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 September 1, 2007Housecleaning Time to assess a few of the exciting inventions I’ve worked with in the past year but that don’t require full reviews. One category that’s become very important is that of HDMI switchers. Until receivers and processors begin to offer multiple HDMI inputs and outputs, and give the user the choice of which in goes to which out, we’re forced to use external switching boxes. I have four HDMI sources: a Dish ViP622, an Oppo Digital DV-981HD universal player, an LG DVD recorder, and a Sony PlayStation 3 -- with an 802.11N media player soon to come. For my work for the SoundStage! Network, I need a few more slots for review samples, for a grand total of seven HDMI inputs. And I use three monitors and a projector, so I need four HDMI outputs. Granted, my system is a bit more complicated than the norm, but I’ve visited a number of other dedicated home theaters that are even more complex. I am not alone.
My last search for an HDMI switcher led me to the Gefen 2x4 HDMI switcher/splitter. While its $699 price made me gulp, the Gefen gave an HDMI handshake at both ends, and swapping it in and out of the signal chain revealed no difference in video quality. But it’s only 2x4 -- I need 7x4. In the last eight months, other companies have smelled opportunity and joined the HDMI switcher fray. None fully meets my Byzantine needs, but all are steps in the right direction. The best looking of the bunch is the XtremeMac XtremeHD (www.xtrememac.com). If you didn’t know better, you’d swear the XtremeHD had sprung from the mind of Steve Jobs. It’s built to match the Apple TV, and they do look cool when stacked together. Nor do the Apple parallels stop there. This 4x1 switcher is a high-quality component that feels substantial, operates like a dream, and comes with a remote control that actually works from a good distance. And it costs only $99 -- breathtaking, when you consider what other firms charge for essentially the same piece of gear. If you have a good receiver or processor and don’t feel like ponying up for a new one, the XtremeHD is a solid stopgap. And as long as you’re saving all that money, take a look at XtremeMac’s high-quality cables. Their HDMI-to-HDMI cables run from $20 to $30. I’m using a shorter one, and like it as well as most $50-$60 cables. Octava impresses me (www.octavainc.com). First, they offer a larger selection of HDMI switchers than anyone but Gefen, with boxes that can handle two, three, four, or five inputs (sadly, to only one output). They also make a 4x1 model that includes digital audio switching. The component I jumped on was the 3x2 HDMI Cross Switch. This gem lets you send any of three inputs independently to either of two outputs. The second thing that impressed me about Octava is that they coddle the HDMI signal with their Clear EYE proprietary circuitry. I couldn’t see any big improvement, but it definitely passed the bypass test. The closest thing on the market to the 3x2 HDMI Cross Switch is Gefen’s 4x4 HDMI Matrix, which can route any of four inputs to any of four outputs. Adding inputs and outputs creates exponential expense, but the Gefen costs $1999, the Octava $274. Hmm. I remember when everyone got excited when receivers and processors began to sport a female S-video for every input. Hopefully, more of us will soon get the message that we need an HDMI slot at every input, and that we need to be able to send HDMI signals to different zones. That’s the most elegant solution for anyone who wants a whole-house media system sourced from a single location. If anything keeps the average schmo from enjoying a full-on home-theater system, it’s usually the complexity of hookup and operation. HDMI promises to simplify the connections, but what we’ve always needed is a single remote control that addresses such seemingly simple tasks as "Watch Cable TV" or "Record Boston Legal" or "Listen to a CD." HT fanatics eventually master the Skinner Box maze of remote controls, but we aren’t the norm. Most people freeze in the headlights when faced with anything more complicated than turning on a TV and switching channels.
