MicroPro 4000 Remote issue
Squishy Tia
Posts: 79
I've been having an annoying issue with my MicroPro 4000's remote (sic) and have a couple questions.
The first relates to the remote's battery compartment. I constantly have to take the battery out and slide it partway (about 4/5ths of the way) in and then press the buttons to make it work. It seems that the battery's mating connectors just aren't stiff enough to make contact with the battery when fully inserted, resulting in constant frustration with the remote. Is there a way to overcome this, or better yet, a real remote instead of this flimsy credit card thing that refuses to work most of the time?
The second question is about the settings stored in the sub's internal memory. Is the memory used in the sub flash (NAND)/SRAM, or it it the regular DRAM and lost when the sub is unplugged for any reason? I've had to physically unplug the sub to get its remote sensor back in the "receive" condition. Toggling the switch on the rear panel to the "always on" position and back to the remote control only option doesn't always work and I'd like to know if I'm losing my settings every time I have to do this.
This is an exceptionally good sounding sub, and for the price it commands one would think a better (read: real) remote that maybe costs $5 would be more appropriate than the credit card bubble button version which has major issues with its battery compartment and range (I have to be within four feet of the sub for it to work, which makes a remote virtually pointless).
I'm really hoping that the memory is static and non-volatile and not lost when unplugged. Otherwise I have to set up the sub every time this happens, and it's happening a LOT.
A note to the Polk designers, if you still read these forums: Please for the love of all that's good, put in real remotes with your remote capable products instead of these flimsy slabs of pure frustration.
Thank you for your time!
The first relates to the remote's battery compartment. I constantly have to take the battery out and slide it partway (about 4/5ths of the way) in and then press the buttons to make it work. It seems that the battery's mating connectors just aren't stiff enough to make contact with the battery when fully inserted, resulting in constant frustration with the remote. Is there a way to overcome this, or better yet, a real remote instead of this flimsy credit card thing that refuses to work most of the time?
The second question is about the settings stored in the sub's internal memory. Is the memory used in the sub flash (NAND)/SRAM, or it it the regular DRAM and lost when the sub is unplugged for any reason? I've had to physically unplug the sub to get its remote sensor back in the "receive" condition. Toggling the switch on the rear panel to the "always on" position and back to the remote control only option doesn't always work and I'd like to know if I'm losing my settings every time I have to do this.
This is an exceptionally good sounding sub, and for the price it commands one would think a better (read: real) remote that maybe costs $5 would be more appropriate than the credit card bubble button version which has major issues with its battery compartment and range (I have to be within four feet of the sub for it to work, which makes a remote virtually pointless).
I'm really hoping that the memory is static and non-volatile and not lost when unplugged. Otherwise I have to set up the sub every time this happens, and it's happening a LOT.
A note to the Polk designers, if you still read these forums: Please for the love of all that's good, put in real remotes with your remote capable products instead of these flimsy slabs of pure frustration.
Thank you for your time!
Post edited by Squishy Tia on
Comments
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The remote control isn't going to change as far as I know and you should be contacting CS to get a new one sent to you. Have you tried bending the contacts so it hits the battery better? Just get a new one. I understand your frustration with it as I feel the same way. It could be designed better.
What settings are you talking about losing exactly? If you have it on one of the soundfield options, I believe you have to reset it if you remove power so in that case, yes, you're losing the setting you previously had entered.
If you send me your shipping information, phone number and email, I'll get another remote sent out. I can be emailed if you hover over my name on the left.
Mark
Polk CSCTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
I'll go ahead and PM you my info. I do appreciate the effort you're making toward me. My question about the internal memory was if I had run the auto room correction setup, would that be retained in the sub's memory if unplugged, and if so, for how long? I have grandparents here and neighbors with a baby so I really don't want to always be having to use the setup since the test tones are strong enough to be heard next door and downstairs would actually shake my grandparents' drinks off their end tables.
Changing the remote design really would be a plus though. Even a simple one (cheapo) like the remote that comes with the Aluratek HDMI switch would work. We don't need Harmony One level of crafstmanship, but literally anything is better than the credit card design. Like many others here, I have to stand within four feet of the sub (which is behind my headpost on my bed so I'm leaning on my mattress pointing at the sub in a very akward manner) or else the remote just doesn't register. It isn't powerful enough and the sub's remote sensor appears to adhere, quite literally, to the old "30 degree cone". To give you an idea of how far behind modern tech that is, my Yamaha RX-A3000's sensor picks up the remote signal from around the corner. An IR signal bounced off a wall like a bank shot.
If the remote I get sent doesn't work well enough, I guess I'll have to use the RF Extender I have for the Harmony 1100 I never use (I bought it thinking its touch screen was at least similar to my mobile phone's in responsiveness, but alas, it's 10 year old touchscreen tech using a flimsy electroconductive paper film on the screen).
If you folks ever design a future sub like the MicroPro 4000, one thing you might consider is a USB port to load a profile to/from so the user doesn't have to recalibrate the sub if the power is lost or anything like that.
I love the sub to death and wish I could have found one at a reasonable price before I lost my job recently. I have heard a dual sub setup (stereo L/R) and since I listen mostly to video game music (when not in listening to HT/console games played in DD5.1) and a stereo sub setup sounds delicious, and my RX-A3000 supports the stereo sub setup. Yum.
- Squishy Tia!
