How to organize a home audio system for the whole apartment?

Vladimir Sokolovsky2012-07-12 11:01:32

Do it yourself

Vladimir Sokolovsky, 2012-07-12 11:01:32

The other day I set out to create something like a centralized audio system in an apartment. A little tired of situations when you have to turn on the music very loudly in one of the rooms so that it can be at least somehow heard in the kitchen or neighboring rooms.
I would like speakers to hang in every room and one thing to control it all centrally. I tried to google - either I'm asking wrong, or there is not much information on how to organize this in RuNet.
Maybe someone organized this at home, advise how this can be done - I will once again give advice on the columns themselves and on centralized management.
Thank you!

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10 answer(s)

dsd_corp, 2012-07-12
@dsd_corp

One of the options, one of the old solutions, is Apple's airport express. These are mini WiFi routers that look like a power adapter plugged into a power outlet. They have a regular audio output on board - a mini-jack, like for headphones.
So, the bottom line is that if these stations are connected to the same WiFi network and speakers are connected to these stations, then when playing a music from a computer via iTunes, in tuna, you can choose which of the available speakers (stations) to use. At the same time, the system synchronizes all speakers with each other and they sound the same in all rooms, without offsets.
Cons: not the fact that this is a cheap solution, well, there are no optical outputs and other fashionable fennecs, plus iTunes is required (you can from under Windows).
But in most cases, people using this solution put speakers like Harman Cardon SoundSticks II to these airports and, in general, are quite satisfied with the sound quality, I have not heard any complaints yet.

MrCleaner, 2012-07-12
@MrCleaner

Believe a colleague, this is until you are burdened with wives, children and pets (It is worth starting the first point and a chain reaction will start). It will not work to take into account all tastes, and everything, in the end, comes down to headphones and a smartphone playing music from a home server.

ToSHiC, 2012-07-12
@ToSHiC

There are ready-made things : www.amazon.com/Atlantic-Technology-WA-5030-REC-Wireless-Amplifier/dp/B007JGAVWU
Forget about streaming over the network / Wi-Fi, it will be extremely difficult to synchronize the signal. If you really want to drive digitally, then s / pdif on coke / optics and DAC in each room, but also from 1 digital output.

MGriboedoff, 2015-12-29
@MGriboedoff

This question also does not give rest)) How to broadcast video and audi to others from one room, there are no questions:
HDMI splitter + spdif splitter. We transfer music and video to devices in other rooms. If this is not necessary, we change the input signal to our own (local source in the room).
The question is how to send video / audio from one room one or another to each of the rooms + to this, control from a tablet (WEB-interface or an android application) is still an open question ..

dr_brain, 2012-07-12
@dr_brain

Not exactly DIY, and not exactly cheap…
Logitech Squeezebox
www.logitech.com/en-us/speakers-audio/wireless-music-systems
One possibility is just the same sound in all rooms.
But in each room on the device.
If you look at DIY, you can start by searching for “DIY WiFi radio”
People collect wifi radio from a wifi router and usb-audio wifi radio
Another option ... the cheapest Android device + radio tape recorder with aux + write a program for synchronization yourself
While writing, I came up with another option FM- transmitter (or whatever it is called) to the source and FM receivers throughout the apartment

Zoom_spb, 2012-07-12
@Zoom_spb

there are receivers that can provide sound by zones - control via phone or the web, I think what you need, the pioneer has a lot of such models

Alexey, 2012-07-12
@wireshark

Google Multiroom. I used to ask myself this question too. But nothing was found more reliable and more practical than wires.
I did it as follows: the S / PDIF signal from the main receiver goes to the Kramer 6505, from it it also goes to active acoustics in the rooms via S / PDIF.
On the plus side, there is no noticeable jitter in different rooms.
There is no binding to a specific acoustic model.
No bundles of wires - one cable per room.
Of the minuses - not quite budget

Alexey, 2012-07-12
@wireshark

Another of the minuses is the cable length is not more than 10-15 meters in the shoulder. Therefore, Kramer had to be placed in the corridor.

eternal2000, 2012-07-12
@eternal2000

Sonos, although not the devil

karenishe, 2012-07-12
@karenishe

Everyone thinks to have fun: www.apple.com/ru/itunes/airplay/