Logitech Harmony 900

New toy in the house, Logitech Harmony 900 Remote control.

More advanced features than my previous Logitech Harmony 885 (Click Here).

- Touch screen
- Higher LCD resolution
- RF control (can control your device even out of sight, up to 30m)
- Better ergonomic, to name the few.

Harmony 900 looks and performs better than my old Harmony 885 in every aspect. Hold better and secure than 885 due to the curvature and rubberize back. Touch screen is very responsive and capacitive type, won't work with finger nail but works like charm with a soft touch with finger. Elegance and sexy.

Setup is simple. Just install the software inside the CD and attach USB cable to the Harmony 900, you are ready to go. Logitech claims to have more than 225000 devices database available. No problem to update my Plasma TV, Projector, Blu Ray player, DVD player, DVD recorder, WD TV Live, Xtreamer and LG HTIB remotes into single Harmony 900. Too bad it won't work with PS3 with Bluetooth connectivity. If you serious about it, Logitech got the solution with IR-Bluetooth adapter for USD50. Setup the One-Touch Activity is simple. I got few "Activity" setup, namely "Watch WDTV", "Watch Blu Ray" and etc. What the One-Touch Activity does is to run few commands sequences, like switch on the TV, WDTV, AV Receiver, change TV to AV1 for you, instead of manually press it for multiple times. In other word, it just automate the process for you.

The only bad things I can think of now are fingerprints magnet and expensive (Amazon's price USD286.61). You pay what you get.

Unboxing Harmony 900.


Inner boxes


Remote control and docking station (for charging)


Remote on docking station


RF to IR blasters. You can hide the blasters inside TV cabinet. Now you can control your devices even with the cabinet doors closed. Nice huh.


Power adapters, USB cable and rechargeable battery for Harmony 900


Tons of manuals & Installation CD


Close look at the remote control...


Is she gorgeous?


The body curves...


Rubberize back for better holding


Sexy high resolution LCD touch screen.


Back-lit keypads, great to use under dim light environment.
Customized Channel Icons.

Calibration, calibration, calibration ...

To me, no point of owning a Ferrari if the car did not get a proper engine tuning. Same goes to HT, without a proper calibration (colour & sound) you will not able to maximize the full potential of your system. Recently I bought a colorimeter from Amazon. X-Rite i1 is a small and compact colorimeter, very affordable for a beginner like me. The setup is very simple, just attach the meter to the tripod and point the sensor to the projector or TV screen and hook up the meter's USB cable to the Notebook or PC. You need a proper software to interpret the data from the meter. I am using ColorHCFR software. More details about Greyscale and Colour Calibration can be found here.

Hardwares needed:

• Colorimeter
• Notebook or PC
• Tripod
  

Software needed:

• ColorHCFR or other calibration softwares
• Video test patterns
  

Click here on my previous sharing about sound calibration.

















Greyscale Calibration results:

• Top - after calibration
• Bottom - before calibration

My humble Home Theater/Hi Fi setup

After painstaking effort and moolah (i.e. $$$), here is my current HT and Hi Fi setup. This is where me and my family spend the good quality time together at home. My kids simply love to watch the high definition animations like Bolt, Kungfu Panda, Monster Inc. , Ice Age, Ratatouille, Up, Wall-E etc on the big screen, again and again and again. Kids just don't get bored on something that they like. The DIY acoustic panels really help to enhance the cinema and Hi Fi experience. The next DIY projects are Class A stereo amplifier and DAC. Trust me, the audiophile journey never end here ...

HT setup:

• Optoma HD-65 720p projector
• DIY 90" matte white projector screen
• DIY acoustic panels
• Marantz SR6003 receiver
• Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu Ray player
• Xtreamer HD media player with 2x1TB Dlink NAS
  
• Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 LCR speakers
• Mordaunt Short 902i surround speakers
• Velodyne CHT-12Q subwoofer with Auralex GRAMMA Isolation Riser
  

Hi Fi setup:

• Marantz CD5001 CDP
• Marantz PM4001 Integrated Amplifier
• DIY silver plated RCA interconnect
• Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 speakers
• Chord SilverPlus speaker cables
  

Room EQ Wizard (REW)

Latest AVR model comes with built in speaker level system. You just need to hook up the supplied mic to the AVR and execute the speaker setup and done deal. Of course this is better than using our ears to tune the speakers level (i.e. to get the same sound level in between front, centre, surround & subwoofer). If you want more accurate result, you can do the manual setup using more accurate mic. For me, I'm using Radioshack Digital sound level meter (~US$50). Radioshack SPL meter is very popular amongst HT kaki, fairly accurate (upto 10kHz) and very affordable as compare to few hundred bucks professional mic.





