bluetooth, or the HDMI inputs. You can't pick optical or analog. Maybe I need to upgrade to another remote. A call to Logitech might be your best option. If you can do with the 8100 remote what you want, you should be able to do it with a Harmony. Here is the method to use with an XMC and a Harmony 900. I don't know anything about the 6500 so I can't be sure it's the same. emotivalounge.proboards.com/post/685179
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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 13:58:40 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I don't see anything in the MyHarmony program for the Harmony 6500 or in its user manual that lets me choose direct or cycle. It may only let you cycle which is ridiculous. The default should be direct.. To make matters worse, you can reprogram either the screen or the buttons, but the only inputs it lets you select to drag/drop over are AM/FM tuner, bluetooth, or the HDMI inputs. You can't pick optical or analog. Maybe I need to upgrade to another remote. A call to Logitech might be your best option. If you can do with the 8100 remote what you want, you should be able to do it with a Harmony. Here is the method to use with an XMC and a Harmony 900. I don't know anything about the 6500 so I can't be sure it's the same. emotivalounge.proboards.com/post/685179Thanks geebo. I think I'll have to call Logitech when I get home. The options in the MyHarmony software for the 650 remote (I inadvertently wrote 6500) look to be a little different. I can select the device (Emotiva) and then select "Device Settings," but the only 3 options listed are to change the Power Settings, Device Delay Settings, or the Device Command Repeats. None of those options let me change from Cycle to Direct. I'm trying to find their phone number now. "Contact us" just routes you to more faq's.
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Post by MusicHead on Feb 16, 2015 17:00:04 GMT -5
One thing I noticed on the 8100 is that there is a slight delay when you cycle through inputs, whether you do it from the remote or the front panel encoder knob. If you spin the knob too fast or push the input button in a too rapid sequence, the command does not "take"
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gf
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Post by gf on Feb 16, 2015 17:27:27 GMT -5
I have the Harmony One and just received my Fusion 8100 a week ago. I ran into two problems with programming. 1) the power cycle for the 8100 is so long that I had to enter a 10 or 12 second delay or the input commands were simply ignored while the unit finished coming up. And 2) the default input commands used by Logitech were of the cycle variety described earlier in this thread. Once I found the direct commands (they are in a pull-down menu somewhere in the "customize device" section of the Harmony/Logitech software) everything started working as intended.
So.... If you are experiencing the problems only when the 8100 powers up, then I would say (1) is your problem. If it happens all the time, then it is (2) but probably need to deal with (1) as well.
I have not tried using the video pass through in standby mode yet, but that might fix (1) as well.
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Post by plw on Feb 16, 2015 18:35:02 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I can't seem to find the area in the MyHarmony software that lets me change it from cycle to direct. I go into "Devices"...select the Emotiva AV Receiver...select "Change Device Settings...and the only options are: "Power Settings", "Device Delay Settings" and "Device Command Repeats".
None of those options let me change from Cycle to Direct. Ugh.
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Feb 16, 2015 20:19:28 GMT -5
Thanks guys. I can't seem to find the area in the MyHarmony software that lets me change it from cycle to direct. I go into "Devices"...select the Emotiva AV Receiver...select "Change Device Settings...and the only options are: "Power Settings", "Device Delay Settings" and "Device Command Repeats". None of those options let me change from Cycle to Direct. Ugh. Have you tried adjusting the delays? The XMC requires a 45 second power-on delay and the Harmony default is way way less than that. So the commands were sent out much too soon to be read. Then there is the input delay. In the cycle method commands are sent that really amount to next input, next input, next input until the desired input is reached. It takes a certain amount of time from one "next input" before the device will accept another "next input". Changing that delay simply pauses a given amount of time before continuing. Of course. the Harmony must be kept aimed properly through the entire process or some commands won't register.
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Post by fusioneer on Feb 17, 2015 21:49:00 GMT -5
But when it gets to the Emotiva input, it merely says: "Make sure that the Emotiva is on Optical 1" and the only prompt is an "ok". You can't fix it via "help" - you have to change it manually. My wife and kids hate it so much that every time I come into the room they're trying to work the bypass so that they can just listen off the tv speakers. Hi plw, I think I can help you with this, I'm a long time Harmony user and a recent Fusion fan and I was very glad they got along great together. I've learned the Harmony's many quirks over the years and I'm glad to share. I think this is the trick in your case: you want all the inputs assigned to the 6 input buttons that are directly on the remote. Switching like this (single command) is by far the most reliable way to switch any device with a Harmony. Go to Setup -> Input Config and make sure any input you want is assigned a button; for example, you can set Optical 1 as the Audio input for HDMI 2 even if you don't actually use the associated video; or simply configure the Optical 1 entry to use the HDMI2 "hotkey" (in the Emotiva menu). Then tell Harmony that the Emotiva "needs to be" on the HDMI 2 input. That should get it to switch. Right now I think it's not trying because it doesn't know a way to "get to" Optical 1. Let me know if this helps.
