Controlling PEACE/eAPO on Windows with Topping DAC/Amp Remote (or any other IR remote)

[Berwhale]

I have a Topping EX5 which I use as both a headphone amplifier for my Sennheiser HD660s and as a pre-amp for my iLoud MTM monitors.

I switch between the headphone and monitor outputs using the headphone and line out buttons on a Topping RC21 remote.

On my Windows 11 PC, I use eAPO with the PEACE front end to apply PEQ to both the headphones and monitors.

I have hotkeys assigned to the PEQ profiles in PEACE such that CTRL + ALT + 1 enables the HD660s profile and CTRL + ALT + 0 enable the MTM profile (I have other hot keys assigned to other profiles, but I use HD660s and MTM ones 95% of the time).

So, at the moment, to switch between headphones and monitors, I press the appropriate key on the remote and then the hotkey combo to switch the correct PEQ profile.

It's occurred to me that I could plug a USB IR receiver into my PC and get it to respond to the headphone and line out keys on the Topping remote by playing a macro with the corresponding hotkeys so the PEQ profile is switch at the same time as the EX5 output. OK, this will save me only seconds per day, but it sounds like fun to get working!

Has anyone done something similar or have any suggestions on hardware and software to achieve this?

WinLIRC looks like it might be useful: https://sourceforge.net/projects/winlirc/

I might have a motherboard header IR receiver or USB receiver left over from my HTPC days, i'll have a root around in the garage tomorrow.

 

[Berwhale]

Well this was £20 I probably didn't need to spend, but a FLIRC IR receiver does exactly what I was after out of the box.

Flirc USB - Flirc

best from flirctv - Flirc

flirc.tv

To setup:

1. Plug in the FLIRC.
2. Download Install and open the FLIRC application.
3. Set the controller to full keyboard.
4. Enter the keyboard combination you want to control (e.g. CTRL + ALT + 0 to activate the PEACE PEQ profile for my MTMs)
5. Press the button on the remote you want to trigger the keyboard combo ('Line Out' on my Topping RC-21 remote).
6. Repeat 4 & 5 to setup 'Headphones' button to trigger CTRL + ALT + 1 to activate the PEQ for my HD660s.

FLIRC receiver in a spare Logitech USB extension cable next to my EX5...

My RC-21 Remote is not being used with 3 IR receivers...

1. Topping EX5.
2. Lime IR mains plug to control power to my iLoud MTM's and PreSonus Sub8 (using 'Enter' button in middle of directional keypad)
3. FLIRC to control PEACE PEQ setting on my PC (overloading 'headphone' and 'line out' buttons).

Awesome!

 

[Berwhale]

Well this is not good! It appears that there's an IR emitter (I think it's the 'light sensor') on the front of my Philips 34" UWQHD display that is causing the FLIRC to pickup random IR codes. Some of these codes make the PC generate a beep, so it's rather annoying! Placing the FLIRC behind the screen alleviates the issue, but does not fully remove the problem (presumably some reflected IR is being picked up). PowerSensor and LightSensor functions are both turned off on the screen. More investigation required...

IR Deugging log looks like this...

 

[bloodshoteyed]

might try this since my htpc came with an IR eye from the box


never managed to get that other BTLE remote working tho.....

 

[Berwhale]

OK, so after a bit of reading, this seems to be a problem with TVs/Monitors with ambient light sensors...

e.g. http://forum.flirc.tv/index.php?/topic/3724-flirc-unuseable-keys-are-recorded-automatically/

So, my monitor is putting out this junk all the time, including when I programmed the FLIRC to respond to the Topping remote. So what was actually recorded was the Topping IR codes + the spurious stuff. Sometimes, the spurious stuff on it's own is enough to trigger the keyboard macros.

Solution: Remove the spurious stuff from the recording so that only the Topping codes trigger the keyboard macro by installing a temporary LightSensor cover...

The FLIRC is still picking up the spurious IR codes, but they are now being ignored as they were not recorded as part of the macro.