I'm keeping a running list at
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, but if anybody here is interested, here's a ton of work i've done over the past few months collating a list of receivers & pre/pro's that are serial controllable. The value of this is that it's a bidirectional protocol, so you can create a UI on your HTPC with the status of your receiver. IR is unidirectional.
In my case, all my equipment is in the next room, and I was sick of getting up to see why the MX850 or USBUIRT commands weren't making the sound go on.
- Was the power on?
- Was the source setting correct?
- Was the volume muted?
- Was volume set too low?
Sample UI pictures so you can see the value of this in action:
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There's obvoiusly many more specs that really differentiate them, there's stuff on here from $500-$5000. The point is that they're all serial controllable by your HTPC. If you're sick of guessing if there's no sound b/c the stereo is off, muted, or just real low, then use one of those packages to pop up a status window at will [i.e., press the info button on your remote].
All prices are MSRP, and items are linked to the best page I could find.