home theater, cord cutting, video streaming, a/v tech, and more!

Postby **nocera** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:46 pm

I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. How exactly should I be using this?

Postby **eddy** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:50 pm

I got an Echo Dot for Christmas. How exactly should I be using this?

connect it to a better speaker and say Alexa, play Wham!

Postby **nocera** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:57 pm

I did add my Spotify account and set it as my default music app. I was hoping it was more than just a voice activated boombox, though. Anyone have any helpful tips? Must-have skills?

Postby **eddy** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:10 pm

I did add my Spotify account and set it as my default music app. I was hoping it was more than just a voice activated boombox, though. Anyone have any helpful tips? Must-have skills?

my kids would say: make it play the poop song

You can hook it to your home theater/TV. You can play jeopardy on it. They make game buzzers for it that you can play games with it. Alarm. Timer in the kitchen. Turn off lights. Jokes. That's all I got.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:10 pm

it also plays sirius radio now

Postby **nocera** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:20 pm

Thanks. Looking up the home theater stuff, looks like you can pair your Harmony remote with it. That'll be useful down the line.

Postby **Viva la Ben** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:20 pm

We have a google home and a google home mini. We use it as a clock, Spotify player, Bluetooth speaker...my boys use it as their alarm clock now (6:50 bus pickup).
The broadcast mode is nice as an intercom instead of yelling up the stairs.

Postby **nocera** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:23 pm

The broadcast mode is nice as an intercom instead of yelling up the stairs.

When my sister gave me the Dot, she said "now we can 'drop in' on each other instead of calling."

First thing I did when I set it up was make sure the "drop in" feature was disabled.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:26 pm

Thanks. Looking up the home theater stuff, looks like you can pair your Harmony remote with it. That'll be useful down the line.

down the line being the key here. I may be wrong, but I think it's in its limited stages to begin with. Turn TV off/on, change channel/volume. Hell, my Harmony remote doesn't even work half the time, I don't need to fight with Alexa and Harmony both now.

I bluetoothed the dot to my receiver and in the summer time and with outdoor speakers, I can sit on the deck and drink beer and yell for it to play George Michael or Depeche Mode and not ever have to get up to change anything. I like that.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:34 pm

So I got the PS3 for a bluray player a few months ago, but it does weird things with Blu Ray and streaming apps. For Blurays, it will randomly skip ahead a chapter or three, once in a while. On live streaming apps like NHL.tv and NFL Sunday Ticket, it jumps back (no buffering) 5-8 seconds.

I've isolated the problem, I think, to the PS3 controller...as these things happen when I have the controller disconnected from the USB cable. I've also noticed menus popping up during movies, subtitles going on and off, and so on.

Honestly, I would like to junk the remote and use a Harmony remote to control the PS3. Should I go the high end Bluetooth remote route or get an IR Harmony remote and adapter? What about just the Hub and smartphone app?

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:11 pm

Speaking as a former employee of the company that was the OEM for the officially licensed PS3 remote control, and as a current PS employee, I would not recommend the officially licensed PS3 remote. (The PS4 remote - by the same OEM - is much better) If you're going with a new remote, go with Harmony.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:50 pm

So I got the PS3 for a bluray player a few months ago, but it does weird things with Blu Ray and streaming apps. For Blurays, it will randomly skip ahead a chapter or three, once in a while. On live streaming apps like NHL.tv and NFL Sunday Ticket, it jumps back (no buffering) 5-8 seconds.

I've isolated the problem, I think, to the PS3 controller...as these things happen when I have the controller disconnected from the USB cable. I've also noticed menus popping up during movies, subtitles going on and off, and so on.

Honestly, I would like to junk the remote and use a Harmony remote to control the PS3. Should I go the high end Bluetooth remote route or get an IR Harmony remote and adapter? What about just the Hub and smartphone app?

Depends on how much you want to spend. I use a Harmony One with an IR-to-BT converter, and have since the PS3 was first released. Works beautifully for me.

Postby **dodint** » Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:21 pm

I have the Harmony with adapter and it's great. My ps3 is mounted behind my bedroom TV since I never use optical media in there.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 9:57 am

My well meaning wife bought an Echo Dot for the bedroom, not realizing it wasn't compatible with the Google Home system through the rest of the house. Still though it can connect to all the same systems so we can adjust the thermostat before getting out of bed and turn a bunch of lights on and off. I like the audio out function and think Google missed out big by not adding it to their mini.

The Home Mini in the kitchen gets used the most. As a timer, for looking up temperatures, and for converting units. I still haven't spent enough time to configure it to run my Chromecast Audio network, but hopefully that is coming soon. I added all 700 of my CDs to Google Music too in case it isn't Plex friendly.

A Harmony Hub is next on my list of things to purchase. All my a/v gear is on a shelf in a different room from my projector, so I use an IR extender/blaster and a Harmony 650 remote. I would be great to use the Google Home Mini in there and control the various inputs by voice.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:01 am

Source of the post A Harmony Hub is next on my list of things to purchase.

I have been teetering back and forth on buying one, if only to be used in conjunction with Alexa. However, my daughter knows how to work the Harmony One remote, so I'll probably wind up passing now.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:38 am

For a winter project I started on a large scale media metadata clean up. I've used several metadata managers over the years in addition to the built-in scrapers from various software.

Movies went pretty well. Now I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to tackle music. Any suggestions? MediaMonkey and MusicBrainz Picard are the two I'm running into the most.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:45 am

MusicBrainz Picard was going to be my suggestion for an automated solution. I still use Mp3tag for all of my music metadata because it's quick and easy.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:14 am

re my PS3 Harmony remote discussion: Has anyone used this particular model (not necessarily for PS3)? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ5RYI4/_e ... IUBJ&psc=1

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:15 am

Nope, sorry.

Postby **eddy** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:24 am

negative. I believe I have the 650. I really would like to get the elite.

Postby **dodint** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:26 am

Man, I still have my Harmony One that I bought in 2010. Other than doing a battery change a few weeks ago it's still going strong.

I have the 650 in my bedroom, it's very good as well. I only have the TV, Satellite, and PS3 in there so the scaled down features work well there.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:47 am

theyre notorious for buttons wearing out, so 2010 is impressive. my basement 650 is just about 2.5 years old and its going.

Postby **eddy** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:03 pm

My Harmony 650 is from 2010 and still going strong minus I have to hit help every time to get it where it needs to be. But that's probably just me being lazy and not redoing everything as I've changed things around.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:44 pm

My Harmony One is from 2007 or 2008 (shortly after the PS3 release), and is still on the original battery and everything. The QC on these was fantastic.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Fri Jan 05, 2018 3:03 pm

The QC on these was fantastic.

Everything I've ever read has been to the contrary, but good for you guys.

In December 2014 I thought my 50" Panasonic TC-P50S1 was going bad, and knowing that Best Buy and Amazon had just got the final shipments of Samsung F8500 plasmas (the last great plasma) I ordered one immediately.

Turns out a crappy 1940s Christmas decoration was causing dirty power to flow through the circuit, so the tv was fine. I moved the tv to my basement adjacent to my projector screen so my wife can watch the Browns.

Last weekend I realized I only use that once or twice a month, and I use my crappy going bad bedroom LCD 3 or 4 times per week. So I did what any logical person would do - stuck a 50" tv in my bedroom. My wife protested for about 20 seconds.

I was excited that I could use one remote off my Nexus Player in there via HDMI-CEC, but its so terrible the commands don't work half the time.