Monoprice multi-zone audio

[signal15]

By discrete IR codes he means the ability to send IR commands to zones other than the local zone for the keypad IR receiver you are using.  I doubt there are any and don't think there is an IR receiver on the amp itself either. 
 
The RS232 functions look complete.  You can control individual zones or all zones (per amp).  The only question I had was whether changes from the keypads generate RS232 updates or polling is required.
 
I am sure it is only 6x18.  However it would be useful if you could have a combination of global zones and local zones for each amp.  This might be possible by disconnecting some of the pins on the 18-pin connector.

 
 
There are IR receivers on all keypads, and a separate IR receiver.  IR codes sent get repeated out all IR transmitters.

 

[az1324]

Where is the separate IR receiver?
 
IR is sent from the keypads to the emitter of the selected source and the common (ALL) emitter. 
 
That doesn't have anything to do with discrete codes for zone control though.

 

[signal15]

FYI, Factor Electronics does NOT make this.  However, it likely comes out of the same factory in china.

 

[az1324]

Ok changed my post to reflect that. 
 
Would be interesting to know if any manufacturer info is printed on the internals.

 

[signal15]

Ok changed my post to reflect that. 
 
Would be interesting to know if any manufacturer info is printed on the internals.

 
 
I'll take it apart and find out.  They arrive tomorrow.
 
I know Factor doesn't make it because I emailed them asking a question about it, and then I mentioned that I bought 2 of the unbranded ones from Monoprice.  They said they didn't make them and they probably came out of the same factory in China.  But, Factor does have an intercom/paging system coming out next month that is meant to work with their V-66.  So it's likely it will work with this also.

 

[signal15]

So I got these things on wednesday and I promptly hooked one of them up.  I've got two zones on it now, with keypads.  I had to wire one of the zones, but the other was already wired because it had some kind of IR/keypad thing from the mid 90's (which was good, because that zone was 2 floors up and on the other side of the house).  
 
I gotta say, it works really nice, and sounds great.  I have a bunch of 20 year old Infinity wall speakers and the surrounds are starting to fall apart.  Since I bought some Monoprice 4101's, I cranked the volume to max with some metal on pause, unpaused it, and the surrounds blew out a couple of feet and floated to the ground.    I then put the 4101's in.  They sound GREAT.  Not a ton of bass for a 8", but no wall speakers I've heard has a lot of bass since they are designed for an infinite enclosure.  But, it's still enough for casual listening.
 
This thing sounds WAY better than my 200W Sony receiver running through the old Niles gear with impedance matching volume controls.  I'm impressed.
 
I haven't gotten around to playing with the serial protocol yet, I'm waiting for my 4-port Wiznet IP->serial converter to arrive and then I'll write a plugin for the Vera.  Thinking about writing a mobile app also.  Anyone have suggestions for a good mobile framework that's free and will let me cross compile to multiple platforms?
 
I also haven't gotten around to hooking up the paging thing yet.  I just switch my zones back to zone 1 when I'm done listening to music.
 
One of the things I did was to buy a Homespot bluetooth audio receiver from Amazon.  They are like $28, and the range is awesome.  I can stream to it from 90% of my house, and it's down in the basement in a utility room sitting on a shelf on a telco rack.  It's got an NFC thing on it for pairing, and for switching your phone to it after it's already paired.  I cloned the NFC tag in the unit and made copies of it.  I stuck them on the Decora plates around the volume controls.  So now, if I'm in a room, I can tap my phone on the plate, and play music to that room.  
 
I haven't taken them apart yet to see if there are any identifying marks inside on who the manufacturer is.  Just glancing at it, it doesn't appear there is a warranty void sticker on it.  Maybe I'll get around to it this weekend.  
 
Another thing I noticed is that the "hub" for the keypads is mounted on a decora plate.  I wish there was a wiring diagram for it so I could punch down wires on the back of a patch panel to make my own hub.  There's no electronics on it that I can see, only traces.  And each wire appears to only use 4 conductors.  The instructions say you need cat5e or cat6, but my one keypad is on over 100 feet of plain cat5 installed 20 years ago, and it works fine.
 
About the only thing "cheap" about this thing is the remote that came with it.  But, I would assume that most people would just use it to program a nice remote.

