Well, there are two things you can do.  One, you can make your TV “system” a simple one.  Get rid of the DVD player, VCR, video game, iPod, Netflix player, AppleTV, and surround sound stereo.  You should now be left with a cable box–or antenna–and a TV.  If there is still something else attached get rid of it.  Congratulations.  You can now pick up one remote only and you’re good to go.  That’s one solution.

Or, you can keep all of your TV “add-ons” and, with the right TV, the right add-ons, and an automated remote control, you can have things as simple as they ever were.  Now, I won’t lie to you.  It takes careful component selection and savvy programming of the remote to live this life of electronic bliss.  Most of the time, this means paying a professional.  But, a professional what?  Lots of people sell this stuff.  What you want is an expert in “system automation,” automated control,” or “home automation.”

In its ideal form, system automation means one button-press for whatever it is you want to do: watch TV, listen to music, stream a movie, play a game.  For those who want more than just their audio and video to be so simple, system automation puts the user one-button press away from lights off, lights on, lights dimmed, shades up, shades down, shades half-way, security system armed, security system disarmed.

The controllers range in style from the common hand-held remote, to wall-mounted touch screen controls.   The best controllers don’t need to be pointed, are fast, reliable, and allow your gear to be hidden out of sight.  You can expect to pay anywhere from under $1000 to $10,000 for a quality controller—and the hidden gear that comes with it–installed.  Generally speaking, the more things that need to be controlled the greater the price.  And, generally speaking, the larger the controller the greater the price.  At the most luxurious level, we’re talking about touch screen panels throughout the house that access the internet, that access security cameras, that access music and movies, and that double as TVs or computer screens.

Often, even if you already have audio and video equipment that wasn’t chosen with the goal of one-touch automation, the right control system can make operating that home-theater a whole lot easier—if not “one-touch” easy.  We’re talking the difference between enjoying that surround sound system you spent all that money on, or just not bothering.  Imagine being able to plop down on your couch and touch a button and just have it work.

Media Center 17 is software that manages audio, video, and image files.  The audio portion is the only one I’ve explored.  With Media Center 17, audiophiles get to use 192/24 resolution (i.e. studio quality) music files, higher resolutions should those ever come, and all the usual lower resolutions (e.g. MP3 resolutions).  There’s upsampling, of course.  There’s equalization;  users can choose any frequency range (e.g. 40hz, 40hz to 60hz, 10khz, etc.) and make it as loud or soft as they like.  Both stereo and multichannel playback are accomodated.  My Radio Shack sound level meter in hand, I’ve been playing different frequency tones (http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Test-Tones/dp/B007H9H6JA)  and measuring their  loudness at my listening position.  Then, I’ve been adjusting the Media Center 17 equalizer so that all frequencies are of equal loudness (i.e. so that the frequency response is “flat”).  I’ve also been using adjusting the equalizer just to hear the effect.  It’s fascinating to hear how bringing 125hz up or down affects the sound of this or that instrument.  Of course, as with any audiophile. I’m mainly after this to see if I can achieve better overall sound.

Computers are a headache.  So, of course, using software to play, to manage, and to adjust one’s music files is not for the typical listener.  A computer-based media management tool this versatile is for enthusiasts who can handle pain.   An A/V system that is manually controlled via a keyboard and mouse is the antithesis of an a/v system that has been automated via a programmed remote (see http://www.dhaudioandhometheater.com/blog/2011/09/20/is-your-home-theater-hard-to-use/).   With the former, you may not be able to listen to music tonight.  With the latter, you press the button that says “Music” and you’re all set.  Like some kind of audiophile masochist, I’ve suffered with Media Center 17.  For starters, there’s an open laptop on my equipment cabinet and I’m sitting on an ottoman next to it to play my music.  I’m not sitting in the ”sweet spot” in my ergonomically excellent Ekornes chair.  The cables connecting both my external hard-drive–where music files live–and the stereo, to my computer, won’t permit it.  Control via an iPhone app, so I can sit in my comfy chair, hasn’t cut it.  Some iPhone apps I couldn’t get to work, others don’t offer complete control.   Media Center 17 freezes often.  There is no one to call, just email support and user groups.   Finding out how to do something is painstaking.  Mistakes come easy.  I accidentally removed a key element of the software and could get it back only by downloading the software again.

