Review your OEM AVR remote …

[Rictor133]

Since we spend a good portion of your time controlling our receivers with the OEM remotes that come with our systems, given the demise of many universal remotes like logitech, I thought I would give an update on my initial experience with the Yamaha remote.

Yamaha Aventage A4A Remote

Ease of use / functionality - 4.5

So far I have been able to control everything that I need to without any entry of codes, apparently through HDMI CEC.
There are plenty of optional programmable buttons to configure the remote.
It also has no fiddle little buttons that are hard to access, other than the sliding button to switch between control of Zone 1 and 2. I would like to see this implemented in a sealed button similar to the others at the top of the remote. It is also backlit, which is nice although the backlit function could stay on a wee bit longer but maybe there is a setting for that.

Build Quality - 5

Love the quality of the remote. I dislike small fragile fiddly remotes. The Yamaha remote is large and has good weight to it, and the buttons are backlit and sealed. I won’t do a liquid test but there appears to be no opening between the various buttons to be damaged by spills etc…. I I appreciate Yamaha putting extra effort into their AVR remotes.

Design 5

Overall a great design, not much to wear down, no wonky slide buttons to contend with or touch screens. Yamaha did a great job IMO. This is just my initial impression and I will leave it to others to weigh in with their experience.

Yamaha gets an A+ from me, however if you like small unobtrusive remotes you may have issues, however there is little chance of losing this beast down the couch like the Apple TV remote.

Interested to hear from others with Denon, Onkyo and Marantz.

Happy New Year!!!

 

[MR.MAGOO]

the buttons are "backlit and sealed" ? Which Yamaha model ?

 

[Cos]

I will make this a brief review of my Anthem AVM70 Remote

3/10 - Buttons do what they are supposed to do, when the volume button doesn't stick. It is incredibly cheaply made for a 3K Pre/Pro

Don't use it

 

[lovinthehd]

I usually only use the avr remotes for initial setup, its just faster than using my universal remotes but otherwise pretty much everything else on the universal. I have used avr remotes for Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer and Sony, tho....the Denons have been the best so far.

 

[Rictor133]

the buttons are "backlit and sealed" ? Which Yamaha model ?

Sorry I should have added the model to the post, it is the Yamaha Aventage A4A. I edited the post to include the model. Thx!

 

[rsharp]

I really miss my Pioneer CU-AV200 learning remote. Never had something like that since. Other than my VCR at the time, all other equipment was Pioneer, so that remote could already control most functions as-is. Just had to have it learn the key VCR functions and then set up some nice "macros" where a single button press could play back multiple commands.

Currently, I just use whatever remote comes with my receiver (currently a Pioneer SC-91). It's frustrating though regarding switching of inputs as there are only some dedicated buttons for directly switching to inputs. And, due to other limitations on input configuration, this leads to having a single "HDMI" button needed to cycle through three different inputs. With a delay of about 3 to 5 seconds to change to the next input (receiver finally displays what source you're on to the TV), this can be a bit frustrating.

As of now, most likely going to move to the Marantz Cinema 40. Really like its remote with dedicated buttons for all seven inputs. So usability will be greatly improved. Though once I move to my next receiver (definitely not Pioneer), I'll now have five remotes to deal with: receiver, cable box, Apple TV, Blu-ray player (most likely Panasonic) and TV (Sony).

 

[lovinthehd]

I really miss my Pioneer CU-AV200 learning remote. Never had something like that since. Other than my VCR at the time, all other equipment was Pioneer, so that remote could already control most functions as-is. Just had to have it learn the key VCR functions and then set up some nice "macros" where a single button press could play back multiple commands.

Currently, I just use whatever remote comes with my receiver (currently a Pioneer SC-91). It's frustrating though regarding switching of inputs as there are only some dedicated buttons for directly switching to inputs. And, due to other limitations on input configuration, this leads to having a single "HDMI" button needed to cycle through three different inputs. With a delay of about 3 to 5 seconds to change to the next input (receiver finally displays what source you're on to the TV), this can be a bit frustrating.

As of now, most likely going to move to the Marantz Cinema 40. Really like its remote with dedicated buttons for all seven inputs. So usability will be greatly improved. Though once I move to my next receiver (definitely not Pioneer), I'll now have five remotes to deal with: receiver, cable box, Apple TV, Blu-ray player (most likely Panasonic) and TV (Sony).

