diff --git a/raveloxmidi/configure.ac b/raveloxmidi/configure.ac
index d8add12..f15b3d8 100755
--- a/raveloxmidi/configure.ac
+++ b/raveloxmidi/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AC_INIT([raveloxmidi],[0.7.2])
+AC_INIT([raveloxmidi],[0.7.99])
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AC_CANONICAL_BUILD
 AC_CANONICAL_TARGET
diff --git a/raveloxmidi/include/remote_connection.h b/raveloxmidi/include/remote_connection.h
index 9afd5e4..6e90dc7 100644
--- a/raveloxmidi/include/remote_connection.h
+++ b/raveloxmidi/include/remote_connection.h
@@ -27,4 +27,5 @@ void remote_connect_teardown( void );
 void remote_connect_sync_start( void );
 void remote_connect_wait_for_thread( void );
 
+#define DEFAULT_CONTROL_PORT 	5004
 #endif
diff --git a/raveloxmidi/src/net_socket.c b/raveloxmidi/src/net_socket.c
index 2cc9c45..904d8e5 100644
--- a/raveloxmidi/src/net_socket.c
+++ b/raveloxmidi/src/net_socket.c
@@ -428,6 +428,8 @@ void net_socket_loop_init()
 		logging_printf(LOGGING_DEBUG, "net_socket_loop_init: pipe0=%d pipe1=%d\n", pipe_fd[0], pipe_fd[1]);
 		FD_SET( pipe_fd[1], &read_fds );
 	}
+	fcntl(pipe_fd[0], F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK);
+	fcntl(pipe_fd[1], F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK);
 }
 
 void net_socket_loop_teardown()
diff --git a/raveloxmidi/src/raveloxmidi_config.c b/raveloxmidi/src/raveloxmidi_config.c
index 9a162bb..6990385 100644
--- a/raveloxmidi/src/raveloxmidi_config.c
+++ b/raveloxmidi/src/raveloxmidi_config.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ static void config_set_defaults( void )
 	config_add_item("inbound_midi","/dev/sequencer");
 	config_add_item("file_mode", "0640");
 	config_add_item("discover.timeout","5");
-	config_add_item("sync.interval","60");
+	config_add_item("sync.interval","10");
 #ifdef HAVE_ALSA
 	config_add_item("alsa.input_buffer_size", "4096" );
 #endif
@@ -254,7 +254,10 @@ long config_long_get( char *key )
 
 int config_is_set( char *key )
 {
-	return ( kv_find_item( config_items, key ) != NULL );
+	kv_item_t *item = NULL;
+
+	item  = kv_find_item( config_items, key );
+	return ( ( item != NULL ) && ( item->value != NULL ) && ( strlen(item->value) > 0 ) );
 }
 
 void config_add_item(char *key, char *value )
diff --git a/raveloxmidi/src/remote_connection.c b/raveloxmidi/src/remote_connection.c
index 0336c69..eb56b5c 100644
--- a/raveloxmidi/src/remote_connection.c
+++ b/raveloxmidi/src/remote_connection.c
@@ -67,27 +67,97 @@ void remote_connect_init( void )
 	net_ctx_t *ctx;
 	int use_ipv4, use_ipv6;
 	uint32_t initiator = 0, ssrc = 0;
+	char *p1 = NULL;
+	char *p2 = NULL;
+	int remote_port_number = 0;
 
-	remote_service_name = config_string_get("remote.connect");
 
-	if( (! remote_service_name)  || ( strlen( remote_service_name ) <=0 ) )
+	if( ! config_is_set( "remote.connect" ) )
 	{
-		logging_printf(LOGGING_WARN, "remote_connect_init: remote.connect option is present but not set\n");
+		logging_printf(LOGGING_WARN, "remote_connect_init: Called with no remote.connect value\n");
 		return;
 	}
 
+	remote_service_name = (char *) strdup( config_string_get("remote.connect") );
+
 	logging_printf(LOGGING_DEBUG, "remote_connect_init: Looking for [%s]\n", remote_service_name);
 
-	use_ipv4 = is_yes( config_string_get("service.ipv4") ) ;
-	use_ipv6 = is_yes( config_string_get("service.ipv6") ) ;
+	p1 = remote_service_name;
+	p2 = p1 + strlen( remote_service_name );
 
-	if( dns_discover_services( use_ipv4, use_ipv6 ) <= 0 )
+	/* Work backwards to find a colon ':' */
+	/* If a ']' character is found first, we'll assume this is going to be an direct connect address */
+
+	while( p2 > p1 )
 	{
-		logging_printf(LOGGING_WARN, "remote_connect_init: No services available\n");
-		return;
+		if( *p2 == ']' ) break;
+		if( *p2 == ':' ) break;
+		p2--;
+	}
+
+
+
+	/* If no colon ':' or ']' was found, we'll assume this is a service name to be located */
+	if( p2 == p1 )
+	{
+		use_ipv4 = is_yes( config_string_get("service.ipv4") ) ;
+		use_ipv6 = is_yes( config_string_get("service.ipv6") ) ;
+
+		if( dns_discover_services( use_ipv4, use_ipv6 ) <= 0 )
+		{
+			logging_printf(LOGGING_WARN, "remote_connect_init: No services available\n");
+			free( remote_service_name );
+			return;
+		}
+
+		found_service = dns_discover_by_name( remote_service_name );
+		goto make_remote_connection;
+	}  else {
+		/* If there is a colon ':', split the string to determine the port number */
+		if( *p2 == ':' )
+		{
+			*p2='\0';
+			p2++;
+			remote_port_number = atoi( p2 );
+			p2 = remote_service_name + strlen( remote_service_name ) - 1;
+		}
+
+		/* If there is a ']', work forwards from the start of the string to remove the '[' */
+		if ( *p2 == ']' )
+		{
+			*p2='\0';
+			while( p1 < p2 )
+			{
+				if( *p1 == '[' ) break;
+				p1++;
+			}
+
+		}
+		if( p1 == p2 )
+		{
+			p1 = remote_service_name;
+		} else {
+			*p1='\0';
+			p1++;
+		}
+
+		if( remote_port_number == 0 )
+		{
+			logging_printf( LOGGING_ERROR, "remote_connect_init: No port number specified\n");
+			free( remote_service_name );
+			return;
+		}
+
+		logging_printf( LOGGING_DEBUG, "remote_connect_init: connect_string=>%s<\n", config_string_get("remote.connect") );
+		logging_printf( LOGGING_DEBUG, "remote_connect_init: connect_address=>%s<, connect_port=%d\n", p1, remote_port_number );
+
+		dns_discover_add( config_string_get("remote.connect"), p1, remote_port_number );
+		found_service = dns_discover_by_name( config_string_get("remote.connect") );
 	}
+	
 
-	found_service = dns_discover_by_name( remote_service_name );
+make_remote_connection:
+	free( remote_service_name );
 
 	if( ! found_service )
 	{