Software controlled audio distribution amp

[777]

I am looking for a distribution amp (up to 16 speakers) that allows:

Complete software control of each individual speaker's volume, on/off status
Network connected and with scriptable interface
Can be interfaced to the ELK M1 for event-driven speaker control

All suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[upstatemike]

Hi 777,

Most of the multiroom 6-zone systems like Russound and nuvo can be cascaded to expand to 18 zones or more. (expensive)

Zon makes a system that can be expanded to any size (also expensive and I'm not sure about the software interface)

A-bus might be be more coste effective for that size installation but you will have to research to see if that approach will really do what you want.

I believe the Sonos wireless sytem is gaining support with a lot of automation vendors as well.

What software are you planning to interface this system with?

 

[777]

I am using an ELK M1 Gold with lighting control from Simply-Automated in a commercial building with 3-phase power.

I am going to use the US2-40 base with ZS25O faceplate for individual room control. When the M1 senses a button push from the ZS25O, it will trigger a rule to control equipment in that room only. I have held off on choosing stereo ceiling speakers and a distribution amplifier so that I can automate room-specific on/off and volume controls from the same "one-button" interface.

I have some severe time constraints right now, but in the near future, I would also like to:

Control the audio source (XM. Internet Radio, DVD playback)
Add software switched video (from DVD, MPG/Quicktime playback via PC, etc.)

Now, to your original question...which brings out another question of my own...

I am customizing the XML files that the ELK-RM software downloads from the M1 to filter the attached device list. This allows an area specific display in the RM software, even though it does not yet support this feature (currently everyone sees everything that the M1 knows about, all the time).

I would like to, using a simple batch file/command line utility, detect events, query the M1's status, send commands, fire off rules, etc. Do you know of anyone already doing this, or a toolkit to build a package of that type?

I want to be able to do similar things to my audio distribution system.