This is pretty much my experience except for two things: I don't have the genie, but an older HD-DVR box, also I find the Xbox One amplifies my sound so that I have turn my sound down, not up. The sound, I believe, is due to the surround sound "beta" that I have turned on, though.
My favorite thing about the Xbox One is the HDMI pass-thru. I know switching inputs on my TV and audio receiver wasn't that big of a deal, but being able to switch instantly between TV and games is freaking awesome. Having notifications pop up while I'm watching is freaking awesome. Having to turn on just the Xbox One and it turn on my TV and receiver is freaking awesome. I feel like if I ever get a PS4, switching to get to it is going to feel antiquated.
While I have my DirecTV box running through the One, I don't really use the guide much. I still use my DirecTV remote to switch channels and adjust volume on the receiver. When I have used the guide just to mess around, it's worked perfectly fine. It changes the channel, pauses, etc. using IR. The only time it fails is when the DirecTV box doesn't respond, the model I have is notoriously slow, the remote even fails to register sometimes.
I feel like I'll use the One guide more if I ever decide to go through and set my favorite channels. That and the fact that guide is much more responsive that on my DirecTV box, those are what may get me to switch eventually. The One guide's biggest problem right now is that it shows every single channel that DirecTV offers, while my actual DirecTV box hides stuff I don't pay for. This is where setting up my favorites would fix this.
In my opinion, the Xbox One doesn't reinvent TV, it just makes it insanely more convenient to switch between TV, Netflix, games, IE, etc.