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[Mysticeti]

In my mind, the pinnacle of home audio is the "multi-source, multi-room" "whole house" solution.  If I were ever lucky enough to buy a house under contruction I'd probably splurge on something like this http://www.smarthome.com/8270b.html and run the wires before the drywall went up.

Naturally, I'd have a PC with MJ wired into the system.

While day dreaming about how cool this would be  I thought to myself: What if I wanted to listen to Playlist "A" in the den while my wife wanted to listen to Playlist "B" in the living room?  Would I have to use two PCs and Media Server?   Or could I install two sound cards in one PC and get two instances of MJ running? (possibly in V9?)

Anyway, it's all a pipe dream at this point but better sharing of the database might be something to think about for V9.

[PhatPhreddy]

This has come up many times on AVS...

You can run multiple soundcards in one PC and link different player applications to each soundcard (or even have a card like the 410 and tie multiple stereo pairs to each of its 8 outputs (4 total) but one problem you face is that you often may want to listen to the same stream in all zones this system does not cater to it as they may not be perfectly in sync...

Of course you can have a system of central file store and distributed machines thoughout the network each outputting thier own zone but this is not ideal either...

I persoanlly (and this is heresey in HTPC terms) thonk this is something better handled in dedicated HW rather than HTPC's currently... You can get nice multi zone amps that will have (depending on $$) multiple inputs and will route to either one / some / or all zones... If you have one stereo pair connected to inputs 1 - 3 (for a 3 source system) you can have one application running primary and all zones and a second iteration of the player for zone 2 if using multi source and the same for zone 3 (up to how many zones you pay for)...

When shopping make sure you get an amp that is RS232 controllable as then you can automate the zone control system network wide (web tablets make great touchpad controllers... I just had a power buy on the stylistic 510 touchpads that nabisco dumped and these were very popular... I have 2 for just this kind of archair control system via 802.11 wireless network) using TCP/IP and something like Girder...

Head on over to AVS and search the HTPC section under multi zone and put the coffee on !!!!

Good luck

[Mysticeti]

> You can run multiple soundcards in one PC and link different player applications to each soundcard

That's good to know.  If MJ could fire up multiple instances on a single PC then the "shared DB" problem would be solved for this case.  To be clear: I'm not making a formal request for such a feature, just thinking out loud.

[Cotton-Eyed Loo]

I'm trying to crack this nut myself. I've got two approaches but I'm still in brainstorming mode...

1) Run ethernet into every room that needs audio. Install a low end computer (anything with a celeron or PIII is way overpowered). Install an appropriate audio card in each of these PCs. Audiophile grade audio card when connecting to a killer audio system, perhaps a crappy little audio card when connecting to no audio system (as in, go buy a cheapo receiver or boombox for $75). Each computer runs MJ as a client, aside from the one in the garage which is the server to them all. Standard ethernet these days is 100 mega bits per second - fast enough to move audio files. Each room can play anything it wants.

Option 2) Wire RG6 to all rooms. Run digital audio over RG6 and have audio systems with digital inputs in each location. The main advantage here is broadcasting audio in sync. You no longer need a computer and a stereo, just a stereo - but the cost of the audio system is a bit higher. You can have multiple RG6 loops so that you have some rooms in sync and others choosing their own source. It probably makes sens to have analog circuits (ie powered speaker lines) for adjacent rooms that want to 'subscribe' to the same audio feed. You can use a wireless network and VNC to control the master audiobox from anywhere in the house. You could use VNC in the first option to control various machines (if someone leaves a stereo on somewhere in the house, you can shut off the music from anywhere else).

Just some thoughts...

[Harry The Hipster]

You guys are way ahead of me technically, but I was considering CottonEyed Loo's #(1) as a solution for access to the library and the ability to compile/select playlists without running up and down the stairs constantly. Since I wanted to avoid hard-wiring the server and the client, I assume I'd need to be WiFi-enabled at both ends. All I need is about 50-75' range. Because of space considerations, I'd have to use a laptop. That woudl integrate nicely with the components.

Has anyone had experience with this configuration? How critical is the choice of sound card in the server, the client or both with a fairly high-end audio system? Are there other considerations I should think about?

HTH

[PhatPhreddy]

personally I still go with the multi zone RS232 amp idea myself but if its MP3's you are streaming this open source puppy is pretty cool...

http://www.tomshardware.com/newsletter/vol2/21/slimp3.html poste only hours ago and its the open source community angle I like immensley...

For most multi zone angles I would think MP3 is enough but I would need an on the fly converter for APE to MP3 or them to build APE support... My dedicted listening room is not going to be a lossy compression...

[Cotton-Eyed|PLS|Loo]

Mysticeti. I've tried using WiFi (I don't really want to run cables in the attic or subfloor, but I'm thankfull I own my home and have the option to modify it). I ran 802.11b for several months and it's just to unpredictable for realtime use in my opinion. I bought some 802.11a gear and used it for a week; this worked out pretty well - MUCH MUCH faster than 802.11b and possibly good enough if you don't mind the occasional hiccup, like when someone decides to websurf while you're cranking your favorite tune. I returned the 11a stuff as I didn't feel it was worth the $600 I laid out to try - I'll go back when I can do it for $150 - if something better doesn't come out first [I think a mechanical actuator on my cold water pipes is the wave of the future].

As for audio card there are two times when you may need one - ripping (yuck, I prefer all digital ripping which requires no audio cards thank you very much) and playing back. If you are using a boom box to play the audio back - it probably doesn't matter to much what sound card over $50 you are using. If you have a high end audio system you should probably be willing ot pay as much for the audio card as you would for your audio system's CD player - AFAIK there are no $2500 audio cards, so you may have to toss the stereo CD player and get a $200 audio card for your $10k stereo system.

loo

BTW Phreddy: I'm with ya here for sure - I want this too so I can stream out of my home to my desk at work.
>>>For most multi zone angles I would think MP3 is enough but I would need an on the fly converter for APE to MP3 or them to build APE support... My dedicted listening room is not going to be a lossy compression...

[sshapiro]

I had a new house built with speaker wire run to the family room, living room, and master bedroom.

I used a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz soundcard and Winamp to create an audio server with 3 discrete outputs. The Santa Cruz gives out the ability to access it's six channels as 3 stereo pairs. By starting Winamp three times and manually selecting the output device (front left/right, rear left/right, center/sub) I was able to have different audio going to the different locations. By using some remote controlled AV switches I was also able to send the same signal to all locations.

Steve

[SeanC]

You guys have to check out the Audiotron by Turtle Beach - designed to do just what you're asking for!

http://www.audiotron.net/