 

[az1324]

Nice.  Pics of internals would be bonus.
 
They keypads are probably V+, GND, RS485 A, RS485 B which is interesting in that if you work out the protocol and tap into the RS485 you could potentially have 6 addressable IR emitters at your disposal.

 

[bucko]

I gotta ask...What is this NFC thing? Could you explain more how you can use your phone to stream music? 
 
I almost bought 2 HTD systems, just before the monoprice one popped up, So I am watching this thread closely to see how you guys like the monoprice. I use the monoprice HDMI matrix switcher which has been doing nicely.
 
 

One of the things I did was to buy a Homespot bluetooth audio receiver from Amazon.  They are like $28, and the range is awesome.  I can stream to it from 90% of my house, and it's down in the basement in a utility room sitting on a shelf on a telco rack.  It's got an NFC thing on it for pairing, and for switching your phone to it after it's already paired.  I cloned the NFC tag in the unit and made copies of it.  I stuck them on the Decora plates around the volume controls.  So now, if I'm in a room, I can tap my phone on the plate, and play music to that room.  

 

[signal15]

Nice.  Pics of internals would be bonus.
 
They keypads are probably V+, GND, RS485 A, RS485 B which is interesting in that if you work out the protocol and tap into the RS485 you could potentially have 6 addressable IR emitters at your disposal.

 
If it were RS485, there would be terminating resistors on the hub.  I don't think it's RS485 because I don't see any resistors.

 

[signal15]

I gotta ask...What is this NFC thing? Could you explain more how you can use your phone to stream music? 
 
I almost bought 2 HTD systems, just before the monoprice one popped up, So I am watching this thread closely to see how you guys like the monoprice. I use the monoprice HDMI matrix switcher which has been doing nicely.

 
Near Field Communications.  It's RFID.  Most modern android phones have an RFID reader built into them.  If you've got an iPhone, well, it doesn't.  An NFC tag is just an RFID tag.  You can encode it with all sorts of information, including website URLs, vcard info, pairing information for wifi or bluetooth, task lists to use with NFC Task Launcher, etc.
 
Since the bluetooth receiver I bought has a tag in it that contains pairing information, you just tap the phone on it to make the phone pair with it.  All of the stuff happens in the phone, the NFC tag just provides the info on what to do.  So, when I cloned the tag and made copies, they all look just like the tag that's built into the unit.  When I'm in a room and tap the phone, it connects the phone's audio to the bluetooth receiver instead of me having to go into the bluetooth settings and do it manually.  It does NOT switch the input for the zone to the correct input... Yet.  But, I'm going to use Tasker and NFC task launcher to call an intent for Home Buddy which makes my Vera set the relevant zone input for me.  I'm just waiting for my ethernet->serial converter so I can write a plugin for Vera.
 
As a side note, I have another NFC tag on my nightstand.  I put my phone down on it when I charge it at night, and it calls Tasker which runs some intents that turn off all of the lights in the house and arms the alarm system.  At my last house, the Elk controlled the garage doors, so I put a tag in the ceiling of my truck which would open or close the garage door when scanned.
 
I have another one at the front door that has my guest wifi creds, so when I have guests over that want to get on the network, they just scan the tag.

 

[dgage]

signal15...I have a Windows phone so that sounds like science fiction.   So cool though...so very cool.

 

[az1324]

 
If it were RS485, there would be terminating resistors on the hub.  I don't think it's RS485 because I don't see any resistors.

Not necessarily depending on baudrate and transceivers used.

 

[bucko]

IC now. That's cool, but I'm an iPhone user so not going to help me there.
 
I still think maybe the monoprice audio is going to work better than the HTD system. HTD won't develope any plug ins, they expect the customer to figure it out. That is a deal killer for me.

 

[signal15]

signal15...I have a Windows phone so that sounds like science fiction.   So cool though...so very cool.

 
 
My brother has a Windows phone (a Nokia), and it has NFC on it.

 

[dgage]

 
 
My brother has a Windows phone (a Nokia), and it has NFC on it.

I know...but does it have something like Tasker? I haven't seen anything since MS went for the more stable but controlled route and has fewer APIs available to call.