Did I mention that I can’t wait to get back to playing with it some more?  J  River kindly offers a one-month free trial with full system features.  At $50, if this is your thing, it’s a bargain.   http://www.jriver.com/

For a few years now, our smartphones have been effectively letting us choose songs, and make playlists, for listening to on our stereos.  These apps allow one to pick songs and to make playlists from the music on our computer and from the music offered by the likes of Rhapsody, MOG, or Spotify (i.e. internet-based companies that offer just about any song or album).  These smartphone apps also allow us to listen to internet-based radio such as AM/FM stations (i.e. the stations on your table radio, but all of them and all crystal clear), and internet-only music stations (Apple has some, Logitech has some), and Pandora, a service that serves up songs it thinks you’ll like based on songs you type into it.  It’s mind boggling to be sitting in a recliner, smartphone in hand, choosing among all the worlds’ commercially recorded music to playback through the stereo.  Now is a golden age for the music lover.

Getting back to our smartphones, what haven’t been widely available are apps for our smartphones that will let us control our a/v receivers (e.g. to choose CD or radio or DVD or to change the volume).  Some manufacturers have started offering such apps–Denon and Onkyo come to mind.  (Denon, I know, also has an app for control of a DVD player.)  What also hasn’t been available are apps for TV control, like changing inputs and controlling volume and changing channels and controlling the internet-based content (e.g. movies from Netflix, YouTube, etc.).  Samsung has started to do this, though this is very new.  (Heed the warning that the cutting edge is the bleeding edge, and you’ll be happier.)  And, also in its infancy, is controlling one’s cable box with an app.  Comcast has started down this path, purporting to have an app that acts as the remote control.

Still, it seems reasonable to think that not only will these apps grow in number, they’ll rapidly get to the point where they work well.  Of course, once they work well, it will not be enough for a user-friendly experience.  You will still have to run an app for the cable box and another for the TV and another for the DVD player and another for the stereo.  That’s a lot of page flipping to do on a smart phone and things will get confusing quick.  This is the problem with the standard type of universal remote.  Sure, it may be able to control all your devices, but you have to know all the right buttons to push.  It’s a far cry from the one-touch ease of the automated controller, where you push the ”TV” button, if you want to watch TV, and then everything that needs to happen to your a/v system happens automatically.

So, what many predict will happen for smartphones is that they will become like today’s automated controller.  That is, there will be an app for your smartphone that controls all of your home theater system.  You will not have to switch to Comcast’s app for the cable box and switch to Denon’s app for the receiver and DVD player and switch to Samsung’s app for the TV.   Instead, one app will handle the DVD player, the cable box, the a/v receiver, and the TV.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a safe, reliable, user-friendly experience in as little as 2 years.  That will be cool!

For now, the automated controller is still the ticket, while many have a toe-in-the-water when it comes to controlling their home theaters with their smart phones.  In particular, what many users find very much to their liking, is to augment the automated remote with an app on their phone for selecting network-based music.  It’s just a two-step process.  First, they press a button on the automated remote that says “Network Music.”  Second, they pick up their iPhone or their Android or whatever smartphone they’ve got.  Now, smartphone in hand, app loaded, they’re in the driver’s seat to access the worlds’ commercial recordings.  No one I know who has done this is all that concerned about how soon the smartphone will be able to do it all.  The current combination of automated remote and smartphone is that good.  And, many are comforted by the fact that the automated remote will work just fine even when their network is down.  App based control?  Not so much.

My recommendations for your best shot at pleasing the rock fans on your gift list, in no particular order (band, album):

Radio Head, King of Limbs
My Morning Jacket, Circuital
Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean
Wild Flag, Wild Flag

All are available on vinyl, as well.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, Happy New Year!

TiVo becomes a more enticing product if it lets you watch your HD home movies in HD, as it claims to. Lots of people have HD camcorders now–iPhones qualify–and they need an easy way to see what they’ve recorded, on their HDTVs.