Curious, are you connecting your sources to the tv primarily? You sound like a good candidate for a universal remote....

 

[rsharp]

Curious, are you connecting your sources to the tv primarily? You sound like a good candidate for a universal remote....

Nope; everything gets routed through the receiver (to include the gaming systems). The TV is always set up to just be a "dumb terminal".

 

[rsharp]

So the relays in the Pioneer are getting old and causing delays it sounds like then....

It's possibly the TV (Pioneer Plasma - Kuro) or perhaps a combo. When I press the HDMI button on the remote, I believe things are switching at that point. However, it takes a few seconds for the on-screen GUI to show what input you're on. It's a bit similar to what I see when starting up a disc on my Blu-ray player. The TV will switch between 480p and 1080p a couple times.

I also noticed this delay in my Apple TV 4K. The Apple TV's UI itself is 1080p/60 SDR (since I still only have an HD TV). By default, all content will be converted to 1080p/60 SDR before being send out to the receiver. So no HDMI signal switching is observed as you play Disney+, YouTube, play games or whatever. However, if I configure the Apple TV to ouput media as-is (e.g. 1080p/24), because that's a different signal than the UI's signal, the TV screen will go blank for a couple of seconds as the receiver and/or TV deal with switching to that new signal format.

Perhaps newer equipment with their faster processors will lead to less delays during this HDMI signal reconciliation.

 

[lovinthehd]

I don't think I've got/had an avr remote with an "hdmi" button....what does it particularly address?

 

[rsharp]

I don't think I've got/had an avr remote with an "hdmi" button....what does it particularly address?

The SC-91's remote has three rows of buttons (12) that can be used to switch inputs.

However, half are set up for switching to sources such as Pandora or other streaming services. You cannot configure those buttons to select physical sources connected to the HDMI inputs.

Thus, there are only five buttons that work to be dedicated buttons for the 6 HDMI inputs. Originally, only the Wii-U and Wii-Switch needed to share the remote's HDMI button. But since I had to recently move my Apple TV to input #2 (instead of input #5) due to handshake issues, there are now only four buttons I can use on the remote. The Apple TV now shares the HDMI button along with the two Wii systems. Horrible design.

 

[lovinthehd]

The SC-91's remote has three rows of buttons (12) that can be used to switch inputs.

However, half are set up for switching to sources such as Pandora or other streaming services. You cannot configure those buttons to select physical sources connected to the HDMI inputs.

Thus, there are only five buttons that work to be dedicated buttons for the 6 HDMI inputs. Originally, only the Wii-U and Wii-Switch needed to share the remote's HDMI button. But since I had to recently move my Apple TV to input #2 (instead of input #5) due to handshake issues, there are now only four buttons I can use on the remote. The Apple TV now shares the HDMI button along with the two Wii systems. Horrible design.

Yeah, I have not quite had a remote setup like that before!

 

[highfigh]

I will make this a brief review of my Anthem AVM70 Remote

3/10 - Buttons do what they are supposed to do, when the volume button doesn't stick. It is incredibly cheaply made for a 3K Pre/Pro

Don't use it

Many people who drop $3K for just the AVR will be using a control system, rather than juggling multiple remotes or cobbling together a way to control the equipment. Why should they spend a lot for the remotes that are shipped with the equipment if the end users will just put it in a drawer and forget about it?

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm going to link this thread I started a little while ago, rather than repeat it all again. Also I have added information as both of the same remotes failed in this unusual way.

 

[3db]

Owner of the following Yamaha AVRs and all are still working...from oldest to newest...RX-V1500, RX-V1800, RX-V1900, RX-V1075, and RX-A3060... their remotes suck and all have been supplanted by Logitech Harmonie remotes. My guess is that the designers of these remotes didnt understand the meaning of the word ergonomics.

 

[Rictor133]

The new Yamaha remotes are nothing like the old ones. Yamaha has done a complete redesign which is why I started the thread. I added a pic of the new remote to the first post, yours resembles my old Yamaha Htr 6080, yes they were horrible, fiddly little crammed buttons, no back lighting, and not sealed.