Denon vs HEOS integrations?

Configuration
1

What are the differences and purposes of the Denon HEOS integration vs the Denon AVR Network Receivers integration? I seem to be able to add both for the same singular piece of hardware.

2

Yes. They are both media player integrations for Denon products.

HEOS is Denons wireless speaker line of products. AVR is their AV Reciever lines.

Also HEOS is connecting through Denon account vs AVR being local IP. AVR product may likely be connected through HEOS but in the end both integration offer same functionality.

3

Just to clarify, if I have zero wireless speakers, I am not using HEOS and thus do not need that integration for anything?

4

Yes. Not sure if wireless speakers could use the AVR integration but HEOS definitely not need for surround receiver.

1 Like
5

But, using the HEOS integration can give you something extra in some cases.

The AVR integration does control the receiver, but can not see, what media is played. It only select the input, changes volume and other settings.

But, if you are playing some media, like internet radio or Spotify, the HEOS integration is able to control your playlist and show the info over the media being played.

So, yes, you donā€™t need HEOS, but using it can give more options, even when not having any wireless speakers attached. :wink:

3 Likes
6

This is completely accurate. Iā€™ve been dealing with this issue now. Using mini media player (GitHub - kalkih/mini-media-player: Minimalistic media card for Home Assistant Lovelace UI) the interface looks great. But I canā€™t see album information from my Denon zone entities unless I use the HEOS service. Basically, Iā€™m going to need to replicate the HEOS app in Home Assistant.

7

Sorry to bring back and old thread, but I just found these 2 integrations, and Iā€™m confused which one to use.

I see they have slightly different options.

The AVR one can switch source and sound mode. Also this one shows the correct on/off state, and the current source .e.g (TV audio). It can also toggle the on/off state.

The HOES one has a ā€œBrowse mediaā€ button. I donā€™t honestly get why this one has that button, but the other one doesnā€™t. Both are media players, so canā€™t I just send whatever media to them? This integration also doesnā€™t have on/off state toggling or sound mode switching. The state is also a little weird, it stays on ā€œidleā€ when I watch the TV and doesnā€™t display the correct volume (also when I watch TV).

For me it seems that the HEOS one only displays what is played with the HEOS app, not other stuff that is directly played on the AVR. Is that correct?

I will probably keep both (sinceā€¦ why not), but the AVR one looks more useful, at least for my use case, since I donā€™t plan to use HEOS much

8

I use both too. One to control the Ampā€™s functions, one to control the online streaming media. A power user just NEED both :wink:

9

Hello

I need your help because for some time I canā€™t get but Heos Link HS1 with Heos home assistant integration.

Equipment :

  • 1 x Marantz AV7704
  • 2 x Heos link HS1

During the integration I can get my Marantz but not my two heos link HS1.

I donā€™t understand because it worked before.

Thanks for your help.

11

Hey there, welcome to HA forums.

You may want to start your own topic to get help on this issue.

12

In case anyoneā€™s interested: hereā€™s my universal media player config combining Denon and HEOS in a single media player

  • has an ON/OFF button via Denon (missing from HEOS)
  • has ā€œSound Modeā€ selector via Denon (missing from HEOS)
  • volume control via Denon (more fine-granular than HEOS)
  • otherwise like HEOS (including album art etc.)

just replace media_player.denon_avr_x2700h and media_player.denon_avr_x2700h_heos with your own entities.

media_player:
  - platform: universal
    name: Denon
    unique_id: denon_universal_remote
    device_class: receiver
    children:
      - media_player.denon_avr_x2700h # Denon AVR Integration
      - media_player.denon_avr_x2700h_heos # Denon HEOS Integration
    browse_media_entity: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h_heos
    commands:
      turn_off:
        service: media_player.turn_off
        data:
          entity_id: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h
      turn_on:
        service: media_player.turn_on
        data:
          entity_id: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h
      volume_up:
        service: media_player.volume_up
        data:
          entity_id: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h
      volume_down:
        service: media_player.volume_down
        data:
          entity_id: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h
      select_sound_mode:
        service: media_player.select_sound_mode
        target:
          entity_id: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h
        data:
          sound_mode: "{{ sound_mode }}"
    attributes:
      sound_mode: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h|sound_mode
      sound_mode_raw: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h|sound_mode_raw
      sound_mode_list: media_player.denon_avr_x2700h|sound_mode_list

grafik
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5 Likes
13

Thanks for sharing this @hosswald
Any way to enhance this to support multiple AVR zones?
I have a couple of Denon x2800 AVRs with 2 zones each and am trying to set up each zone as an (almost) fully functional media player. While the Denon integration supports zones and Iā€™ve got separate entities per each zone, it seems the HEOS integration does not.
Iā€™ve been digging into this for a while now and wasnā€™t able to find a proper solution for real mutli-zone support with my AVRs, though I thought it would be quite a common setupā€¦ so Iā€™d highly appreciate a solution if youā€™ve got one.
Thanks!!

14

This is great, but Iā€™m wondering if youā€™ve updated it at all since because mine seems unable to combine the functions correctly, and doesnā€™t display the media metadata from HEOS either.

Edit: I should add, this is having only tested it with Spotify playing, but HEOS music updates perfectly fine (on my phone app, for example).

15

Ran into the same issue configuring the universal media player for a DRA-800H, based on the doc mentioned above.
Some features work, others donā€™t. Guess I found a new weekend project :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

16

I am experiencing trouble with HEOS integration. Every morning when I turn on the system via HA the integration has stopped working. I have to login and reload the HEOS integration to start it working again. It started a few weeks ago and before everything went smooth without any trouble. Are there more people who have this kind of behavior of the HEOS integration? And if so, did you manage to solve this problem?

17

My HEOS integration sometimes becomes unavailable during the day. I have an automation that reloads it. You could do something similar.

alias: "Heos unavailable "
description: ""
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - media_player.denon_avr_x1800h_2
    to: unavailable
    for:
      hours: 0
      minutes: 0
      seconds: 30
condition: []
action:
  - service: homeassistant.reload_config_entry
    data:
      entry_id: e40b4e55346a109421d786835b78abca
mode: single

You will need to determine the configuration id for your HEOS integration.

18

Thank you very much, I will have a try.