TiVo has worked out great as a much cheaper way to get HDTV and HD movies than if one were to pay a cable TV or satellite company.  I’m pulling in all the local HD programming–at about 20 miles from NYC–and getting Netflix, all through my TiVo.  It’s just about all the programming I want at a much cheaper price.  Ease of use is better than any cable company I’ve seen, even better than DirecTV which is pretty sensibly designed.

I’m a DirecTV subscriber.  I like their picture for when I’m not being hyper-critical of image quality.  Still, I don’t know that it’s any better or worse than the other subscription services (e.g. Dish Network, Cablevision, Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon Fios, etc.)  From firsthand experience, I can say that DirecTV appears no better or worse, in my house, than Comcast.  (DirecTV’s support is significantly less frustrating than Comcast’s–no small consideration.)

Sometimes, like when I watch sporting events, I am hyper-critical of picture quality.  This is when I notice, while watching my DirecTV high-defintion DVR/Satellite receiver, that fine detail is a bit soft.  Far worse, when the image is moving, detail goes out the window.  Take a look at your own HDTV the next time you’re watching a football game–though any moving image will do.  I bet if you watch a football game, the grass looks like grass for only brief moments when the image is still.  Most of the time, instead of seeing blades of grass, you see only swatches of green color.  This is high definition TV?  Are you kidding me?

So, I’m watching the Bears mutilate the Vikings, and I’m thinking, “are you kidding me?   This picture gets blurry with any motion at all!  Let me try getting the game from the off-air broadcast.”  So, I hooked up my trusty old FM antenna to my Tivo–I need the Tivo for its off-air high-definition TV tuner–and I spent 15 minutes positioning the antenna to tune in the game.  Most of the motion artifacts I suffered through were now gone.  The rumors about off-air picture quality being superior to the subscription-based services appear to be true.   As the conventional wisdom goes, over-the-air broadcasters use less compression than the subscription broadcasters.  To help you understand how I come to this conclusion, I’m watching on a 105″ diagonal, 16:9 screen, with a JVC DLA HD550 1080P front projector.

The hunt for a better antenna is on.   Ideally, the antenna would remember its best position for each channel I want to watch.  My automated remote control would command the antenna.  So, if I select NBC on my remote, the antenna would position itself to receive NBC.  PBS, which is channel 13 here in the greater New York City metro area, I know requires a different antenna orientation.  When I select PBS on my automated remote control, the antenna should reorient itself to receive the off-air PBS broadcast.  I get about 10 HD channels when I connect my FM antenna to my son’s Panasonic LCD TV, which is located one flight up from the Tivo tuner.  Those channels are the major 2-13 ones and then 3 more above that.  There is also non-HD stuff that the FM antenna picks up.  I’m getting 25 channels total.  I hope to be able to receive all the 2-13 channels off-air, via the Tivo tuner, for viewing on my main screen.

For the right household, the off-air TV option can save a lot of money over the cost of subscription based TV, and the HD channels you get will look better.  And, should you be concerned about losing the ability to record TV for watching on your own schedule, that’s what Tivo excels at.  And, if you’re concerned about missing TV shows that are not broadcast over the air on channels 2-13, I find that the better TV shows always seem to make it to DVD anyway.  And, one can also view shows via the streaming TV services that are available through many of today’s Blu-ray DVD players.  Keep in mind, however, that regular DVD and streaming is not likey to look as good as subscription based HDTV.

Some homeowners don’t like the idea of planning with an A/V specialist.  Without one, they think, they’ll buy the right gear anyway and spend less (i.e. they’re penny wise and pound foolish).  Or, they say they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a system designer.  They often say that they’re not audiophiles or videophiles. They say they rarely listen to music or watch TV.  But, there is no correlation between the need for advanced planning and one’s passion for, or knowledge of, or consumption rate of, music and TV.

This seems particularly true of the homeowner who wants gear and wire hidden, or who wants just background music but in multiple rooms, or who wants to be able to plop down on the couch and watch TV at night without needing an “engineering degree.”  Indeed, people who say their needs are simple often want one or more of the system features listed below. These features require particular wiring and additional equipment that are missed by the non-professional.

