MX-700 and Sidekick Remotes with Halo C1/C2

[Chris D]

I took a picture of my remotes. So far, I like them. Nice feel to the remote, with a slightly rubberized touch on the backside and buttons. A lot better than I've felt with other remotes. A bit big for agile one-handed operations, but that's a pretty small point. Personally, I'd much rather have more buttons and capabilities on a remote than a tiny unusable size.

Biggest thing I'm unsure about so far is the directional hat switch. In the little use I've given it so far, when I press the center of the hat for "enter", I feel like I'm also inadvertently pressing towards one direction or another. It's tough to press these types of switches straight down. But so far, it hasn't caused me problems by transmitting a directional command in addition to the enter command, like I've had happen with a few other remotes with hat switches, like DVD players.

I definitely like the look of the night lighting on the remote. Haven't had a chance to plug it into my computer for customization with the Editor software, but I'll be doing this for sure. Right now I don't anticipate using the Sidekick remote for anything, but I guess you never know.

I definitely can see why this is such a popular and award-winning remote. I was strongly considering buying one anyway, so to have it included in the Halo package is just a pure bonus for me.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[nicholtl]

The MX-700 Editor Software is very easy to use - once you study the manual that is. It's quite a hefty download, and an even heftier print on your printer. But it's probably worth it, since you'll be referring back to it from time to time. I liked the MX-700 so much I relegated my $250 Sony touchscreen universal remote to the bedroom. The little remote however, is utterly useless in my opinion. But that might also be because I don't have kids?

[Dave0604]

Hi there, a quick question on the manual for the MX 700 editor software. Do I need to download the manual from the Home Theater Master website? I don't see the manual when I download the editor software from the Parasound website. Thanks for the help.

Dave

[Scarp]

Hi there, a quick question on the manual for the MX 700 editor software. Do I need to download the manual from the Home Theater Master website? I don't see the manual when I download the editor software from the Parasound website. Thanks for the help.

Dave

Please take a look here: http://www.universal-remote.com/htm/mx700/index.html

Download the MX Editor Tutorial and Manual.

Programming these remotes isn't that easy. I still have problems with the on/off switches being reversed

The download on parasound is indeed only the software, I think they should put a link to the manual too.

[Dave0604]

Thanks for the help. I'll let you know how I make out!

Dave

[Scarp]

Thanks for the help. I'll let you know how I make out!

Dave

Dont wanna know how you make out :P.... but let us know how things went with the remote. It took me a while to get the hang of that program. The manuals are written from a dealer standpoint, i.e., someone who installs a whole system for a customer and needs to setup the remote for that customer. I find that a bit curious, but well ...

[Allen M]

I have to admit that I have not tackled programing the MX-700 as of yet. Instead I opted to continue to utilize my Pronto NG. Wondering if anybody has an updated CCF file with all the C-2 codes?

[Chris D]

Hmmm... I don't know of anything with ccf codes to use a Pronto with the C1/C2. Personally, I think it's a moot point, since the MX-700 is such a good remote. Might as well just use that! You may want to check on the Universal Remote website posted above, and/or check with Andrew Pratt here on HTGuide. (you can find him in Club Rotel) He's a guru on the Pronto. Now, the Parasound website does have RS232 codes listed on that, but I'm guessing that does you no good.

Well, I'm going to try and tackle the MX-700 remote programming this weekend. I'll report back on how it goes.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[larabee]

I have been using my Pronto NG (TSU3000) for my system with a C2 for a few months now. While you can import ccf files to a Pronto NG, it's normally pcf files that are used for a ProntoNG. I have yet to post my pcf on remote central but as soon as I figure out how to attach a pcf to a post in this forum I'll do it.




Larry Stinnett

[Chris D]

Larry- Well, the best and perhaps only way to post a file here in HTGuide is to place it on a website or ftp site somewhere. Then you can post a link to the url here in a message, using the buttons above the text entry box.

While fiddling around with the MXEditor software this weekend, I found that it can import Pronto ccf files for use with the MX-700. But I'm not seeing any sort of feature that would list or export MX-700 commands into ccf format.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Chris D]

I did a bunch of programming with the MX-700 last weekend.

WOW. Overall, this is definitely the remote that I've been waiting for. All the times that I've had another remote and though, "you know, I wish I could just make this remote do ______", the MX-700 does most of it. The 700 model is IR only, so you don't get the RF capability of the MX-800 model. But for me, I'm building an IR repeater system throughout my theater, so RF isn't necessary for me.

I like how high-powered the remote is with computer programming. All the times I've used my analog remotes in the past, I've enjoyed them, but always ran out of capability with the programming. The remote wouldn't be able to learn a certain code, or I wouldn't be able to build a macro the way I want it, I'd have to program a special button with a unique feature, but then remember what it does without a label, or something. But with the computer capability and LCD screen, there is so much you can do with this thing. I love it!

Now, setting up this remote is definitely not for the average consumer, who would be in over their heads and not want to spend this much time. But for installers who program for a customer, and ESPECIALLY for the enthusiast who wants to make their system perfect with lots of little tweaks, this remote rocks.

