I'm in the process of renovating my two-story house (built in 1907), and
I'm trying to design a multi-zone whole-house audio system. I'd like to
get some feedback on my plans outlined below.
DESIGN GOALS
Ability to play different MP3s (and Internet radio stations) in
different rooms at the same time
Ability to play the same MP3 in multiple rooms at the same time
(synchronization)
Between 9 and 11 zones
Background music audio quality
Very transparent -- only equipment required in each room is a pair of
ceiling-mounted speakers and a handheld remote control
STREAMING HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
SlimServer running on a networked PowerBook on the second floor. I
want to keep my MP3s on my laptop because I occasionally use it to DJ
at bars.
Two networked PCs running Windows in the basement. Newegg.com has a
motherboard ('EPoX EP-8RDA3+ PRO'
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123233)) with
6 PCI slots, integrated audio (but no onboard video) and integrated
Ethernet for $70, which should cover 6 zones. Each PC would run
multiple instances of Softsqueeze, one for each sound card. Newegg has
'sound cards'
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829117104) for
$7.75.
AMPLIFICATION
'AudioSource AMP 100 amplifier'
(http://www.audiosource.net/amp100.html) in the basement for each zone
($110 each)
SPEAKERS
'AudioSource AS6C' (http://www.audiosource.net/as6c.html) or 'Phoenix
Gold ATc6' (http://www.phoenixgold.com/accessories/atc6.html)
in-ceiling speakers throughout house ($55-$70/pair). All speaker wires
home-run to the amps in the basement.
CONTROLLER
Control power, volume and track for each zone with 'Nokia N770 Internet
Tablet' (http://www.nokiausa.com/770?cpid=ILC-2001-507) ($350) by going
to SlimServer web page
QUESTIONS
Will this work? In particular, will multiple instances of Softsqueeze
work correctly on one computer with one Ethernet card and multiple
sound cards? Can an instance of Softsqueeze direct its output to a
specific sound card? Will synchronization work?
Do any of you have a similar setup?
Is there anything you would change to make it better, cheaper or
easier?
--
bmarston
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