Has anyone tried this DIY multiroom

cram1971

I have been looking for a cheap multiroom solution now for a while, and have jury rigged a solution together to produce what I think is not a bad solution at under a 100 per room

To explain

I have taken a a2dp receiver a mini amp (Lepai )and a pair of ceiling speakers wired them up, hidden everything in the ceiling and bingo, I can play any audio on my iTunes library via home sharing and stream any Internet radio station. The only down side is the amp and a2dp receiver are always on.


This is by no means thx quality but it works for me really well with a home full of iPads iPhones and android tabs

randombar

looking around for a similar solution myself for multi room, wouldn't mind leaving them always on if it was doing a whole pile of rooms!

longshotvalue

I just put together a system made with these

Rasberry PI with Squezeplug image
Fiio usb Dac D5 soundcard for Rasberry PI
and a T2020 Chip amp The total Cost is about €80 and it sounds miply amazing, and is totally controlable by Iphone app.

It basically a Squeezebox Radio copy, but with seperate amp and connected to proper speakers.

Im no expert but it sounds Astonishing:eek: for the price

randombar

Sounds pretty cool, is it all powered via the one source?

Wondering if you bought maybe 4 raspberry pi and connected to a 4 zone amp would that work well as a multiroom?

Must take a look at the squeezeplug image.

One of the big things for me is limiting the power consumption so will check out how to power multiple raspberry pi too!

SNIP

longshotvalue

urbanledge wrote: »

If anybody needs a custom raspberry pi case drop me a pm!
Ive done a few that hold 3 or 4 pi's

I could do with a nice custom case for the above.

Amp is slightly bigger than PI and fiio is smaller.. What can you make them in?.. Id love a mini Hi-Fi box with just a volume and on off switch.

I may make a few more..

longshotvalue

GaryCocs wrote: »

Sounds pretty cool, is it all powered via the one source?

Wondering if you bought maybe 4 raspberry pi and connected to a 4 zone amp would that work well as a multiroom?

Must take a look at the squeezeplug image.

One of the big things for me is limiting the power consumption so will check out how to power multiple raspberry pi too!

At them monent there is apower supply for amp and PI, the usb dac is powered from the PI, but im working on finding a way to power from one power supply.

As for a 4 room version I cant imagine any reason why not. You would need 4 PIs and 4 Fiios, as the onboard sound from the PI is very poor.. If i was you i would get 1 first and try it out.

randombar

Ya this is looking better and better the more I took into it, will need to sus out a 4 zone amp and maybe start with one all right.

Nice one for this (although wifey wont be as grateful when I hide in my cave setting it up)

longshotvalue

The Huge advantage with the PI is it is fully progammable, setting up as a squeezebox player is simple but it can also be a server, and also can be an Apple Airport Player...

If you are going to get 4 for a decent home audio multi room, i would get a spare as well for fast replacement in case of a problem....

SNIP

The Ritz

Mod Comment:


@urbanledge,


Offering stuff for sale etc is not allowed on the Home Entertainment Forums - this place is for discussion, not for selling stuff - hence your posts above have been snipped. This is normally a banning offence for people with no Boards track record, please take the hint.


Ritz.


Ritz.

randombar

Trying to find an affordable 4 input 4 zone amp without much success? Anyone any recommendations?

randombar

So going to go with the raspberry pi and the T2020 Chip amp to start off, doing a bit of research on it and it looks like I can power them both off a molex connection?? So hopefully if I start doubling them up I could just use another molex connection from the same PSU etc. etc.

longshotvalue

GaryCocs wrote: »

So going to go with the raspberry pi and the T2020 Chip amp to start off, doing a bit of research on it and it looks like I can power them both off a molex connection?? So hopefully if I start doubling them up I could just use another molex connection from the same PSU etc. etc.

dont forget the usb DAC, as the onboard line out is terrible and you wont be happy with it.. there is a wiki page with all the compatible usb dacs, some are very inexpensive i got a Fiio f5 with was £20

randombar

Thanks for that looking at them now on amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_3?rh=n%3A560798%2Ck%3Ausb+DAC%2Cn%3A%21560800%2Cn%3A949408031&bbn=560800&sort=price&keywords=usb+DAC&ie=UTF8&qid=1354017303&rnid=560800

Did you come across anything cheaper than £20? Just seeing what the ultimate min price for this will end up at.

So far

RPi = 30

SD Card = 5

T2020 Chip amp = 10

Power Supply = ??

USB DAC = 6

longshotvalue

GaryCocs wrote: »

Thanks for that looking at them now on amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_3?rh=n%3A560798%2Ck%3Ausb+DAC%2Cn%3A%21560800%2Cn%3A949408031&bbn=560800&sort=price&keywords=usb+DAC&ie=UTF8&qid=1354017303&rnid=560800

Did you come across anything cheaper than £20? Just seeing what the ultimate min price for this will end up at.

So far

RPi = 30

T2020 Chip amp = 10

Power Supply = ??

USB DAC = ??

I used that Fiio Dac but there are load of cheaper ones for testing

http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals

I already had a Power Supply from a Nas box for the Amp, i just need to figure out a way to power both the Amp and rasberry from the one power supply. The Rasberry needs 5v the amp 12v or more..

randombar

Updated the pricing there.

For the power not sure if you've seen these but they're on about them on the forums:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-6S-Lipo-Battery-Input-4A-UBEC-5V-4A-5-5V-26V-rc-heli-/270740352010

Wonder if you'd have enough current out of the 12v power supply?

cram1971

Interesting....Do you stream through the raspberry pi and how is it controlled ?

conor06

This is very interesting! Would like to do this at some stage too. Is it possible to set up multizone audio? Has anyone done this before?