Newbie.....Multiroom Home Audio
- Thread starter sam9s
- Start date
sam9s
Member
I have time, that is not much of a problem............... But now suddenly you sound as if its like too difficult and complicated?? .............Is it worth giving the eloka guys even more money than the equipment itself for the installation???
Neurorad
Senior Member
First step, read the Nuvo EG6 install manual. That will give you the best idea about what you need to learn. It's not rocket science, but it WILL take some time.
drozwood90
Senior Member
For my setup, I interface the Keychain remotes (KR-22a). I use Homeseer. Each Zone consists of a soundcard, Cat5e, PC speakers / Receiver for that Room (in my setup, the receiver is IN the room). The server controls Winamp and the Appliance modules for the PC speakers, or sends an IR signal through the extra Cat5 pairs to control the Receiver in the room. Winamp then plays out to whatever Zone it was attached to. I don't send the "power" audio signals from the HA room, just line level. Do I get some loss is quality..probably, but no one has ever mentioned it, and I can't tell the difference.
As for your setup, I would probably still do the same. I would hook up a bunch of serial to IR converters (I rolled my own). Then "record" all the IR signals that I wanted (volume up / down / power). Then, when I hit those buttons on the remote, HS would fire off the proper event to control the local receiver, or the Winamp that is associated with that Zone.
From top Right to bottom left:
Play/Pause | Stop
Previous Song | Next Song
Volume Up ONE "tick" | Volume Down ONE "tick" <-- (I designated something like 12% as a tick...)
Power On/Off | Option button (Shuffle On/Off or turns on the local Touchscreen or local lights On/Off)
Bright | Dim (after you press Either Volume button, these are activated and act as "smooth-volume" Up or Down, thus eliminates having to re-press the volume button over and over)
Then I dedicated 2 X10 House Codes to the remotes, and set them to be 4 addresses off from each other. Zone 1 is N1-4, Zone 2 is N5-8, etc. Eventually I wrap to M1-4, etc.
--Dan
P.S. My setup might not be for everyone. I just wanted to see HOW well I could make a system with just the crap laying around my house. Also, provided to be a REALLY cheap system (Had I purchased everything, probably would have only been $400...but did actually cost my $300). The best part is, I can keep expanding the system for the cost of a $5-10 USB sound card, some cat5e, and PC speakers (usually really cheap at a garage sale). This setup also works for HOW we use them (background noise). As such, we don't care that it's not DTS level...as long as it sounds pretty clear, has some decent (in OUR opinion) bass (i.e. not tinny), we are happy. I think the only room where we don't care that it's tinny is in the bathrooms (I have splash proof speakers in there...so they don't sound that great...btw got them at Rat Shack on a close out deal for $5 a pair). It's also neat to have the RF in to control the Zone in the bathroom, since it's RF, you can put the remote in a Ziploc or some other completely enclosed plastic bag type of thing and not worry about being able to press the buttons, or having the "point" the remote at an IR receiver, or if the steam from one's shower were to block that IR eye.
sam9s
Member
Okie, sounds good, I have downloaded the manual and the wiring diagram from HERE I hope this is the one you are talking about.......
Will study it in detail and will get back with my doubts and findings......
Thank you for your support and guidance.
Looking forward to hear from you and other respectable forums members more
Regards
Sammy
pete_c
Guru
The most difficult and time consuming piece is the base infrastructure for your sound.
When I moved to the current home in the MW I purchased two cases (or more don't recall) of 6.5 In-Wall stereo speakers. I installed them everywhere except for the family room. (Kitchen, Dining room, living room, bathrooms, study, etc). I also put low voltage single gang boxes near each pair of speakers. I added CAT5 cabling to the sound runs. Each one started at one location in the home as 16/4. At some "box" locations wired the 16/4 to the 16/2's (for the speakers). At the time just divided the house up into 8 zones using an RS-232 "speaker switcher". There were more speakers than zones. Fast forward to last year. I purchased a cheap and used 4 zoned amplifier with RS-232 control (actually purchased two). I have yet to connect it but the infrastructure is there.
My initial direction was a higher end multizone MM receiver. I figured if I waited a bit I'll be able to upgrade my MM receiver to one with MM upconverting, 7.1 sound, web interface, etc - don't care about multi zone MM anymore. So I am "stuck" right now with feeding 5.1 DD to a 7.1 setup for the time being. (I want to keep it separate from whole house anything at this time). I did upgrade the speakers / wiring (I have 6 network connections now below the LCD) and electric in the family room. The back of the MM center looks more like a patch panel of sorts than what it looked like before.
In FL I was able to run the cabling before the home was completed (in the MW I ran it post construction). I did the same though as the MW purchasing a couple of cases of in wall speakers. I set up for 12 zones (for 6 pairs).