1. Cable boxes, DVD players, and other equipment, hidden.
2. TVs viewable from multiple angles.
3. Ability to use a stereo/surround system to hear TV sound sometimes, but use the TV’s built-in speakers other times.  This one is requested frequently.
4. Ability to control volume from any room in the house.
5. Ability to choose sources (e.g. iPod, radio, internet, CD) and change songs from any room in the house.
6. Ability to combine music, security cameras, intercom, and HVAC, on one controller.

Bring an A/V designer into your project early—ideally, before the architectural drawings are finalized.  Incorporate the client-approved A/V designs into the drawings.  Other contractors’ bids can now be more accurate.  Knowing what is required of them to accommodate the A/V, all the trades are helped in their efforts to do their jobs right, on schedule, and within budget. The client is more likely to get what he wants, from all of us, with no surprises.

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have this conversation with an audio/video specialist.  They may think that the gear they buy will automatically do what they need, because their needs are simple.  They say they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a system designer.  They say, in their own way, that they’re not audiophiles or videophiles.  But, there is no correlation between the need for planning and one’s passion for, or knowledge of, things audio or video.  Rather, planning is required to correctly execute certain types of installations and to fulfill certain user needs.

Again, it’s not about how much the end-user loves music or movies.  Indeed, a real hi-fi freak may need no planning, because his interest is in state of the art equipment sitting in an open rack—the better to regularly move gear around.  An example is the enthusiast who constantly tinkers and “upgrades.”  There is no wiring behind walls for this guy, there is no wall mounted TV, and there is no equipment hidden in a closet or cabinet—three criteria that pretty much guarantee you need advanced expert planning.  On the other hand, the couple who want things looking neat and tidy, who might have some background music playing when company is over, who want to be able to plop down on the couch and watch TV at night without needing an engineering degree:  these are the ones for whom planning is critical.

Thinking that your needs are simple, and so not planning properly, will hurt you every time.  People who say their needs are simple often want the following system features. These features all require particular wiring, and additional equipment that is easily missed.

Features that necessitate an a/v plan before you wire:

1. Ability to listen to TV through the TV speakers only, but also the ability to listen through the stereo or surround sound system.  For instance, some homeowners want the nightly news played through the TV speakers, and they want the HBO movie, or the 60’s music channel, played through the surround sound speakers.
2. Ability to have music from one centralized audio system play in more than one room (i.e. a multi-room music system).  People will have their electrician or their builder handle this wiring without the audio/video system figured out in advance.  The resulting wiring is usually wrong.  Even a home theater expert would need a proper system design if he’s going to get the wiring right, and this design requires planning between the a/v designer and the client.
3. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to play one thing outside—say the iPod—while cable TV is being watched in the Family Room.
4. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to control volume from whatever room you’re listening in.
5. Ability to hide the equipment from sight.
6. Ability to see the TV from different angles.
7. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to change radio stations, or songs on an iPod, or tracks on a CD (i.e. control beyond simply changing volume), from rooms other than the one the music system is in.

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have the planning conversation with a system designer because they want to buy at cheaper prices than the designer sells at.  This is missing the point, which is to not be penny wise and pound foolish.  Besides, it’s the good system designer who often saves people money by keeping them from more expensive equipment that they will not appreciate.  Indeed, as the TV market now stands, and has stood since the advent of flat panel TV’s, the TV that would make any given consumer most happy—even if any TV could be had for free—is almost never the most expensive one.   This is often the case for sound systems, as well.

Do yourself a favor, and reach out to your local audio and video specialist.  In addition to getting more for your dollar, or even spending less, the experience is usually more positive than when dealing with the big box retailers.  Consultations are often in-home, providing you with the undivided attention of the system designer.  Typically, when you need something else after the sale (e.g. more equipment, upgrade, service), you have the pleasure of dealing with an organization that remembers you.

