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[EpF]

Hi all,

I've been asked by my cousin to suggest a house-wide media network system for her, and naturally I thought of MC straight away. However, beyond that I don't really have any concrete ideas, and I thought I might get some ideas here.

The main thing is music, and the first thing I don't know is how to get MC's zones feature to distribute different music to different speakers in different rooms. Is there a piece of hardware you can buy which connects the different zones to different sets of speakers?

Thanks in advance

[newsposter]

Is there a piece of hardware you can buy which connects the different zones to different sets of speakers?

see: Audio Amplifier......

Seriously, 'zones' are just different/multiple output channels that are playing independent media streams or be sync'd together.

These zones/channels can have an ip/network component, or they can be direct outputs from a MC machine.  Or a combination thereof.

Think of having multiple sound cards in a PC.  Each output can be setup as a zone.  Or have multiple USB sound dongles.

The output is eventually going to have an analog output that needs to be amplified and fed to speakers (or headphones).

There are also a pile of audio amps/components out there that speak 'dlna' and can be connected to a home network and thusly to a MC 'server'.

In general terms, you want your amplifier as close to your speakers as possible.  So in my mind the biggest design consideration is how to lay out the network so that it stretches to each location you want/need those speakers. A close-second consideration is the 'control' of the source material.  There are plenty of ways to control the individual zones; anything from running multiple PCs to using simple remote control appliances will do the job nicely.

You're probably going to want a wired network; wireless is (again, generally) too problematic to support serious streaming.  YMMV but I suspect that for every person that has a 'successful' home wireless network supporting a lot of audio/video streaming (and everything else they want that network to do) that are dozens or hundreds of people who decide to go wired.

If you want/need to centralize the computer stuff and go with conventional home theater wiring, that's another valid approach.

Don't over think it.  Zones are pretty easy.

[EpF]

Thanks for the reply. Some of what you said made sense to me and some of it didn't. What I'm assuming is possible is:
1. I can have a PC in one room which has MC on it plus all the music on it
2. I can have *speakers* in different rooms connected to different MC zones
3. I will not need to have any other hardware in those rooms to hear playback
4. There is some way of using either a remote-control or smartphone to control playback for different rooms

If those are true, then the important thing that I don't know at the moment is: What is the hardware between the PC and the speakers that can distribute MC's zones to different sets of speakers? Obviously a normal audio amplifier does not have this capability. There will be at least 3 different rooms that will require separate zone<->speaker connections.

You said 'think of having multiple sound cards in a PC' - that's what I don't understand at the moment. Multiple sound cards would have multiple outputs, and I could at least imagine what that hardware would be.

You mentioned 'amps that speak dlna' - is that the one-stop solution? Could you give me an example of one that would have the minimum 3 sets of speaker connections I need?

I realise I could search for info on the net (which I have already done, and will no doubt continue to do), but what I came to the forum for was to get some concrete suggestions/examples of a way that this would work to get me started. I've never done anything network related with equipment outside the very narrow range of PCs. I also know next to nothing about DLNA, and I haven't looked at audio equipment in about 15 years, so I'm really treading water at the moment...

[wig]

It might help if you tell us a little more about your cousin's setup.

What sort of equipment does she already have and plan on using?

Does she mind running wires to all of the rooms from the PC's location?

Does she want the music in all the rooms to be synced (playing the same song at the same time?)

You said music is the main things, but does she also want to plan for video delivery as well?

What sort of budget does she have?

The answer is that MC can certainly support a house-wide media system, but that system might vary drastically depending on the answers to the questions above.

Hi all,

I've been asked by my cousin to suggest a house-wide media network system for her, and naturally I thought of MC straight away. However, beyond that I don't really have any concrete ideas, and I thought I might get some ideas here.

The main thing is music, and the first thing I don't know is how to get MC's zones feature to distribute different music to different speakers in different rooms. Is there a piece of hardware you can buy which connects the different zones to different sets of speakers?

Thanks in advance

[EpF]

It might help if you tell us a little more about your cousin's setup.

What sort of equipment does she already have and plan on using?

Thanks for your reply, wig. At the moment she has a wireless network and a PC for the media library. The plan is to have some kind of remote control system for choosing and controlling playback of music and video that is housed on a central PC in the attic (that attic is easily accessible). There may be only one room that requires video playback, but at least 3 that need audio.

Does she mind running wires to all of the rooms from the PC's location?

No, that's expected.

Does she want the music in all the rooms to be synced (playing the same song at the same time?)

No, she wants to be able to section off each room. This mainly relates to music, but she may want to be able to do the same with video.

You said music is the main things, but does she also want to plan for video delivery as well?

Yes, she has one main room on a different storey to the computer, that needs to have video as well as music. At the moment I am not sure if her network equipment is good enough to stream wirelessly, and like newsposter, I think wired would be better, especially as she will be routing speaker cable all over the place anyway.

What sort of budget does she have?

That is not set in stone. In principal she is prepared to pay quite a bit for a good system, but she is not an audio/videophile. Good enough is good enough, if you know what I mean, and her main interest is ease of use. That is not the same as ease of set-up (I'll be doing that and don't mind a bit of complexity), but she will pay for an intuitive system, and especially one that requires as few gadgets as possible to use. If she can use her phone to control it, that would be great.

Does that info suggest anything specific? I'd be happy to provide more specifics if required...

[mojave]

Here is what I would do:

• 1 computer with MC and all the music/video
• PC's (wired network) in other locations that require video with amps or receiver and TV.
• JRiver's Id for wireless sound in other rooms. ($99/room)
• Nook Color with Gizmo app to control music in any zone ($250) or any Android phone[/url]
  

One could probably mount a Nook Color in each room to be used as a touchscreen for controlling the audio.

[EpF]

Here is what I would do:

• 1 computer with MC and all the music/video
• PC's (wired network) in other locations that require video with amps or receiver and TV.
• JRiver's Id for wireless sound in other rooms. ($99/room)
• Nook Color with Gizmo app to control music in any zone ($250) or any Android phone[/url]
  

One could probably mount a Nook Color in each room to be used as a touchscreen for controlling the audio.

Thanks Mojave. A couple of questions:
Why the wired PC in the room for video? Is there no option for something that could receive the video played in its own zone on the server PC and display it on a TV?
How does the Nook/Id combination work - can different Ids be connected to different zones?

Your suggestions are interesting and certainly different to what I imagined initially. The main problem with the sound setup is that it requires 2 power sources for each  room; Id and speakers (minimum). Given that routing speaker cable has been factored into the equation, it would be a lot neater to find a solution that used a central device capable of receiving remote instructions and distributing MC's zones to  different sets  of speakers. But I don't know if that's possible.

For most rooms in the house, ceiling speakers would be the preferred option.

I really like the Nook idea, and I was wondering there are any other similar devices which  could do  the job. Is Android  the critical factor?

Thanks again for taking  the time.

[mojave]

You wouldn't have to have a wired PC for video. It could be wireless, but it still might need to be a PC. I am not sure if any of the DNLA devices (such as the OPPO BDP-93) would work as well.

The Id's can each be a separate zone, or you can link them in MC and play the same thing on multiple Id's. One Nook could control everything, but in the whole house audio systems I have seen there is usually a touchscreen in each room that has audio.

Any device that has internet access could be used to control the zones, but those that run Android can use the Gizmo app which I think has better functionality. I don't have any Android devices, but have tested with my friends' phones.