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Anon_E_Mouse · 2014-09-09, 05:11

Hi all. In the middle of a house remodel, and now is the time to consider what to do for sound. I'm thinking that there really isn't a better option than some nice speakers, POE, and somehow addressable via Ethernet... and the last part is what I'm not sure even what to look for.

A preliminary web search turns up stuff that is way overkill, what looks to be full stack speakers that you address by SIP (!)... or just stuff so expensive that I'd be broke after the first set.

I'm not after bargain basement cheap, but I am not afraid to spend for QUALITY. I do NOT want to spend for complexity.

Has anyone fought this fight yet?

Thanks in advance!

BORIStheBLADE · 2014-09-09, 05:17

Are these going to be speakers for music for movies?

Anon_E_Mouse · 2014-09-09, 05:23

Sorry; I suppose this was obvious to me but silly to not put in the post... I am looking at audio only for music during parties, etc.

In a perfect world, I'd have some type of control panel that lets me pick which of maybe eight zones have sound, and their respective volume. They can all play the same source from MP3 library, but they'd be basically independently addressable speakers (no problem to do a L&R pair per zone).

If someone can point the direction in the hardware, I can try my hand at the software interface if I'm the first to want this... just can't believe I am.

Stereodude · 2014-09-09, 05:43

Speakers that have Ethernet often use CobraNet, but that's not what you're after. Maybe some are available that use TCP/IP and POE, but they're probably not very common.

Topken · 2014-09-09, 19:01

Sonos is made for this with their play series for instance. But they are a bit on the expensive side and so are everyone else.

BORIStheBLADE · (This post was last modified: 2014-09-10, 07:39 by BORIStheBLADE.)

Ok so Sonos and Apple Airplay have been around for a while. Now you have a bunch of companies coming out with their version. Some of these have ethernet and some are wireless only.

Been around for a while
Sonos - http://www.sonos.com/
Apple Airplay - http://www.apple.com/airplay/

Just came out a couple months ago
Denon Heos - http://usa.denon.com/us/heos

New just announced
Polk Omni - http://wireless.polkaudio.com/
LG Music Flow - http://www.lgblog.co.uk/2014/08/musicflow/
Harman Kardon Omni - http://www.harmankardon.com/estore/hk/us...FBB3.node2
Samsung Shape - http://www.samsung.com/us/experience/sam...io-system/
Monster Products - http://www.monsterproducts.com/press/vie...rticle=430

Anon_E_Mouse · 2014-09-14, 18:37

Thanks Boris, that is a nice list.

I guess I should rephrase my question a bit, to better tailor it to my hopes with XBMC... has anyone actually worked with output plugins for any of these speakers? I'm starting to think that it may be cheaper to pick up a Arduino or Raspberry or some micro-controller type with a D2A converter of some sort and *BUILD* a speaker rig... but where my ignorance shows is how to get audio out of XBMC and into some encapsulated TCP/UDP stream. I'd hope there would be more functionality than just a A2D converter on the sound output... after all, the MP3 and OGG and all starts as digital, there has to be some way to pipe that directly as digital (compressed or uncompressed, who cares, long live Gigabit Ethernet) and send it along to the speakers.

All of the recommendations above, though, appear to be proprietary apps that basically duplicate what XBMC would do, and of course, require duct tape and band aids to make work with a proper home datacenter with RAID storage and all that.

At the risk of repeating myself, I guess I could be the first person to try to do this, it just seems absurd that is even a possibility.

BORIStheBLADE · 2014-09-14, 19:54

(2014-09-14, 18:37)Anon_E_Mouse Wrote: Thanks Boris, that is a nice list.

I guess I should rephrase my question a bit, to better tailor it to my hopes with XBMC... has anyone actually worked with output plugins for any of these speakers? I'm starting to think that it may be cheaper to pick up a Arduino or Raspberry or some micro-controller type with a D2A converter of some sort and *BUILD* a speaker rig... but where my ignorance shows is how to get audio out of XBMC and into some encapsulated TCP/UDP stream. I'd hope there would be more functionality than just a A2D converter on the sound output... after all, the MP3 and OGG and all starts as digital, there has to be some way to pipe that directly as digital (compressed or uncompressed, who cares, long live Gigabit Ethernet) and send it along to the speakers.

All of the recommendations above, though, appear to be proprietary apps that basically duplicate what XBMC would do, and of course, require duct tape and band aids to make work with a proper home datacenter with RAID storage and all that.

At the risk of repeating myself, I guess I could be the first person to try to do this, it just seems absurd that is even a possibility.

OK yeah I see what you want to do.

Actually you can do a lot with Kodi but its a bit more involving. I've been wanting to do a system like you but my main issue is you need a PC running that will send the signal to a receiver or powered speaker. With Kodi you can use a mobile device to control a PC and go headless. I fooled around with mine in the living room. My main problem is I don't like the way Kodi does playlist. I use playlist since I have a lot of music. This was my issue http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=187971 I haven't spent much time since because I haven't had the time.

poplap · 2014-09-14, 23:11

Buy some Rpis (+ DACs if you wish) and set up ampache on a always on computer (maybe even a Rpi), and put MPD on the Rpis then setup local play. Haven't used it my self but I have been wanting to set it up for a while now (no need in a dorm really).

Hope that helps