Hi all

Brand new user so be gentle!

Just wondering if anyone can suggest the best remote system that may be able to accomplish what Im after.

As much as Im a hands-on person who hates relinquishing control (and paying!), I appreciate that if I want the right result on this Im going to have to engage a integrator; I just want to be heading in the right direction first, as Im sure everyone will assure me that "their" system will meet my needs!.......

I have a quite basic lounge/theatre arrangement, TV, AVR, HTPC, Pay TV (Im in Australia, so its Foxtel). I use the zoning on the AVR to create a very basic multi room audio system - I only ever do 1 thing at a time, so this is fine.

At the moment Im using iTunes on the HTPC and the remote App on my iPhone to control music playback remotely in the other "zones" via wifi; I just have to "set things up" at the AVR first.

I know that any remote system worth its salt can control all my gear, what im wondering if any of them can integrate iTunes control in any way, so that essentialy I have a single remote which is sending standard IR commands via RF for all my other gear, and providing some sort of itunes interface (ideally the remote App) via touchscreen on the same remote.

I spent quite a long time messing around with the Irule remote App, and got it to a 90% solution, but it was still just a little clunky, and the main kicker is that our household isnt ready for a full touchscreen remote - I need basic functionality on hard buttons.

Hopefuly theres plenty of options out there for me and Im overstating the problem!

Thanks heaps for your help.

Barry

The URC MX5000 or MX6000 would be a good solution.  You would want to pair it with an RF basestation for more reliable control.  I would suggest the MRX1 network basestation.  This combo will give you one way IR control and two way RS232/IP control capability; as well as two video/voltage sensor ports and one relay port.  You can also control URC lighting if that is something that interests you.

These remotes have the capability of communicating with iTunes via WiFi and will give you feedback right on the remote.  (album art, artist/song info, etc)  This is fairly easy to configure, as URC provides the 2way iTunes app for you.  You just have to configure a few settings in the software and pair the remote to iTunes on your computer.

If you find a dealer that is willing to provide the software, you can even program the system yourself if you are willing to put in the time to learn the ins and outs of the CCP software.  

Brilliant!

Thanks; thats exactly what i was looking for. I think I have some contacts who are URC people who I may be able to suck up to; Im more than happy to waste the countless hours learning, but appreciate that you have to tread very carefuly around software distribution issues sometimes - that and the fact that being dealer controlled software there isnt a wealth of freely available info in the public domain.

Any other systems offer similar functionality?