I guess what I am saying is that you need to know the direction of what you want to use somewhat...now you can though be installing your speakers and cabling them. You may want to use in-ceiling speakers or in-wall speakers or even hidden speakers round, square or rectangular. You many want to spend $400 on a pair of in-wall speakers or just $100 on a pair. In three of the bedrooms the source of sound is either centralized or local. The speakers that I used are relatively inexpensive but sound fine to me at loud volumes. (bathrooms - I like to play either internet audio or MP3 loud).
When I moved to the current home in the MW I purchased two cases (or more don't recall) of 6.5 In-Wall stereo speakers. I installed them everywhere except for the family room. (Kitchen, Dining room, living room, bathrooms, study, etc). I also put low voltage single gang boxes near each pair of speakers. I added CAT5 cabling to the sound runs. Each one started at one location in the home as 16/4. At some "box" locations wired the 16/4 to the 16/2's (for the speakers). At the time just divided the house up into 8 zones using an RS-232 "speaker switcher". There were more speakers than zones. Fast forward to last year. I purchased a cheap and used 4 zoned amplifier with RS-232 control (actually purchased two). I have yet to connect it but the infrastructure is there.
My initial direction was a higher end multizone MM receiver. I figured if I waited a bit I'll be able to upgrade my MM receiver to one with MM upconverting, 7.1 sound, web interface, etc - don't care about multi zone MM anymore. So I am "stuck" right now with feeding 5.1 DD to a 7.1 setup for the time being. (I want to keep it separate from whole house anything at this time). I did upgrade the speakers / wiring (I have 6 network connections now below the LCD) and electric in the family room. The back of the MM center looks more like a patch panel of sorts than what it looked like before.
In FL I was able to run the cabling before the home was completed (in the MW I ran it post construction). I did the same though as the MW purchasing a couple of cases of in wall speakers. I set up for 12 zones (for 6 pairs).
I guess what I am saying is that you need to know the direction of what you want to use somewhat...now you can though be installing your speakers and cabling them. You may want to use in-ceiling speakers or in-wall speakers or even hidden speakers round, square or rectangular. You many want to spend $400 on a pair of in-wall speakers or just $100 on a pair. In three of the bedrooms the source of sound is either centralized or local. The speakers that I used are relatively inexpensive but sound fine to me at loud volumes. (bathrooms - I like to play either internet audio or MP3 loud).
sam9s
Member
Thanks for your valuable input pete, to be frank what I am looking for is just a simple stereo setup in 3 rooms and my bathroom for some decent background music, plus internet radio and FM radio for my bathroom. Thats it. I do not want any fancy hifi multi complex amps, spks or configurations. That is why I was like WTH when i went to Eloka people and they quoted a price for me. I though I might just buy the equipment and do the installation myself and hence approached the forum. I hope I am able to built a simple setup with the help of Gurus here. I am reading the manual which Neurorad suggested, though its not rocket science (as he himself said) but I still feel that I can do away with a much simple, inexpensive stuff. You know, like for keypads I do not want the LCD display and zillions controls, want a simple keypad that just changes the source, adjust the volume and changes the track......................let see how things goes from here. I at least have some idea how to do the cabling.
Regards
Sammy
pete_c
Guru
The Russound CAS44 (or NuVo Simplese) with 4 analogue keypads (now discontinued) may serve your needs then. Its very simple, has RS-232 connectivity. I purchased two of these used and 8 keypads (4 digital and 4 analogue) very inexpensively used (except for the keypads) (each of the keypads has an IR reciever and the amp has an IR blaster) or a multizone MM higher end receiver.
sam9s
Member
Guys, after much thought this is what I would love to do (if its possible) .......
As I said I already have Denon 1910 and Onkyo HT-R670 and both have zone 2 option and an option to add an extra source for playback. If i connect simple spk wires from these amps to the other rooms, would that work........
Now help me to solve this, is there a way I can control the volume and track from the rooms (even if I can cannot change the source I am ok with it) I just want a way to control the volume and change the track. It there some sort of independent keypad available that I can connect with the spk wires and control the volume and track, without the need of CAT5. If there is a way, it would solve my problem.
I can connect my logitech sqeezbox with either of the amp to get internet radio as well. All I need is a way to controll the playback from the zone itself.
Regards
Sammy
As I said I already have Denon 1910 and Onkyo HT-R670 and both have zone 2 option and an option to add an extra source for playback. If i connect simple spk wires from these amps to the other rooms, would that work........
Now help me to solve this, is there a way I can control the volume and track from the rooms (even if I can cannot change the source I am ok with it) I just want a way to control the volume and change the track. It there some sort of independent keypad available that I can connect with the spk wires and control the volume and track, without the need of CAT5. If there is a way, it would solve my problem.
I can connect my logitech sqeezbox with either of the amp to get internet radio as well. All I need is a way to controll the playback from the zone itself.
Regards
Sammy
roussell
Active Member
It sounds like you need an A-Bus based product. Look here for info. Several manufacturers have products (usually entry-level) based on A-Bus so you should be able to find something in your pat of the world with relative ease.
Terry
Terry
