Real multiroom/multi zone audio system with multi source-multi output

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  • gryzli133
    27. Januar 2018 at 15:29 #33690

    I’m just few weeks before cabling my new house with all possible smart home solutions (lights, doors, roller shutters, heating, cooling etc). Since few weeks I’m looking for a solution for multi room – multi source audio system. The problem is it should be scalable, the best would be to send audio over LAN network (all house will be wired with gigabit LAN). So before putting much to much cables for sources and speakers I was trying to find solution to avoid unnecessary cabling all the house with even more cables.

    I would like to be able, to use my audio system either independent or partially/fully synchronized. I would like to keep all the possible audio zones independent, at least it would be:
    – living room
    – kitchen
    – bathroom 1
    – bathroom 2
    – terrace
    maybe also later
    – fitness room
    – office

    Because you never know the future ideas, this is why I would like to be able to keep the system scalable. I like the feeling when every single door is open, you move over the house and hear everywhere the same music. At the moment in my old flat it is just possible if I turn the same analog radio station in each room. But it would be the best to be able select any source for any room/zone, like:
    – TV
    – Spotify/webradio
    – own music collection
    – any AUX device – like lokal Radio reciver, CD player, turntable, computer etc
    – bluetooth device – smartphone, laptop

    I was trying to put some schematic together, how it could look like:

    I was trying to find any working solution, but there is a lot of informations about low latency audio streaming, but there is no information about how to get it done. I belive there must be any working solution that may apply to my requirements. After viewing few videos of Max2Play I though it would maybe work like I wish to.

    If this would be possible with your system, which and how many licences would I need to buy?

    What about the latency in your system? Would it be possible to watch TV/Movie and play the sound through Max2Play without feeling the delay in Audio?

    Thank you in advance to help me!

    Heiner premium
    29. Januar 2018 at 17:01 #33734

    Hi gryzli,

    Firstly, the idea of using ethernet is your ideal solution, it makes everything scalable and modular.

    In general you got our system’s general idea down perfectly. We use the Squeezebox system with one server instance on one of the Pi’s and players on all the others.

    We put together a guide on an exemplary multiroom system which is very similar. Here it is

    We also created a Multiroom Audio Configurator to make sure you have the right setup for each room (using HAT sound cards for the Pi as its built-in audio is subpar). Here is the configurator

    Now the best news of all, you just need one license for our OS and you can try it for free 🙂

    Let me know if you have any more specific questions and write me via mail if you need some feedback on buying our bundles/complete solutions

    gryzli133
    31. Januar 2018 at 18:18 #33777

    Thank you for your fast reply! 🙂

    Can you tell me more about the latency in your system? Is it possible to watch TV without the feeling, the sound come too late?

    If needed I can use LAN cable between all the sinks and the server.

    Can I test these features on free licence? Or would it be possible to get a „demo licence“ to be able to test if this system is suitable for my needs?

    Heiner premium
    1. Februar 2018 at 12:55 #33786

    – Should not be an issue, Kodi comes free and preinstalled on our image, you can test it out now.
    – Not sure I understand, it is ideal to have all players and the server connected via LAN but WiFi works too.
    – Our core features are free as well as the image download for the Premium Plugins you get a 1 month trial license in our shop.

    tjockis
    16. Juni 2018 at 16:53 #36211

    Hi,

    I am on my way to build quite a similar setup.
    My only question is:
    What is the latency in the system?
    I will use audio inputs mainly through cables

    This is very important since I am sometimes having DJ’s playing music in my venue, and it is a torture for them to play and monitor the music when the latency is too high.

    Grateful for answers or tips

    Heiner premium
    18. Juni 2018 at 13:49 #36238

    Hi tjockis,

    If you are using a cabled input like HDMI, the latency will depend on various factors. Generally, the use of input not through the Squeezebox Server itself from another source through cable will cause latency and will have to be achieved manually, as we do not offer any out-of-the-box solution for outside input.

    tjockis
    18. Juni 2018 at 16:38 #36242

    thanks for your answer

    i don’t mind a little bit of hacking to achieve it.
    just wondering if we are talking a few milliseconds or almost a second, or more?
    is it doable? 🙂

    thank you

    Heiner premium
    19. Juni 2018 at 12:19 #36256

    probably more like a second or more, but as I mentioned we do not offer input support and therefore cannot be precise. You can try asking in the slimdevices forums, where the wave input plugin is discussed most frequently.

    tjockis
    19. Juni 2018 at 14:59 #36259

    okay, thank you

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