Why Does Good Remote Control Design Elude so Many Companies?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Helom, Jul 15, 2022.

  1. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Well, I only mentioned the older b&o remotes for a reason (and apart from the basic beolink1000, they all had 2 way communication which was sublime!) ;).
    Never had such issues on their 'older' remotes. Up until the 90's they were the absolute king of remotes!!!
    I have a beolink 1000 hanging above my head on my bed and I operate my system, waking up in the dark (or going to sleep) without looking at the remote.
     
    manxman likes this.
  2. Oddiofyl

    Oddiofyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    My preamp only has remote Vol, Mute, Mono.... it's all I really need.
     
  3. manxman

    manxman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Isle of Man
    Yes, two-way communication was the precursor of today's app-based control and multi-room Sonos-type systems. It was truly revolutionary for its era.
     
    bever70 likes this.
  4. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Not to mention the touch control ability of even their 70's (and especially 80's) systems. They were so far ahead of their time that all others appeared to be stuck in the middle ages :biglaugh:!
     
    manxman likes this.
  5. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    I liked the remote supplied with the Wyred4Sound mPre; very simple with minimal buttons.

    [​IMG]
     
    garythain, Ilusndweller and jonwoody like this.
  6. Oddiofyl

    Oddiofyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    Kind of spoiled being able to control TV, Blu-ray, and Vault 2i with my tablet......
     
  7. maycontainmultitudes

    maycontainmultitudes Audiophail

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I use a Logitech Harmony remote that I’ve programmed for all my devices. Cuts down on the separate remotes and simplifies operation.
     
    norliss, Boltman92124, Doug_B and 3 others like this.
  8. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    Sorry but that has no ergonomic design (handhold ability). Did you never mistake it for a Twix/Raider and took a bite out of it :D?!
     
  9. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    B&O did that in the 80's with 1 remote! You could control TV, video (and later dvd etc.), satellite, tape, radio, cd, tuner, amp, phono (even down to tracks on the Lp), lights (!),....with only 1 remote. You could program 'playlists', even from different sources (fe. 2 songs from a cd, followed by a few songs on tape, followed by....) with 1 remote. While people outside were still walking around with cell phones looking as big as a phone booth :D.
     
    Oddiofyl likes this.
  10. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    I gotta disagree with you, it was very comfortable to use. Much better than this monstrosity from the Simaudio:
    [​IMG]
     
    Eigenvector and jonwoody like this.
  11. Oddiofyl

    Oddiofyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    One of my favorite remotes was for the DMX music service that was available through cable companies in the late nineties. It was a bi-directional type, you would get info in real time on the remote's LCD display like Artist, Album, and Track.... I really missed that when the cable co. gave it the axe.
     
  12. Helom

    Helom Forum member Thread Starter

    Location:
    U.S.
    Like the remote that came with the Allnic L-1500. It could double as a bludgeoning device.

    One of these days we’re going to see a billet aluminum remote on an episode of Dateline.

    Keith Morrison: “The murder weapon was a remote control?”

    Prosecutor: “our theory is she was nagging him about the volume level, he attempted to adjust it and accidentally turned off the preamp.”
     
    ThorensSme and timind like this.
  13. DJSpinner

    DJSpinner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vermont
    Schiit remote has a great overall look and feel, but the range sucks and I've owned this thing for two years and I'm still trigger shy trying to remember/decipher the non-volume buttons.

    [​IMG]
     
    TarnishedEars likes this.
  14. Jaytor

    Jaytor DIY Enthusiast

    Location:
    Oregon
    I really like the remote that came with my Khozmo switched attenuator. It has the buttons I need and no extra ones. They are placed so they are ready to find without looking at the remote.

    [​IMG]
     
    jfeldt likes this.
  15. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    That's the ancient version. The backlit FRM-3 is a joy to use and still retains full functionality after being used in place of a rubber hose to beat home raiders into submission.

    In fact, so effective is it that these days I tend to reserve it for the latter use and use the Moon app to control the amp, etc.
     
    timind likes this.
  16. noladaoh

    noladaoh Retired

    Location:
    Arkansas
    I don’t know. I get a remote then learn how to use it. I don’t find myself complaining about conveniences.
     
  17. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    If I took that attitude about everything I was dissatisfied with, I'd still be married to my first wife. No thanks.
     
  18. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    My old Yamaha receiver remote and my new Marantz receiver remote.
    The Yamaha has buttons I never used, while I've already used most of the Marantz buttons.

    [​IMG]
     
    TarnishedEars and timind like this.
  19. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    ...a baby's arm holding an apple (remote)....

    With apologies to both Lenny Bruce, & The Tubes.
     
    Mr. Bewlay and Bob Casner like this.
  20. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    You would think though, they would make one designed to hang on a shirt pocket then.

    I'm more irritated by the current trend of putting branded logo buttons on remotes now, such as Netflix or Disney+. Selling ad space in my hand isn't the way I wanted tech to go.

    And personally I'm thinking each appliance with a well-used remote, should come with a coupon to order a second one for a discount based on your having purchased the original. You should have a spare for when the buttons wear off and the functionality starts to get wonky. They should recognize that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2022
  21. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    "And we LIKED it that way!"
    [​IMG]
     
    Madness likes this.
  22. bever70

    bever70 Let No-one Live Rent Free in Your Head!

    Location:
    Belgium
    It's crap! Tell it like it is :D!
     
  23. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Don't use them but including a good one can be a clash of old school tech vs. modern control requirements.
    Many audiophile components lack the internal logic to use full function remotes while cheap new chip products can do it all day long- assuming the cultural differences of the country of origin don't make them grossly over complicated.
     
  24. noladaoh

    noladaoh Retired

    Location:
    Arkansas
    Well, I don’t take that attitude about everything, just the small things that are basically meaningless in life.
     
    timind likes this.
  25. jonwoody

    jonwoody Tragically Unhip

    Location:
    Washington DC
    That escalated quickly. :laugh:
     
    Kyhl, noladaoh, timind and 1 other person like this.

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