The Logitech Harmony 1000 promises to be a single, elegant solution to all the clutter (www.logitech.com). This gorgeous remote control is about the size of a thin paperback -- say, The Bridges of Madison County -- easily fits the hands (it takes two), and has a well-selected group of buttons and a touch-sensitive, full-color display. As with most Harmony remotes, you integrate it into your system via Logitech’s website. You answer a few questions, such as what components you have, and your favorite uses of them. It’s all very simple; if you’re an average user -- someone with a DVD player, a cable box, a receiver, and a TV -- the Harmony 1000 will be a godsend. Still, a few things I like to do with my own very complicated system are too difficult for the Harmony 1000, and here’s where the simplicity broke down. I have a lot of experience working with learning remotes, but I spent most of a day trying to figure out how to program some of my more arcane items into the 1000. I also spent over an hour on hold, waiting for Tech Support to tell me that what I wanted to do couldn’t be done. The main problem is that the Harmony’s buttons aren’t portable from layer to layer. Let’s say you’re setting up the Harmony to control your CD recorder. Once you’ve told the 1000 what the recorder’s brand is, you get a set of transport buttons. But if you want the Record button to show up on that screen, you’re out of luck. Instead, you’ll either have to create a custom screen that will reside on a page below the transport screen or you’ll have to sift through pages of buttons to find the one you’re looking for. Personally, I want to be able to put any button on any screen I want. (Note: after I wrote this review, I was able to talk to someone higher in the company who agreed that button portability should have been implemented and that it would be soon.) Two more issues: First, the Harmony 1000 won’t control a Sony PlayStation 3, which uses Bluetooth technology. The PS3 won’t respond to the 1000’s commands. Harmony is not alone in this problem. Most aftermarket remotes are infrared devices. Their inability to operate a PS3 is really Sony trying to keep customers from buying aftermarket accessories not made by Sony. The second problem affects those who are sensitive about their privacy. When you contact Support, you hook your 1000 up to the Internet via USB, which means Logitech can now read exactly what’s on it. If you need codes that they don’t have, they search through everyone else’s devices to find the codes you want, then lift them from that device. I’m sure it’s all quite anonymous, but it’s something you should know about. In any case, if you’re one of the millions who need to control only a few things that you then seldom change, and you want the convenience of an all-in-one remote, the Harmony 1000 offers ease and an exotic look that screams I’m expensive! And at $499.99, it is expensive. For that price, your dealer should program it for you, which would remove most of the problems I’ve brought up. But when you put it up against the behemoths it was designed to compete with -- e.g., the Philips Pronto 9600 ($1300) or the Universal MX300/250 ($1100) -- the Harmony 1000 begins to look like a bargain. Speaking of bargains, my nomination for the past decade’s best piece of freeware is Exact Audio Copy (www.exactaudiocopy.de). German student Andre Wiethoff created the program in 1998 because he didn’t like the way rippers worked. In the years since, he’s tweaked the program until he’s made 192kbps MP3 files sound indistinguishable from WAV files on anything but the highest-end equipment. What does ripping CDs have to do with home theater, you ask? Do you ever have music running in the background? Ever wanted to be able to hear eight or so hours of a single performer or genre? Like to hear your operas without interruption? Running out of space to store your CDs? Want to hear your portable sound its best? The reasons could go on and on, but the bottom line is that nothing does as good a job as Exact Audio Copy. The fact that it’s still free is a testament to the goodness of Andre Wiethoff’s heart. God bless him. Finally, if you haven’t yet run across the term Audyssey MultEQ XT, prepare for an onslaught. Audyssey (www.audyssey.com) is the child of Tomlinson Holman, father of the Apt Holman preamp and creator of Tom Holman’s eXperiment, aka THX. The Audyssey system uses a series of microphone setups to determine the best delays, equalization, and crossover points for your home-theater speakers. I’m trying to get my hands on one of the new generation of A/V processors with the Audyssey system built in. Denon, Onkyo, and Marantz were the first to make such models, using the chips in their high-end receivers. Integra and NAD have just announced processors that will include full professional implementation of the Audyssey system. If Audyssey works -- I trust Holman -- it could become as ubiquitous as THX. Stay tuned. …Wes Marshall
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