Is the My Russound app interface any good?

[edentel]

I've currently got a Mainlobby setup running with a Russound CAA and I've hit a wall with development. Between a toddler sucking up all my time and dealing with one server issue or another it seems something is always broken. Either the server restarts or I'm chasing XM or hardware issues.

Lately I've been thinking of scrapping the Mainlobby platform and going with eKeypad for Elk/Isy control of lighting and alarms. Next I would upgrade my CAAs to full blown MCA-C5s with DMS-3.1 and the My Russound app for control

My only sticking point is what does the My Russound interface look like for MP3 selection from a server. How flexible is the searching? I've spent some time Googling but I haven't found and photos or videos showing any in depth view of the search/sort capability.


Can anyone point me to anything?

Much appreciated!
Ed

 

[Gearhead]

I have the MCA with the DMS.  The app is very iOS-like as far as searching music goes.  Downside - Searching can sometimes be sloooow.
 
I have my iTunes library mapped to a folder on a Synology NAS.  The Synology has a DLNA media server.  The DMS+MCA+app finds the shared media folder.  Installation was simple although the Russound documentation is weak.
 
Cover art seems to be inconsistent; Otherwise, it works pretty slick. 

 

[edentel]

Gearhead,
 
From what I've been able to dig out from various pictures it looks like a browsing based interface that you can drop down trees for Artist, Album, Genre, etc....  There isn't any search capability from with the wall keypad or the IOS app is there?
 
 
Thanks very much for your input!

 

[Gearhead]

Ed,
 
If you are looking for verbose text searching of your media library from the app, the answer is no.  Regarding the wall keypad, I only have the single gang units and their functionality is very basic.  There is no means to drill down to content from the keypad other than switching sources.
 
Hope this helps.

 

[edentel]

Have you used the iPhone or iPad app?  Any search capability there?   
 
Thaks very much!

 

[wlj]

Hi Ed,
 
I've used an MCA-C5 system with MDK-C5 keypads, an iPod RNET dock, and the My Russound app.  My impression is that the iPod user interface and DMS-3.1 user interface are very similar, though the iPod has no cover art.
 
Both the MDK-C5 keypad and My Russound app provide rudimentary search capabilities that are usable, but somewhat slow and clunky.  The My Russound app is essentially a less pretty version of the interface available in the TS-2 or TS-3 touch screen keypad.  The MDK-C5 interface provides the same capability, but the implementation is a bit different to accommodate the lack of a touch screen.  I find the My Russound app interface to be a bit more convenient and responsive than the MDK-C5 keypad.  Neither interface allows searching by keyword; it's all drill-down menu based.
 
You can search the iPod in these ways using the drill-down menu system:

• By Playlist
• By Genre
• By Artist
• By Album
• By Song Title

Each of these options support multiple levels of drill-down, such as Playlist -> Artist -> Albums -> Songs.   Results are shown four (4) or five (5) entries per page depending upon the type of search (My Russound) or as a scrolling list (MDK-C5), and you can page/scroll forward and backward through the results to see the available choices.  Alas, the pages/scroll doesn't wrap, so searching for something that starts with a Z requires moving sequentially from A -> Z.
 
Note that the My Russound app is functionally the same on both iPad and iPhone, though the layout is a less congested and seems more intuitive on the iPad given the added screen real estate.
 
Let me know if you have other questions.
 
Hope this helps,
-Bill

 

[edentel]

Thanks for the details! That tells me exactly what I need. Much appreciated.

 

[CJW-PIC]

NOTE: Russound just released a MAJOR firmware upgrade for all C5 systems components!

 

[wlj]

NOTE: Russound just released a MAJOR firmware upgrade for all C5 systems components!

 
Yes, they did.  The new firmware is known as Release 7, and my comments reflect both Release 7 and the previous Release 6 as there was no change in music search capabilities.  Release 7 does add support for additional audio sources for the DMS-3.1.
 
See here for highlights of what's in Release 7.
 
Cheers,
-Bill

 

[wlj]

Thanks for the details! That tells me exactly what I need. Much appreciated.

 
Ed,
 
You're welcome!  Let me know if you have other questions.
 
Cheers,
-Bill