For starters, the hard buttons encompass the basic features of most pieces of equipment, with the number pad, thumb joystick, channel, volume, play/stop/rew/etc. That's cool for me. The reason that I didn't want to go with an all-LCD remote is that I like being able to push buttons by feel, without having to stare at the remote every time to make sure I'm pushing the right button. But with only hard buttons, you lose versatility and customization, so I like the few LCD buttons, too. That way, I can properly program and label unique buttons of my equipment, such as the "THX" button of the Halo C1 processor, and be able to find it.

So far, I haven't had any problems with the thumb hat switch joystick, which I had been worried about. Other remotes that I've used with this style of switch have been clumsy, so that if you push the center of the button as "enter", you often accidentally will push the hat slightly in one direction, also actuating the directional feature at the same time. I haven't had this happen with the MX-700.

I was able to find most of the IR devices I needed in the MXEditor software, once I updated it from the remote's website. I wasn't able to find IR files on Remote Central's archive for any of my other devices, so I'll have to create a few manually myself. No big deal. I got into a few macros, which were easy to program. There's so much more capability there, though, that I haven't even touched yet. Once my entire theater is done, I'll be doing much more, like creating a "Start" macro, that once pressed, begins everything like opening the curtains, playing the DVD intro, changing my light scene, etc. (by the way, that's pretty cool that this remote can automatically control a Lutron light system) Using hidden menus, hidden devices, and such, can be powerful if you're a creative programmer.

The FAV (favorites) menu feature is rather neat. Great way to access your favorite features and TV shows without having to search for and/or type in channel listings and such. Just press "HDNet", and the channel comes up right away.

One thing that I found really neat was recommended solutions for toggle buttons that are non-discrete. That sounds fancy, but really is useful. For example, the remote codes for the Halo C1 processor On and Off features are discrete, meaning that they are two separate codes. If the unit is on, and I press the "On" button, nothing happens and it stays on. But on my cheaper Kenwood CD player, the power button is a toggle, using one code for both on and off. So if I have the Kenwood "On" code programmed into a macro, and the unit is already on for whatever reason, it will actually turn it off, exactly the opposite of what I want to happen. But using the solution tricks, I can get around that, making the power like a discrete code. (without getting into detail, one way is to use a feature that automatically powers on the unit if it is off, like "Play". So to turn on the unit, you can program "Play", "Stop". That will turn the unit on if it's off, and just leave it on if it already is)

I do have a few things that are minor gripes so far. First, I don't know why hard buttons of "chapter forward" and "chapter reverse" aren't included on the remote. It does have "scan forward" and "scan reverse", which is a good start. But any CD, DVD, and other player is automatically going to have the chapter buttons as standard needed buttons, so these would have been better as hard buttons instead of needing to take up LCD buttons.

Along with more capability does come a downside, too. With the ability to program so many features for each component, you have to do some extra steps to control two components at once. For instance, to test out a DVD, I have to use the DVD controls, then go to the main menu, select the Halo C1 processor to control, and then toggle the features that I want like sound field, THX, etc, then go back to the main menu, switch back over to DVD control, etc. It gets a little tedious. Being able to access all components simultaneously would be nice, but would require way, way too many buttons on the remote to make it user friendly. A disappointing but necessary trade-off. "Puch-through" buttons help that always control a certain feature (i.e. Halo C1 volume) regardless of the component selected. And I might create a global device that simultaneously allows certain features from each component. So in the "global" device mode, I could control satellite TV channels with the number pad and channel buttons, DVD player with the hat switch and play/stop/etc buttons, and Halo C1 processor with other hard buttons and LCD custom buttons.

Unfortunately, my main computer that I use for the remote programming is in a different room than the theater, so each time I need to test it out, I have to disconnect from the computer, go into the other room, try it out, figure out needed changes, then go back to the computer and reconnect. Using a laptop would be so much easier. Also, the serial port connector is a little slow by nature and takes some time to upload/download. Not a huge issue, but USB or firewire connectors might be easier and quicker for future models.

I've already used up a set of batteries. I think they drain quicker by multiple programming and upload/downloads. Ah, no big deal. Batteries are cheap.

I'll keep posting more as I use this thing.




CHRIS
Luke: "Hey, I'm not such a bad pilot myself, you know"

[Scarp]

Something that I find useful is the possibility to add a secondary action when selecting a device from the main menu. When pressed short you just select the device for controlling by remote. Keeping it pressed a bit longer will also switch the C1/C2 to the source. This feature is explained in the manual.

I definitly recommend reading that and read it as its intended. So use it for setting up your system.

Another thing I did is use the upper left programmable position for source selection. This provides me with a quick way to select the source on the C1/C2. Besides that you can also have an entry there to select another page if you want. Sort of shortcut. So with one easy button you can go from dvd controls to the C1/C2 controls. Actually, I think you can even create a previous/next if you like. That flips through the devices.