This is the same problem I had with my Emotiva XMC-1. The Sofabaton X1 just doesn't want to play nice with it. The Emotiva works perfectly when receiving IR commands from its original remote, a Harmony blaster, or the nVidia Shield remote. Unfortunately, I could simply not get the X1 to work with Emotiva. After probably 10-20 hours screwing around with it, trying different placements, reorienting the internal LEDs, and finally surgically replacing one of the IR LEDs from one harvested from a Harmony blaster, I simply gave up. The X1 is back in its box in my basement, patiently waiting for a firmware update somewhere in the future. I have about a 1% belief that it'll ever work correctly. Too bad...

I just want to update that my proposed idea was no solution. In the end, the X1 isn't usable with my system for unknown reasons. If I had more time and patience, I'd hook it up to a scope, or an IR reader and try to figure it out. But alas, my time is worth more than this, so I'll just put the X1 in storage. Maybe there will be a FW update someday. Or maybe someday someone will make a REAL remote rather than this toy. In the meantime, I'm done. Good luck, Sofabaton.

Try different angles when pointing the original remote at the hub. It was a bit fiddly when I was doing it, but I finally got the ones I needed working. I don't think that the fact that your Denon is old should matter too much. It's just sending an IR pattern that the X1 *should* (or at least *could*) be able to detect. Oh, also avoid direct sunlight or other bright conditions. Cheers!

Many of the commands in their databases are wrong. Some have the wrong name (you found "boot"), some do the wrong thing, some don't exist at all. In general, they are a mess and Sofabaton needs to clean it up. I have complained to them about this many time. They are responsive and polite, but I think that, in the end, it's just too big a task. I really want the X1 to work, and I'll probably keep it because there aren't currently a lot of other options, but it's extremely frustrating. I just use it for the basics and don't try to do anything fancy. Don't forget! Once you add your devices to an activity, you can't add more devices. Also, you can't reorder commands on the screen, so be sure you get them right the first time! At least that's the way it is as of Jan 23, 2023. Cheers!

Apologies on the giant paragraph! I wrote that in a text editor, and apparently the "forum" here didn't honor my new lines.

I used Harmony remotes for probably 15 years, specifically the 890 and the 890 Pro. My Harmony account also seems to be dying. I found their online software kinda tedious, but it's NOTHING compared to Sofabaton SW. Note that the Sofabaton SW is only available as a phone app. Maybe that's good for some, but I prefer to do these types of big picture setups on real computer. I've been fiddling around with the X1 for more than a month. I really want it to work. I'm no luddite, and have been into audio and HT since I was a kid. My system is much simpler than yours, as far as number of components and intended automation goes. I'm also using Hubitat and Alexa, but I can barely get the X1 to work just sending IR commands from their blaster. It sends commands (my device flickers when it sees *any* command), but they are unreliably received at the device. I've tried near/far, different angles, etc., and it's definitely spotty. Harmony almost NEVER missed a command at the device. This drives me nuts -- my preamp's volume up/down are pretty stable coming from the X1. By that, I mean they work 90% of the time. I've come to accept this as "good" for the X1. However, the mute command works about 50% of the time. All of these work 100% of the time from the factory and Harmony remotes, of course. I don't know if it's a timing thing for the way the IR command is sent, a slightly wrong command, or what, but it's pretty frustrating. It's not only the mute command, of course. In writing this, I realized that the X1 has trained me to just implement the minimal number of commands to get things working for the family -- so, pretty much power and volume. Anything complex and I'll just use the factory remote. The Sofabaton device databases are a total mess. Many commands work, some don't, many are mislabeled, some just simply do the wrong thing, and of course some are missing. If you choose the "repair" path in the app, it asks you to cycle through a bunch of command guesses asking "did it work?" It feels like this can go on forever. Some of their guesses are better than others, so at least they keep it interesting. If you find one that works, it might not work next time. Just stay on your toes! Of course, you can "learn" commands, but we really want them to be correct from the database. You can create "activities", but once an on/off command is missed (70-80% success rate on these for me), it has no idea where you are. I have zero trust in the Activity settings, so I just use one and never change it. I don't think there's any path for it to query on/off status, but maybe you could set that up through Alexa or Hubitat somehow. Within an activity, you cannot add more devices once you say "OK" in the initial setup of that activity. Today, I swapped preamps because my main one is going to the shop. It would be nice to just swap in (at least!) the volume controls so that the rest of my family won't notice a difference, but it's not that easy. I now have to create an entirely new activity to accommodate the new preamp. Another favorite -- once you add your custom soft buttons on the screen, you cannot reorder them. So... be sure you get them in exactly the right order the first time, and don't forget one, else you'll be starting over. Again. Like I said, I really want this to work, and I'm probably going to keep it because I need *something* to replace the Harmony, but... I also realized as I write this that perhaps I have a defective Sofabaton IR blaster. Maybe I'll do a swap at Amazon... To me, Sofabaton is clearly overwhelmed with the number of customer issues. Just look at the "forum" here. So many random questions all over the place. You'd need a team of 100 or more to address all this crap. I'm sure they don't have every preamp, TV, etc., so they can't really even effectively test things. Having worked in high-tech and computer FW/HW development, I really feel for them. But my review and experience here is honest. If you can, order one from your equivalent of Amazon and give it a spin. You can always return it if it doesn't work for you. Cheers!

When are the most glaring and basic problems going to be addressed??? 1. Can't add devices to an existing activity. 2. Can't reorder custom buttons on the display. 3. Can't search for a device. 4. Database is a mess/redundant/confusing/wrong command. One has to guess at what might work, and/or go through the repair sequence to answer "did it work?" or not... I really want this to work, but it's more frustration than it's worth. I have till Jan 31 to return this to Amazon. What say you, Sofabaton?

Hi, AVP1 -- Have you actually used the X1?