Remote Controls
To me, this is where I sort of lose it with Sony. There is no doubt, that they are making major leaps in technology with respect to their remote controls, but it’s my opinion that they are so intensely concentrated on the LCD, that they forget the user interface. This holds true for past designs, and is holding true for the new 4ES.
TA-E9000ES Remote Control
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Do you see the remote control on the left? If you have it, take it outside and roll over it with your car, presuming you haven’t already. It is, by far, the absolute worst remote control I’ve ever had to encounter. I won’t get into all the details, but if you own it, you know its true. Aside from the fact that it hurts your eyes to look at, it kills batteries faster than you can buy them, and it is not very user friendly, it is also challenging to use and impossible to use for programming a Master Home Theater Remote. The end result is that you’re stuck with it. Here’s the good news, you can replace it with the handy remote that comes with the VUCD-E9000A upgrade.
Do you see the tiny remote control on the right? Now, believe it or not, this is one of the best, well thought out, remote controls I’ve ever encountered from Sony. It comes as part of the VUCD-E9000A upgrade, and it is like the miracle remote for any TA-E9000ES user. Look closely and you will notice there aren’t hundreds of buttons, there’s no LCD, and no back-light. Never-the-less, it is fully capable of setting up and operating the TA-E9000ES, even without on-screen displays. All the functions you need, such as speaker volumes, surround modes, function selection and so forth, are at your disposal. In addition, these buttons are easily learned in a Master Home Theater Remote whereas the original Remote is not.
To me, this mini remote shows proof that the fancy Marketing gimmicks Sony and others put in their expensive remotes, are not worth the money. I would rather see Sony spend this budget on improving the pre-amp, instead of creating a non-user friendly, fancy remote with bells and whistles.
STR-DA4ES Remote
STR-DA4ES Remote Control
OK, I admit, Sony’s getting better with aesthetics, but I’m still not a big fan of this hybrid remote either. For starters, you cannot access speaker volumes on-the-fly. You have to go through menus to figure out how to do it. Furthermore, when you place the unit on “Test Mode” to set speaker volumes, it’s a pain in the %^$ to turn it off, and get back to source mode. In addition, most of the buttons required to operate the unit is located in the bottom portion of the remote, and it’s not back-light. If you want to go to the main menu, on screen, or use the joystick for example, you have to hunt and peck in the dark to find them.
The LCD is nice, but the buttons that operate it are not back-light either, nor do they glow. Once again, if you need them during a movie and while in the dark, good luck trying to find them.
Granted, the STR-DA4ES remote is easier to use when you access the “on-screen display” of the STR-DA4ES, but you still have to go through multiple menus before accessing important parameters, that should be available on-the-fly. The upgraded remote for the TA-E9000ES, even with no “on-screen display,” is infinitely easier to set up and use.
General Remote Control Suggestions
If you’re really looking for an all-in-one remote control that is user friendly, does not cost tons of money, is backlight and makes sense, check out the Home Theater Master SL-9000. This is a 5-year old design, but still works everything in my Home Theater System with ease. Universal Remote also has many new models that also appear to be well thought out and user friendly. These Remotes are used by many ‘high end’ Processor Manufacturers, such as Aragon and others, as Universal provides them directly. It’s a shame that Sony didn’t just outside source their remotes to Universal and redirect their attention to improving their ES Receivers.
Be on the look out in the very near future for an in depth Audioholics review of universal remote controls.
