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[capall]

Hi all,
I am interested in jrmc to use multiple sound cards (USB or PCI) to create 8-10 audio zones in my house, from a single audio source and in sync to certain or all zones. There's a reference to zones in the wiki but I can only find somewhat incomplete or old threads of people getting or nearly getting it to work for a few zones. Does this feature actually work and where can i get information on it. Questions I have....

What type of sound cards work
How many sound cards can work in the same PC to give multiple zones and be able to sync zones from a single source
Is it reliable?
Do zones show up in Gizmo or Webremote

OR are users simply using the J river ID..whats the sound quality and reliability with this seeing as its wireless, do zones show up in Gizmo or Webremote

OR even the Airport Express, anyone using these with dbPoweranp Upnp server, same Q's as for ID

Thanks

derek

[flac.rules]

I am actually in the exact same situation as you, i want to sett up a 10-channel setup with five independent zones. But what hardware to use? I have seen some many-channel sound cards, do any of those exist at livable prices and with digital output, or analogue?

[capall]

yes,

Maudio 1010LT (8 channels) and 7.1 cards (8 channels) from Creative and ASUS..analog output

if you want optical out you'll pay more..http://www.lynxstudio.com/product_detail.asp?i=13

But multi channel amps usually take in an analog signal

itunes and airport express are the system to beat, but MC has better audio capabilities and also does video, so would be great to get some answers on their multi zone capabilities

[flac.rules]

Thanks for the tip! Seems like there indeed is some good hardware available. There is some multichannel USB-products too:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUltra8R.html

But how does this work against a computer? Does each channel in the product have a separate sound-card which you connect to with the PC and install drivers for?

[capall]

it has 8 channels, just like in a 7.1 surround sound card, which gives you sound to 4 sets of speakers. As far as I understand, the multi channel cards (PCI or USB) have to have a certain type of driver that exposes each channel to the playback software which is turn must be able to separate them into pairs of channels (ie left and right, for a zone), and apparently MC can do this, but I'm not sure about USB, or multiple sound cards
 

[JimH]

If it presents multiple channels to a Windows program, you should be able to add two zones in MC's Zone Manager.  The channels should be 0 and 1 or the first zone and 2 and 3 for the second.

Elvis, I think you'll find info on our this board.  M-audio is often recommended.  Here, for example:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=70337.msg475576#msg475576

[capall]

Hi Jim H,
Could you elaborate on your comment and discuss if it works reliably with one or more sound cards. I've read the post you linked and those on the wiki zones link to various threads, and they only talk about one sound card working, do you have any info on multiple cards.

The wiki writes.."Some x to 1 sound cards can be used to split audio into x/2 different zones. " Can this be elaborated on..ie what do we have to look for to check if a sound card will work

Information in the wiki is sparse at best
This is a paid product and this information should be documented if it actually works. Threads on the wiki for zones are extremely hard to follow, it seems some people have it working and many many more don't . Specifics are extremely lacking and should be documented properly.
There's no information if it works with gizmo and web remote

This is the sole reason I want to buy jrmc.