There’s a revolution going on in how we get our music.  CD sales have been overtaken by download sales.  More people play their music from a computer file than play it from a CD.  Free and subscription based music are coming to us via the internet.  Music is, more and more, traveling from point A (a network or computer) to point B (an amplifier or speakers) wirelessly. This is the new cutting edge and I’ve seen lots of blood.  Blood has spilled for video, too, for largely the same reasons–and also because of HDMI. This is the convergence of computers and audio/video that people have been predicting since the 90′s.  It’s a world where glitches and unpredictability rule.

If you’re sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and you didn’t expect it and you wanted to get to your destination at a certain time, you might get frustrated. If you know the traffic is there before you set out, there’s a good chance you’re going to sit in it calmly. Similarly, you should converge your computer with your audio and with your TV, knowing that it’s not as easy a path to entertainment as playing a CD, DVD, or vinyl record.  Better still, hire a professional. A professional will advise you as to what you can expect by way of glitches.  That person will know how to properly set up your system to minimize glitches and ensure the fun.  First an foremost, that person can design the appropriate audio/video and computer/network solution. (The a/v designer and the computer designer is usually not the same person, but they often work together.)  Beware of a popular alternative to the
professional, the a/v or computer geek/hobbyist.  Generally speaking, the professional has made a career out of it and the other guy hasn’t–though the latter may be getting paid.  Still, why should you care which one you go with?

A good professional knows which equipment to put together with which other equipment, and with which end-users.  This is system design. Good design is crucial if you’re going to be happy with your purchase.   A good designer can tell you the kind of performance you can expect from a system or from an individual component.  If you give him adequate time and attention, a good designer will be able to get you a system that matches your expectations as close as possible, within your budget.  The hobbyist or geek, on the other hand–usually a friend or relative–often gives recommendations without understanding what you will find easy to use and maintain.  Unlike the hobbyist, the professional sees so many more people struggling with this or that equipment, that he better understands which people find which equipment easy or difficult.  A good designer/professional may
even change your plans about what products or features you should pursue, steering you clear of aggravating calls to tech support and clear of angry family members who can’t use the system.

If you’re not sure whether any of this applies to you, here are some telltale signs that it does.

1. You want something wireless (e.g HDTV, music, Netflix, satellite radio, speakers, etc.)

2. You want to get your music or TV content from the internet

3. You want to enjoy your music or video throughout other rooms of your home or in other geographic areas

4. You want high-resolution audio or high-definition video from the internet

It’s not all doom and gloom.  If you accept what limitations there are and decide to take the plunge, I highly recommend computer based entertainment. Youtube, for instance, is much better on the big screen and with the vastly superior sound that a good stereo can provide. And, streaming movies is extremely convenient.  Just browse the available titles on your computer or TV screen, press a button, and within 3 minutes you’re watching the movie. There are several ways to do this, my favorite being Netflix.  It’s less than $10/month for unlimited movies and the picture is very good and the sound is great.

As for music, I wouldn’t believe how broad and inexpensive the options are if I didn’t see for myself.   I use Rhapsody, have for years, and for $10/month I can listen to just about any song or album I want from the 1950′s on–I haven’t tried earlier decades. It sounds great, too.  For 90% of the people I meet, it sounds every bit as good as it needs to.

Lately, I’ve been delving deep into a given year’s 100 best albums.  To find out which albums these are, I settled on the recommendations of www.besteveralbums.com. So far, I’ve created separate playlists of 100 albums each for ’67, ’68, 2010, and 2011.  I can listen through a whole album at a time or I can shuffle the playlist and hear songs come up at random.  I didn’t have to buy any of these songs–that’s what the $10/month paid to Rhapsody is for.  When Captain Beefheart pops up in the playlist, the computer fetches the song from Rhapsody.  It’s exactly as seamless as if the songs were on my own computer, when it works–which is 95% of the time. I’m fine with that.  I’ve discovered so much great music! This is the promise of convergence coming true.  I’m like a kid in a candy store!

Your idea of a good time may differ, but if it’s audio or video related, you may want to find an a/v professional and take the plunge, safely, into computer-based entertainment.

Dennis Hartwick, dennis@dhaudioandhometheater.com, DH Audio and Home Theater, (908) 686-4913.