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Old 12-16-2019, 12:29 AM   #1
DeluxeMoustache
 
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Default Multi zone wired music systems

I have a house with a 10 year old Control4 system that really only ever used audio, with 5 zones. It could only ever stream one audio source to the various zones at a time. Two zones had touch screens to control input, and the rest had simple on/off and volume controls (single gang, ~ light switch size).

The controller died and I am interested in moving outside of constraint of being dealer installed.

So basically I am starting with a number of rooms with hard wired speakers and looking for a system to deliver music to multiple zones

I also have a pretty decent sized collection of music including a lot of CDs that aren’t available on your streaming services, so some way to manage that collection would be useful


Two things I have come across and was looking at are

HTD.com - Lync6 v3 - looks like it should be able to handle the selection of inputs and allocation to output zones, also can simultaneously direct different sources to different zones

https://www.htd.com/Products/Whole-House-Audio/

and

CasaTunes -

https://www.casatunes.com/systems

The upside of both is that they seem to handle multi input / multi output better, and are about 50-75 percent less expensive than getting a Control4 reseller to help out.

It appears like the CasaTunes system has the capacity to manage a library of music. HTD on their website seem to indicate they interface to systems like CasaTunes

Is anyone familiar with these systems? Any opinions?

Or any other recommendations for moving away from my current system and making use of a wired house?

Thanks
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Old 12-16-2019, 09:31 AM   #2
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A receiver with a wifi raspberry pi DAC set up with volumio installed? something like:

https://www.buyapi.ca/product/boss-player-v1-2/
(Much cheaper if you buy the parts and assemble it yourself)
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Old 12-16-2019, 10:59 AM   #3
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Old 12-17-2019, 08:18 AM   #4
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I use this system from Monoprice. Works well and has an app for it. Did the installation myself since my house was also pre-wired. It can stream 6 different audio sources to 6 different zones, though I've only ever had three sources active at any time.

This definitely comes in much cheaper than both the systems you had listed. Actually it looks like the Casa one is just a rebranded monoprice with the music storage included.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=10761

Last edited by FlameOn; 12-17-2019 at 08:20 AM.
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Old 12-23-2019, 07:27 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF View Post
A receiver with a wifi raspberry pi DAC set up with volumio installed? something like:

https://www.buyapi.ca/product/boss-player-v1-2/
(Much cheaper if you buy the parts and assemble it yourself)
Thanks, this looks like it could be awesome.

I didn’t really know much about raspberry pi until now and had never heard of volumio!

I scooped up one of these at allo.com
https://allo.com/sparky/boss-player.html

$169 for an aluminum case or $129 for clear acrylic and there is a 10 pct Black Friday discount through Dec 25

Interested to see how it works!

Last edited by DeluxeMoustache; 12-23-2019 at 08:14 PM.
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Old 12-24-2019, 12:58 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache View Post
Thanks, this looks like it could be awesome.

I didn’t really know much about raspberry pi until now and had never heard of volumio!

I scooped up one of these at allo.com
https://allo.com/sparky/boss-player.html

$169 for an aluminum case or $129 for clear acrylic and there is a 10 pct Black Friday discount through Dec 25

Interested to see how it works!
Nice! I just want to mention that the Allo Boss is a just an audio input/output. You still need to figure out a receiver and/or power amp set up.

My set up was an Allo Boss plus a 2x100W power amp and some book case speakers I had collecting dust. If the Boss doesn't work great with your ceiling speaker set up, connecting it to a receiver and speakers isn't a bad option.

Mine is somewhat similar to this as I was just going with a budget build.
https://www.amazon.ca/Nobsound-Subwo...44&sr=8-8&th=1


I have an Allo Boss and I really like it. I like how I can hop onto any computer with a browser and as long as I'm on the same network, type in the ip address and select music from whatever is connected to the raspberry pi (USB etc.) and manage the music/radio/playlists/volume that way. Hopefully you can find a decent receiver option that works for your ceiling speaker set up.
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Old 01-31-2020, 06:47 PM   #7
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^ DoubleF, the Allo Boss was a great recommendation, sure got the job done!

I have a hard drive connected to the USB port with tons of music loaded on it, and then if I just want to stream from my phone/ iPad, I just pick it as the AirPlay destination.

It is the main source feeding my multi zone controller now.

Thanks!
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Old 03-05-2020, 01:32 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache View Post
^ DoubleF, the Allo Boss was a great recommendation, sure got the job done!

I have a hard drive connected to the USB port with tons of music loaded on it, and then if I just want to stream from my phone/ iPad, I just pick it as the AirPlay destination.

It is the main source feeding my multi zone controller now.

Thanks!


Your last comment about Airplay stuck out to me for the last month but I didn't get a chance to check until now because I brought the Allo Boss to work.

Holy crap I am an idiot! I've spent dozens of hours trying to figure out the coding to fix Spotify streaming in Volumio to no avail (borked about 3 updates ago) and this works right away and is easier and superior!? WOW! Thank you! I cannot believe I have been overlooking this option for so long! (Originally used a Raspi2 with no wifi and I never thought to look into the casting option after I upgraded to a Raspi3)

I'm totally building another one!

Frigg!! The Allo products are all essentially sold out except for the high end Katana set up. There goes my impulse buy.
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