Rotel RA-1592 Protocol

Rotel RA-1592

RS232 / IP ASCII Controller Command List

Date Version Update Description

February 5, 2016 1.00 Original Specification

September 16, 2016 1.01 Corrected volume scale from 1 - 86 to 1 - 96

The RA-1592 supports an ASCII based RS232 and IP protocol. The RS232
hardware does not support flow control so care needs to be take when sending and
receiving data to avoid packet loss.

All commands sent to the attached Rotel device must have a terminating “!” character.

Example Command: power_on!

Note: Do not include any spaces in the command, and do not include a carriage return
or line feed after the command, only the “!” terminating character.

Status information from the attached Rotel product with either have a terminating “!”
character or a byte count for variable length text data that may include a “!” in the
returned message. It is up to the sending/receiving control application to properly parse
and process the packets.

Note: The byte count only includes the text data and not the length or “,” character.

Note about Rotel Link RCD feature: The input that has been selected for the ROTEL LINK
RCD option in the setup menu of the RA-1592 will affect the response string from the
unit for that input. If the input has been set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response
string for that input will be the second string listed in the table (i.e. if COAX1 has been
set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response string will be source=coax1_cd! rather than
the standard response string of source=coax1!).

Note about PC-USB Transport control codes: The basic transport functions
(Play/Pause/Track etc) for PC-USB will ONLY function when the RA-1592 is set for USB

2.0 mode.

RS232 Connection Settings

Baud Rate Parity Valid Data Bits Stop Bit Value Handshaking Data Type

115200 N 8 1 None String

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IP Control Settings

The RA-1592 will accept and respond to IP control commands if the product is
connected to a local network and has a valid IP address.

Commands will be accepted via TCP port 9590, and the unit will send responses back via
the same port. The command and response format is identical to the serial commands.

Communication Protocol

Command and response messages are included on the following pages.
Automatic display update information can be enabled/disabled using the
“display_update_auto” and “display_update_manual” commands.

In automatic mode each time the display changes the new display line(s) will be sent.
In manual mode the display updates must be requested each time a refresh of the
display information is desired. This primarily applies to Front USB metadata information.
Basic status information such as volume, power or source changes will still be provided
automatically.

Section 1: Control Command List

RA-1592 ASCII Command Description Unit Response

POWER & VOLUME COMMANDS

power_on! Power On power=on!
power_off! Power Off power=standby!
power_toggle! Power Toggle power=on/standby!
volume_up! Volume Up volume=##!
volume_down! Volume Down volume=##!
volume_min! Set Volume to Min volume=min!
volume_n! Set Volume to level n (n = 1 - 96) volume=##!
mute! Mute Toggle mute=on/off!
mute_on! Mute On mute=on!
mute_off! Mute Off mute=off!

SOURCE SELECTION COMMANDS

cd! Source CD

coax1! Source Coax 1

coax2! Source Coax 2

coax3! Source Coax 3

opt1! Source Optical 1 source=opt1!
opt2! Source Optical 2 source=opt2!
opt3! Source Optical 3 source=opt3!
aux! Source Aux source=aux!
tuner! Source Tuner source=tuner!

source=cd! /
source=analog_cd!
source=coax1! /
source=coax1_cd!
source=coax2! /
source=coax2_cd!
source=coax3! /
source=coax3_cd!

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RA-1592 ASCII Command Description Unit Response
phono! Source Phono source=phono!
usb! Source Front USB source=usb!
pc_usb! Source PC-USB source=pc_usb!

bal_xlr! Source XLR

source=bal_xlr! /
source=bal_xlr_cd!

bluetooth! Source Bluetooth source=bluetooth!

source=analog_cd! /

rcd! Source Rotel CD

source=coax1_cd! /
source=coax2_cd! /

source=bal_xlr_cd!

SOURCE CONTROL COMMANDS

play! Play Source n/a
stop! Stop Source n/a
pause! Pause Source n/a
track_fwd! Track Forward/Tune Up n/a
track_back! Track Backward/Tune Down n/a
fast_fwd! Fast Forward/Search Forward n/a
fast_back! Fast Backward/Search Backward n/a

MENU CONTROL COMMANDS

menu! Display the Menu n/a
exit! Exit Key n/a
up! Cursor Up n/a
down! Cursor Down n/a
left! Cursor Left n/a
right! Cursor Right n/a
enter! Enter Key n/a

NUMERIC KEY COMMANDS

1! Number Key 1 n/a
2! Number Key 2 n/a
3! Number Key 3 n/a
4! Number Key 4 n/a
5! Number Key 5 n/a
6! Number Key 6 n/a
7! Number Key 7 n/a
8! Number Key 8 n/a
9! Number Key 9 n/a
0! Number Key 0 n/a

TONE CONTROL COMMANDS

tone_on! Tone Controls On tone=on!
tone_off! Tone Controls Off tone=off!
bass_up! Bass Up bass=000/+##/-##!
bass_down! Bass Down bass=000/+##/-##!
bass_-10! Set Bass to -10 bass=-10!

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