4 ms·

a couple of years ago, i finally upgraded to a proper home theater system, with everything connected through a yamaha receiver, and i am pleasantly surprised at

a couple of years ago, i finally upgraded to a proper home theater system, with everything connected through a yamaha receiver, and i am pleasantly surprised at how well CEC works (given the many complaints i saw online). since i'd vowed never to pay into the cable cartel, i watch most things via my apple tv. i just have to hit one button on the apple tv remote and the apple tv, receiver and tv come on automatically, and will switch to the right hdmi input (and tv input) if not already set. even if the apple tv is not being used, i can still use the volume buttons on it (easier, since it's radio and not infrared like the receiver remote). it's great!

nl 7y ago
Isn't this just switching out the Sonos ecosystem for the Apple ecosystem?
- gog 7y ago
  Replace AppleTV with a Kodi player and you have the same setup without the Apple ecosystem.
  - Koshkin 7y ago
    Yeah but then you lose all the Apple TV content and the apps...
  - givinguflac 7y ago
    Or just sideload Kodi and have the best of everything
    - oarsinsync 7y ago
      Or install MrMC if you've got an appstore capable apple tv and forget about sideloading too.
- teirce 7y ago
  If I am understanding the poster correctly, Apple TV is just the input. The speaker system itself is agnostic to what the input is. There is no ecosystem for the audio, as they're all 'dumb' speakers connected to a receiver.
  - nl 7y ago
    Yes, except (presumably) they are using Airplay to the AppleTV for music (which locks out non-Apple products). The Sonos equivalent is something like the Sonos beam connected to the TV via CEC. AppleTV v2 is now obsolete and I think was sold until 2015, so that's pretty much the same as the Sonos policy. But it's a fair point - for simple setups this can work fine.
    - awinder 7y ago
      Recent Yamahas are integrated into googles ecosystem too. To me the point is that the speakers are separable from whatever client you want to use. If it’s 5 years from now and you need new support for driving the speakers, you replace that component. You don’t have to throw the speakers away to stay current.
      - nl 7y ago
        My Onkyo has Spotify streaming support built into the amp. It's dreadful though - just about unusable because the UX and setup is so bad. Is the Yamaha experience better? (Also, the Yamaha MusicCast speakers are exactly the same as Sonos in that they are software dependant, and pre-2015 ones don't get the update to AirPlay2[1]. Not clear if you are talking about this or the amps though) [1] https://au.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2019/musiccast-update.html https://au.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2019/musiccast-update.h...
        clairity 7y ago
        musiccast speakers are reputed to work well, but they're a little pricey. currently, only the apple tv has an internet connection (via ethernet cable into a router, not wifi). i may eventually extend speaker wire into the kitchen to have two independent audio zones off the receiver. and to confirm the other responders, i have a set of "dumb" polk speakers connected to the receiver. for audio, i'll often just stream to the receiver over bluetooth from my mbp, iphone or ipad (so yes, i'm apple-dependent, but not in the way you meant =) airplay works well to stream video via apple tv to the receiver (and then to the tv screen).
jannes 7y ago
Wait, what? I thought the volume buttons on the Apple TV remote were infrared... (while every other button works via Bluetooth) Try covering the little black area at the front of the remote and you’ll see what I mean. At least in my case the volume buttons stop working.
- billyhoffman 7y ago
  Depends on your TV. The IR is a fallback but it can also do volume over CEC: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/263008/how-to-change-the-volume-of-your-tv-using-the-apple-tv-siri-remote/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/263008/how-to...
  - clairity 7y ago
    yah, the volume buttons still work through the apple tv to the receiver via radio (for me).
- bouke 7y ago
  The remote can be configured for either CEC or IR, see also: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205225#siriappletv https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205225#siriappletv. The only problem happens when not playing from the AppleTV and you use the volume buttons. It’ll switch inputs on the TV/receiver to the AppleTV. So it’s no longer an universal volume control, which can confuse family members as they have to remember which input the whole setup is in.
andoma 7y ago
Got pretty much the same setup. Works very well.

nl 7y ago

Isn't this just switching out the Sonos ecosystem for the Apple ecosystem?

gog 7y ago
Replace AppleTV with a Kodi player and you have the same setup without the Apple ecosystem.
- Koshkin 7y ago
  Yeah but then you lose all the Apple TV content and the apps...
- givinguflac 7y ago
  Or just sideload Kodi and have the best of everything
  - oarsinsync 7y ago
    Or install MrMC if you've got an appstore capable apple tv and forget about sideloading too.
teirce 7y ago
If I am understanding the poster correctly, Apple TV is just the input. The speaker system itself is agnostic to what the input is. There is no ecosystem for the audio, as they're all 'dumb' speakers connected to a receiver.
- nl 7y ago
  Yes, except (presumably) they are using Airplay to the AppleTV for music (which locks out non-Apple products). The Sonos equivalent is something like the Sonos beam connected to the TV via CEC. AppleTV v2 is now obsolete and I think was sold until 2015, so that's pretty much the same as the Sonos policy. But it's a fair point - for simple setups this can work fine.
  - awinder 7y ago
    Recent Yamahas are integrated into googles ecosystem too. To me the point is that the speakers are separable from whatever client you want to use. If it’s 5 years from now and you need new support for driving the speakers, you replace that component. You don’t have to throw the speakers away to stay current.
    - nl 7y ago
      My Onkyo has Spotify streaming support built into the amp. It's dreadful though - just about unusable because the UX and setup is so bad. Is the Yamaha experience better? (Also, the Yamaha MusicCast speakers are exactly the same as Sonos in that they are software dependant, and pre-2015 ones don't get the update to AirPlay2[1]. Not clear if you are talking about this or the amps though) [1] https://au.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2019/musiccast-update.html https://au.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2019/musiccast-update.h...
      - clairity 7y ago
        musiccast speakers are reputed to work well, but they're a little pricey. currently, only the apple tv has an internet connection (via ethernet cable into a router, not wifi). i may eventually extend speaker wire into the kitchen to have two independent audio zones off the receiver. and to confirm the other responders, i have a set of "dumb" polk speakers connected to the receiver. for audio, i'll often just stream to the receiver over bluetooth from my mbp, iphone or ipad (so yes, i'm apple-dependent, but not in the way you meant =) airplay works well to stream video via apple tv to the receiver (and then to the tv screen).

jannes 7y ago

Wait, what? I thought the volume buttons on the Apple TV remote were infrared... (while every other button works via Bluetooth) Try covering the little black area at the front of the remote and you’ll see what I mean. At least in my case the volume buttons stop working.

billyhoffman 7y ago
Depends on your TV. The IR is a fallback but it can also do volume over CEC: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/263008/how-to-change-the-volume-of-your-tv-using-the-apple-tv-siri-remote/amp/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/263008/how-to...
- clairity 7y ago
  yah, the volume buttons still work through the apple tv to the receiver via radio (for me).
bouke 7y ago
The remote can be configured for either CEC or IR, see also: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205225#siriappletv https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205225#siriappletv. The only problem happens when not playing from the AppleTV and you use the volume buttons. It’ll switch inputs on the TV/receiver to the AppleTV. So it’s no longer an universal volume control, which can confuse family members as they have to remember which input the whole setup is in.

andoma 7y ago

Got pretty much the same setup. Works very well.