Re: [Coworking] DIY multi-zone audio for playing music?

2016-07-12 Thread Alex Hillman 
I don't want to abandon our current system, but the big change we've made
to it over the years is that we've placed the amplifier closer to the zone
where the music is playing (to avoid the dance of turning it up, it being
too loud, or turning it down, and it being too soft). We've left some zones
without speakers, on purpose, to naturally allow quieter zones to emerge.
The same has basically been true of our lighting - a mix of natural
realities of the space and lighting fixtures that were already in place (or
not) when we moved in means that some spaces are dim, others are brighter.
People naturally gravitate towards areas they prefer.

The difference is that those quiet and dim zones are basically *always* quiet,
or *always* dim. The brighter ones, and noisier ones, are as well.

With our new lighting, we chose a lighting pattern that gives us max
flexibility and choice moving forward, allowing us to create different
zones of bright and dim. One step further, everything can be
dimmed/brightened by zone (approx 5 independently controlled zones
throughout the space).

Just because a zone is bright doesn't mean it *always* needs to be bright.
By adjusting the dynamics of the zones that people prefer, self-selection
turns into natural movement throughout the space.

That's all a fancy way of saying: exactly like we currently have, just more
zones (from 2 to 5) and the ability to adjust an entire zone of speakers
from a single point in that zone.

Current research has me looking at 70volt systems which seem to max
flexibility & min cost, with the ability to put volume controls (like this
) in
the zones.

Anyone else experiment with 70v systems? Stuff you love, hate, or that I
should look out for?

-Alex


--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten

On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 10:04 AM, Tony Bacigalupo 
wrote:

> How does what you're looking for differ from the setup you have now?
>
> I've always admired it. Traditional wired speakers distributed across the
> space so everywhere has relatively equal low-level music playing at all
> times.
>
> Can you simply replicate that approach for the new space?
>
> On Jul 11, 2016, at 1:29 PM, Caner Onoglu  wrote:
>
> Hey Alex,
> You need active speakers with build in amplifiers. There are models with
> volume control on the speakers. All speakers need to be connected to a
> mixer. You connect your music source (computer, dvd player etc) to the
> mixer and you have sound in all zones which can be regulated.
>
> You can buy a mixer for about 300$, speakers will cost around 80$ each x 5
> makes 400. 200 meter cable will cost 50$..add another 50$ for connection
> elements..so in total it will cost you around 800$..
>
> I am not an expert..just my 2 cents..
> On Jul 12, 2016 00:00, "Alex Hillman" 
> wrote:
>
>> Hey gang!
>>
>> I'm currently doing my homework on multi-zone audio for the system that
>> plays music throughout Indy Hall, since we're moving into a new space next
>> month (!!!).
>>
>> As with most technology, audio is a game of "easy to over-engineer" and
>> I'm wondering if anyone has come up with a simple setup that they love.
>>
>> Basic requirements in my mind:
>>
>> 1 - single audio source (in our case, we run a mac mini)
>> 2 - minimum 5 "zones" each with with independent volume control
>> 3 - the ability to put those volume controls in the zone itself, near the
>> speakers it controls
>>
>> It does NOT need to be wireless.
>> It does NOT need to be network enabled.
>> It does NOT need to be "state of the art."
>>
>> It DOES need to cost less than the same setup powered by Sonos :)
>> It DOES need to be simple enough for someone who isn't trained in the
>> system to walk over to a knob and turn down the volume.
>>
>> Suggestions? What research have you done? What have you tried? What
>> DOESN'T work?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> -Alex
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
>> Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
>> My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
>>
>> --
>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
>> ---
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>>
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Re: [Coworking] DIY multi-zone audio for playing music?

2016-07-12 Thread Tony Bacigalupo 
How does what you're looking for differ from the setup you have now?

I've always admired it. Traditional wired speakers distributed across the space 
so everywhere has relatively equal low-level music playing at all times.

Can you simply replicate that approach for the new space?