Even with proper speaker level setup, you may find the subwoofer very boomy, the vocal kind of thin etc. etc. etc. Then, it could be your speaker/subwoofer placement not done properly or room acoustic problem. Then, what you going to do???? after spent thousand of bucks and yet did not get the full potential of your gears.

Errrr... you got couple of options. Either pay the professional to solve your problem or DIY.

For me, I would rather spend the professional fees on my gears. Kind of stingy huh... No lah, actually I would prefer DIY so that I can learn more. Hobby ma.

So, what do you need?
a) A computer, either desktop or laptor with line in/out soundcard.
b) REW software (Freeeeeeeeee!!!)
c) Some RCA cables and adapter
d) Tripod
e) SPL meter

This is how I setup the equipments in my tiny HT room :)


Computers with REW software. Cables here and there. Make sure the computers don't block the sound waves from the front speakers and subwoofer. SPL meter on the tripod @ your listening position.


Next, you need to calibrate the soundcard, checking level and calibrate the SPL reading. Sound complicated? Not actually, just follow the steps highlighted in the HELP file.

Example of the measurement done by REW.


Look how the speaker position affect the frequency response. Major dips and peaks should be avoided at all cost. Actually quite happy with the curve (RED color). The major dips after 10kHz is due to the SPL meter efficiency. If money is not a concern to you, get a more accurate mic/pre-amp and you can see how your speaker/room acoustic behave upto 20kHz.


Once I'm happy with the speaker location, I done another measurement on the left speaker. You can see the left and right speakers frequency response if quite similar (below chart).



Next measurement done on my 12" Velodyne CHT-12Q subwoofer. The frequency response curve (20Hz - 200Hz) at below is quite close to the target (cyan color). Also done the waterfall chart below. Quite good with minor ringing around 50Hz and 65Hz.




Below FR is the interaction of main front LR speakers and subwoofer. The Green FR only with main LR speakers whereas the Orange FR with both main LR speakers and subwoofer.


Waterfall chart for both main speakers and subwoofer.


So, with all the speakers/subwoofer & acoustic panels placements here and there, what is the outcome???? Well, I am very satisfy with the end result. You should try it yourself.

KL International AV Show (2009)

Finally got myself committed to pay a visit to the recent KLIAV show at JW Marriott Hotel, my first ever actually. My objectives are simple, listen to the best setup (for reference purpose) and spend as less as possible during the visit. :)

The entrance fee of RM10 really worth it (with lucky draw too, but I only got the lousy pen as souvenir), you have to opportunity to listen to ten thousand, hundred thousand and even million dollars of HiFi setup, not a bad ROI huh!

My personal favourites are,

1) Moon setup with German Physiks Carbon MK IV speakers (according to the salesperson, this one is >RM400k). The moment I step into the room, I got hook up with the unique and distinguish sounds. I must say I'm really impressed. Look at the unique speakers, WOWwww.


2) Full Onix setup. The sound is so warmth with their choice of CDs.



For the rest of photo that I have taken, just enjoy the slideshow.

KL International AV Show
JW Marriott Hotel, KL
24-26/7/09

Room Acoustic Treatment

After long searching, finally settled down with Roxul MPS400 1" thick insulation material (Density: 80kg/m3). Per pack of 12 sheets (size of 4' x2') cost me around RM100. MPS400 is a non-combustible and firesafe material. My advise don't look for cheap egg crate for acoustic treatment, fire risk is something you should avoid at all cost.

Roxul MPS400




For those DIY hardcore, here is the BOM for making sound trap and the material cost is around RM200. Enough for making 4 triangle traps (17"x17"x24"), 6 rectangle traps (4'x2'), 4 square traps (2'x2') and 1 windows trap (4'x5').

BOM for wooden frames:
2/8" Plywood (4'x8') - 3 pcs
1"x2" Wood (12') - 13 pcs
Wood glue - 2 tubes
Silicon sealer - 1 tube

BOM for fixing:
L hook - 32 pcs
Eye hook - 32 pcs
Wall plugs - 32 pcs
Nails - plenty

BOM for wrapping:
Cloth (60" width) - 9m

My dad has been a great help to me in making the sound traps. He is such a great carpenter and at the age of 71, still got the strength to saw and nail. I must admit that my carpentry skill is no way close to him.

Let's take a close look at the wooden frames with MPS400.







The finished products. Got professional touch, right.