IR Repeater for 2 Denon AVRs? What to buy?

[Harkon321]

I will be setting up two Denon AVRs on an AV rack at the back of my room. serving two adjacent rooms. (Denon Neither will have line of sight from seating to the AVRs but both are relatively short distances 1m and 4m.

There are so many different IR repeaters on Amazon etc - will they all work?

I don't know if the Denon 4400 has a 'Remote In' on the back, but I'm pretty sure the 2400 doesn't.

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

Unfortunately, the answer is dependent on other equipment in your room, specifically fluorescent lighting, and the level of interference you need to suppress bears directly on the price you will need to pay.

There are multiple options available:
1) external IR receiver connecting to the 3.5mm jack in the AVR (possibly through a distributor hub). I'm using a Sonance receiver for this. The Sonance was quite expensive, but is very good in adverse (fluorescent) lighting conditions.

2) external IR receiver connecting to a distributor hub and thence to IR blasters taped over the AVR's IR (or in some cases, placed in close proximity). Like 1) you still need line of sight to the IR receiver, which is cabled to the AVR, but it can be used with devices without a 3.5mm Remote in. The Marmitek Invisible Control is a popular solution, but may be inadequate in adverse lighting conditions.

3) infrared repeater (IR in / out). The repeater needs line of sight to you and to the AVR. These are therefore not all that popular, RF links being superior but no more expensive.

4) RF receiver (IR -> RF) + emitter (RF -> IR). These have the advantage of not needing any line of sight between the receiver and emitter. The Marmitek PowerMid XL is a popular solution, but may be inadequate in adverse lighting conditions.

 

[Jamie]

I've been using one of the cheap USB powered devices from Amazon for 2 and a half years now with absolutely no issues.

Specifically this one:
Amazon product
There's only 3m of cable though, the emitters have 2m and the cable from the receiver is about 1m. It's been 100% reliable for what I use it for, you will need to supply a USB port, I use an Anker 4 port supply to power this device, a Broadlink RM Mini and 2 chromecasts (video and Audio versions) with no problems

 

[Harkon321]

Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed response. Only lighting in both rooms are GU10 HUE LEDs and LED stip around ceiling so hopefully no issues with that. Will have a look at the options when I get home and try and pick something suitable.

Many thanks

 

[ChuckMountain]

I have used Keene ones which offer from the basic ones to full-on IR Matrix ones.

They are not the cheapest but I didn't have any issues with lighting like I had with a previous xantech one.

I currently use this one, which is probably overkill for your needs but allows control routing from different rooms and same devices in some cases. I have two Yamaha amps in the same rack from different rooms.

Keene IR Commander Matrix

The big brother to the Keene IRBKIT, the IR Commander Matrix can receive IR commands from multiple external IR receivers or via an IP network, and route the signals to one or many IR emitters via its multiple, routed IR outputs. So what does it offer? Ful

www.keene.co.uk

They also do some adapters to allow you to extend the IR using CAT 5/6 cable which you might already have run to the front of the rooms to allow an IR receiver to be plugged in.

 

[Jamie]

I have a Marantz 7010 which is very similar to your 4400, the remote in jack on the back works perfectly with the cheap Amazon device I posted above, I have a spare Mono 3.5mm Jack lead and confirmed it works plugged in directly on both the Marantz and my much older Denon 3808 with IR in jack's.

You're right the 2400 doesn't have the direct IR jack but the stick on emitters are absolutely fine anyway once you've located them correctly.

I don't know if the Denon 4400 has a 'Remote In' on the back, but I'm pretty sure the 2400 doesn't.

 

[Harkon321]

I'll need to keep the two amps well away from each other in the rack as I'm pretty sure the Denon remotes all use the same frequency. Otherwise turning one on will turn on both etc.

 

[Jamie]

If the IR receiver for each AVR is in a separate room then it shouldn't be an issue.

The stick on emitters are relatively directional, you can always add a small piece of tape over the emitter to stop it scattering. Like this so the IR only goes to the Denons receiver



The 4400 could be connected directly as I mention above, that way signals from that rooms extender will only go to the 4400.

 

[ChuckMountain]

You could also use these as I found you still got some slight leakage with tape.

Keene IR Emitter Shield Flexible Rubber Cover (single)

Keene IR Emitter Shield Flexible Rubber Cover (single)

www.keene.co.uk