On previous Harmony remotes I used, I used the "sound" button for accessing my A/V receiver's many DSP sound fields (such as Straight, Night, PLIIx modes, Pro Logic, etc... ). This was convenient since atleast 6 of my activities use the receiver (Watch TV, Watch movie, Listen to Radio, Listen to CD, etc...).

Since the 880 lacks a "sound" button, a Harmony Level 2 tech support rep had told me that if I added the receiver's buttons (eg. Pro Logic) to the Watch TV activity then any other activity that used the A/V receiver would also receive these buttons. However, when I added 13 additional A/V receiver buttons to the "Watch TV" activity they did not appear in any of the other activities that used the A/V receiver (such as Watch movie).

Is there any easy way for me to configure the 880 to add a set of A/V receiver related buttons to each activity that uses the A/V receiver? Using the web interface to add each of the 20 buttons to each activity is going to be time consuming and tedious so I would certainly prefer an easier method of doing this.

Thanks for any info.

That's the first time I think anyone here has asked FOR that feature - usually we're trying to defeat it. If the receiver is used for sound (volume control) in all the other activities they should have appeared. Are you sure they're not on page 2 or 3?

Yes. I'm sure. For instance, the Listen to Radio activity has only 2 buttons: Preset Up and Preset Down. Watch DVD has TV's "input" button and a couple of DVD player specific buttons (eg. "eject").

It would be nice if under the "devices" on the web site, they had an additional buttons page. Right now there is standard and custom. There should be a "include in all activities" page for exactly this feature. The old "sound" button (659, 550, others) basically did this role quite well-- much better than re-adding a dozen custom buttons to each activity. The Harmony level 2 support person told me that I wouldn't miss the "sound" button at all because of how smart the web page was for magically figuring out what buttons to put on other activities.

Just a thought - did you actually download the configuration to the remote? I don't remember if the propogation actually showed up on the website or not. If not it's worth a try.

It's possible they removed that feature (perhaps accidentally) with the new software. I'm more upset about not being able to specify multiple commands for a specific button for different devices.

Yes. I updated the remote and the A/V receiver buttons did not appear.

That appears to be a new feature of the new software. This is going to be ugly.....

Which new software are you speaking of?

I don't use the desktop Harmony application but rather the web service because I can use it from anywhere on any o/s to set things up (even though the site warns it's not compatible with Firefox, obviously that isn't the case). Ultimately, I need to use Windows (or Mac) to update the remote which I do via VMWare workstation on my Linux system-- only because I believe Logitech dropped Linux support considering the 659 I purchased 2+ years ago includes in the manual: "Linux support coming soon"). It sure would be nice if Logitech would add Linux support but I suspect it's vapor ware since I don't believe 2+ years should be considered "coming soon".

FWIW, I've looked at the desktop application and it doesn't scale nicely on my monitor inside of VMWare, there are always scrollbars which irritate me since I always have to scroll down to the buttons. Viewing the webapp, I don't have any screen-size issues since it fits nicely into my browser and buttons are usually just below the item I am viewing.

The new S/W behaviour applies to both applications (local and web site). The new S/W has eliminated the activity button mapping propagation, and may also have eliminated the custom buttons regrouping.

Nice. Apparently, the Level 2 tech support rep I spoke with on Wednesday didn't even know of this new "feature".

I may change my mind, but for now I like the new methodology. I can put buttons for the same device on one activity and not on others. We sell a lot of Yamaha amps, so now I can put TV/movie sound fields on those activities and music sound fields on music activities without all the extra clutter. Now I don't have to have multiple "phantom" devices to achieve this. Like I said, I reserve the right to change and complain later, but for now I'm good.

FYI, has anyone else with noticed that cloning no longer works as it used to? I referred this to tech support a couple of weeks ago, but no changes. When you clone an account now, the activities do not copy to the cloned account. Also, any learned commands in the device mode do not copy. This is a bit of a nuisance since they lag behind on the new equipment. I have to learn direction and play control keys for the Yam 2700 iPod dock station for each account they sell. Sometimes I call tech support and have them copy, but wait times can be longer than it takes me to learn the commands.

Since most media is converging these days, I also listen to music via my TV (digital cable channels, Tivo internet radio, etc) such that many of the Yamaha's RX-V2700 sound modes are applicable to all of my activities, more or less.

I've been on the

FWIW, I've contacted Harmony to add some additional discrete IR codes added for the RX-V2700 device such as:

PLIIx Movie, PLIIx Music, PLIIx Game, Pro Logic,
Neo:6 Cinema, Neo:6 Music
Enhancer On, Enhancer Off

Night Modes: Cinema, Music, Off

Extended Surround modes: Auto, EX/ES On, Dolby EX, PLIIx Movie, PLIIx Music, Off

I agree on the convergence and program all the sound fields if the customer requests it, but I do like having the capability I mentioned earlier. FYI, seems like most of my base uses 7 ch stereo, movie, sport, and enhancer. The others seem to spark an initial curiosity, but not much listening. Also enhancer was on the updated 2700 device today. I can't recall the others since I wasn't looking for them. The enhancer toggled thru 2 ch, 7 ch, and off exactly like the original remote.

I don't like having the cycle through any of the sound fields or other settings-- which is why I requested the addition of all of the original discretes (including Sports, Adventure, Drama, etc...) plus the additional discretes that I contacted Harmony about yesterday (PLIIx Movie, PLIIx Music, PLIIx Game, Pro Logic, etc). Since the RX-V2700 display is too small to be seen across a room and it's on screen display implementation is pathetic (doesn't work on any HDMI input or 720p/1080i/1080p component input) it's basically useless for me. So the only way that I know that the RX-V2700 has the proper sound field selected is by using a discrete code, such as "Sports" rather than cycling through the various "Entertainment" items.

I understand. It drives me nuts that the OSD info does not come across in 1080. I had a 1500 that would not display via the component cables, just recently got the 2700 and was thrilled to see the OSD. Got a cable DVR, set it to 1080 and much to my surprise and dsimay...NO MORE OSD. I'll keep watching for the discretes.

I had emailed Yamaha regarding their OSD implementation. They sent this reply:

In order to have the OSD over lay an HD signal you would need a HD video processor and that would significantly raise the price point at this time. It will probably be implemented in future models when the price of the chips/technology gets lower/better.

I'm not sure what they are talking about regarding an HD video processor considering Tivo S3 can overlay HDTV content with messages, program information, etc... so if a $700 Tivo can do it, why can't a $1600 Yamaha do it?