> On Jul 11, 2016, at 1:29 PM, Caner Onoglu  wrote:
> 
> Hey Alex,
> You need active speakers with build in amplifiers. There are models with 
> volume control on the speakers. All speakers need to be connected to a mixer. 
> You connect your music source (computer, dvd player etc) to the mixer and you 
> have sound in all zones which can be regulated.
> 
> You can buy a mixer for about 300$, speakers will cost around 80$ each x 5 
> makes 400. 200 meter cable will cost 50$..add another 50$ for connection 
> elements..so in total it will cost you around 800$..
> 
> I am not an expert..just my 2 cents..
> 
>> On Jul 12, 2016 00:00, "Alex Hillman"  wrote:
>> Hey gang!
>> 
>> I'm currently doing my homework on multi-zone audio for the system that 
>> plays music throughout Indy Hall, since we're moving into a new space next 
>> month (!!!).
>> 
>> As with most technology, audio is a game of "easy to over-engineer" and I'm 
>> wondering if anyone has come up with a simple setup that they love. 
>> 
>> Basic requirements in my mind:
>> 
>> 1 - single audio source (in our case, we run a mac mini)
>> 2 - minimum 5 "zones" each with with independent volume control
>> 3 - the ability to put those volume controls in the zone itself, near the 
>> speakers it controls
>> 
>> It does NOT need to be wireless. 
>> It does NOT need to be network enabled. 
>> It does NOT need to be "state of the art."
>> 
>> It DOES need to cost less than the same setup powered by Sonos :)
>> It DOES need to be simple enough for someone who isn't trained in the system 
>> to walk over to a knob and turn down the volume. 
>> 
>> Suggestions? What research have you done? What have you tried? What DOESN'T 
>> work?
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> -Alex
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
>> Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
>> My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
>> -- 
>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
>> --- 
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
>> "Coworking" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an 
>> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
> 
> -- 
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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Re: [Coworking] DIY multi-zone audio for playing music?

2016-07-12 Thread Caner Onoglu 
Hey Alex,
You need active speakers with build in amplifiers. There are models with
volume control on the speakers. All speakers need to be connected to a
mixer. You connect your music source (computer, dvd player etc) to the
mixer and you have sound in all zones which can be regulated.

You can buy a mixer for about 300$, speakers will cost around 80$ each x 5
makes 400. 200 meter cable will cost 50$..add another 50$ for connection
elements..so in total it will cost you around 800$..

I am not an expert..just my 2 cents..
On Jul 12, 2016 00:00, "Alex Hillman"  wrote:

> Hey gang!
>
> I'm currently doing my homework on multi-zone audio for the system that
> plays music throughout Indy Hall, since we're moving into a new space next
> month (!!!).
>
> As with most technology, audio is a game of "easy to over-engineer" and
> I'm wondering if anyone has come up with a simple setup that they love.
>
> Basic requirements in my mind:
>
> 1 - single audio source (in our case, we run a mac mini)
> 2 - minimum 5 "zones" each with with independent volume control
> 3 - the ability to put those volume controls in the zone itself, near the
> speakers it controls
>
> It does NOT need to be wireless.
> It does NOT need to be network enabled.
> It does NOT need to be "state of the art."
>
> It DOES need to cost less than the same setup powered by Sonos :)
> It DOES need to be simple enough for someone who isn't trained in the
> system to walk over to a knob and turn down the volume.
>
> Suggestions? What research have you done? What have you tried? What
> DOESN'T work?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Alex
>
>
>
> --
> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
> Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
> My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
>
> --
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Coworking" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>

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[Coworking] DIY multi-zone audio for playing music?

2016-07-11 Thread Alex Hillman 
Hey gang!

I'm currently doing my homework on multi-zone audio for the system that
plays music throughout Indy Hall, since we're moving into a new space next
month (!!!).

As with most technology, audio is a game of "easy to over-engineer" and I'm
wondering if anyone has come up with a simple setup that they love.

Basic requirements in my mind:

1 - single audio source (in our case, we run a mac mini)
2 - minimum 5 "zones" each with with independent volume control
3 - the ability to put those volume controls in the zone itself, near the
speakers it controls

It does NOT need to be wireless.
It does NOT need to be network enabled.
It does NOT need to be "state of the art."

It DOES need to cost less than the same setup powered by Sonos :)
It DOES need to be simple enough for someone who isn't trained in the
system to walk over to a knob and turn down the volume.

Suggestions? What research have you done? What have you tried? What DOESN'T
work?

Thanks!

-Alex



--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten

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Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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