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Post by plw on Feb 18, 2015 16:07:06 GMT -5
But when it gets to the Emotiva input, it merely says: "Make sure that the Emotiva is on Optical 1" and the only prompt is an "ok". You can't fix it via "help" - you have to change it manually. My wife and kids hate it so much that every time I come into the room they're trying to work the bypass so that they can just listen off the tv speakers. Hi plw, I think I can help you with this, I'm a long time Harmony user and a recent Fusion fan and I was very glad they got along great together. I've learned the Harmony's many quirks over the years and I'm glad to share. I think this is the trick in your case: you want all the inputs assigned to the 6 input buttons that are directly on the remote. Switching like this (single command) is by far the most reliable way to switch any device with a Harmony. Go to Setup -> Input Config and make sure any input you want is assigned a button; for example, you can set Optical 1 as the Audio input for HDMI 2 even if you don't actually use the associated video; or simply configure the Optical 1 entry to use the HDMI2 "hotkey" (in the Emotiva menu). Then tell Harmony that the Emotiva "needs to be" on the HDMI 2 input. That should get it to switch. Right now I think it's not trying because it doesn't know a way to "get to" Optical 1. Let me know if this helps. Thanks fusioneer. I'll definitely try this when I get home tomorrow night. Is it fairly obvious to configure the Optical 1 entry or the Analog 1 entry to use an HDMI "hotkey"? You're right...it may not know how to get to either of those because they're not even listed as hotkey options in the Harmony Remote.
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Post by fusioneer on Feb 18, 2015 23:31:28 GMT -5
Thanks fusioneer. I'll definitely try this when I get home tomorrow night. Is it fairly obvious to configure the Optical 1 entry or the Analog 1 entry to use an HDMI "hotkey"? You're right...it may not know how to get to either of those because they're not even listed as hotkey options in the Harmony Remote. Easy enough. Go to Setup->Input Config->Input Setup->Optical 1->Enable, then hit the right button until "Hot key: HDMI N" is displayed. Change the mode that already has that hotkey natively to just "Enable: On" (or Off if you're not using it). Edit: I see now that they're also conveniently grouped under "Remote Hot Key" which looks even easier. The alternative I mentioned above is to change the HDMI N input itself to take audio from Optical 1. Take your pick. It's not the Harmony's fault in this case (other than not making it clear, a perrenial complaint) because there simply isn't a remote code for Optical 1.
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Post by plw on Feb 19, 2015 11:32:56 GMT -5
Thanks! That sounds waaaaay easier.
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Post by plw on Feb 20, 2015 16:31:54 GMT -5
Hi fusioneer...I tried to follow your suggestion, but unfortunately I don't think that I did it correctly. Right now I have four activities for the Harmony remote:
1) Watch TV: Comcast DVR output into Emotiva AVR HDMI1 input; Emotiva HDMI output to Samsung TV HDMI input
2) Watch Movie (which means I really want to watch something off my networked Samsung Smart TV): Samsung on SmartHUB. Emotiva AVR on TV input configured to receive audio from Optical 1 audio from Samsung. Comcast DVR turned off.
3) Listen to music: TV off. Comcast DVR off. Emotiva on Analog 1.
4) Play game: TV on HDMI 1. Emotiva AVR on HDMI 2.
The Emotiva just refuses to change inputs going from one activity to another. I did come up with a bit of a workaround, but it requires two button pushes. I programmed direct inputs for the Emotiva and the Samsung TV onto the screen buttons for each activity. When I press "Watch TV" as an activity, I can then go to that activity on the screen and push a button that takes me to the "TV input" where I have Optical 1 as my audio.
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Post by fusioneer on Feb 20, 2015 17:01:27 GMT -5
plw: can you paste here two things: 1) The contents of the "Remote Hot Key" menu from Emotiva setup. By "paste" I mean "type" unfortunately, but the whole thing verbatim if you can. 2) The summary from Harmony of one activity that doesn't work -- probably #2 or #3. If you go "re-do setup" for an activity and just click next I believe it has a summary of the configuration the end. We'll get to the bottom of this Edit: one more thing: can you go on the remote to "Devices", Emotiva, scroll around in the extended list of commands on the LCD screen and make sure all the "Input" commands work.
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