Audio Distrubution options?

[jlokanis]

Hi,

I'm trying to sort out the options for audio distribution in my new house. Here is what I am trying to do:

Sources:
PC soundcard
CD PLayer
DVD Player
Sat Dish tuner

Destinations:
5 different rooms.

I don't need/want keypads. I am using touchscreens for control. I just need the unit to be automated via PC interface.

I also will need an AMP that can power 4 rooms.

I have all sources routed to my wirings room and all speaker wire pulled to the wiring room as well, so I want a centrally controlled solution, not a distributed one.

Suggestions?

thanks,

-John

 

[az1324]

I am also searching for distributed audio options and i found the following thread informative

http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=4452

 

[IVB]

Based on your needs, I think the Russound line [CAV66 has a current driver in both CQC & MainLobby] would be a good fit for you. It's a single device that does both source/zone mapping & amplification.

It can handle 6 inputs and 6 zones, and has a 20 watt per channel amp for them. That's good enough for most rooms/background listening. If there's a room that you want more power to, you can buy an amp just for that zone. Make sure it's got signal sensing or 12V triggers so you don't have to leave it on 24x7.

Keep in mind that 99.9% of devices cannot "transcode" signals, so you're going to feed it analog for all inputs so it can map accordingly.

 

[upstatemike]

Hi,

I'm trying to sort out the options for audio distribution in my new house. Here is what I am trying to do:

Sources:
PC soundcard
CD PLayer
DVD Player
Sat Dish tuner

Destinations:
5 different rooms.

I don't need/want keypads. I am using touchscreens for control. I just need the unit to be automated via PC interface.

I also will need an AMP that can power 4 rooms.

I have all sources routed to my wirings room and all speaker wire pulled to the wiring room as well, so I want a centrally controlled solution, not a distributed one.

Suggestions?

thanks,

-John

Do you want different things going on in the five rooms or will you pick one source to a time to be distributed among the rooms?

What kind of music will you be distributing from your DVD source? Are there music only DVDs?

Local volume control is to be via touchpad?

 

[jlokanis]

Yes, I would like to route any source to any destination. So, they could all be on one source or each on a different one.

And regarding the DVD player, I guess there is no pressing need to get audio from it to the other sources, since the only DVD only audio would be multi channem and that would only be of use in the home theatre room.

As for control, I would be using a combo of touchscreens, PDA remotes and possibly IR transmitters. My main goal is to have a routing unit that can be contrlled by PC, so I can have software that gets commands via the touch screens and controls the source and volume for a zone.

I am using the Red Radio mini touch screens in 3 of the zones. The other two are outside so I would set those up from inside or from a PDA remote with WiFi.

So far, the research points to a Russound CAA or CAM 6 units without the keypads.

-John

 

[upstatemike]

I have to agree. Since you need the amps in the Russound anyway, it is probably going to be your best option. Actually the keypads are a big part of the cost so eliminating them might make this a more cost effective solution as well. You probably will want to have at least 1 keypad on the system however as a backup in case your PC link fails for some reason.