<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Ah, where to start: Yes, the energy costs are part of my issue here. I just got through with building a hi efficiency core2 duo based machine that is my always on ubuntu server, so that was the reason I was trying to do it all on the PC. I figure I have plenty of extra processor cycles, and half the reason that machine is up is to store/stream my media content to other pc's in the house and my phone and work computers. Building this machine has saved me $28 a month on electricity, so you get the idea what sort of beast I had before :) In order to keep the signals for each room as synced as possible I was going to do all the outputs (4 zones) by just getting a single high end 7.1 audio card and using the remap module to create 4 stereo outputs, all on the same crystal to boot! From there I thought about running line level wires throughout the house, but don't want to pay for the high end balanced leads I would need to get quality, and the girlfriend wants as little intrusion into each room as possible. So I figured I would put a rack of amps right next to my pc, control them via 12v triggering/audio triggering (or maybe a pc controlled power switch), and run powered leads through the attic/crawlspace to all the rooms. For control I was going to buy a few touchscreen internet tablets like the noki 810's and place them in each room. I already have a super simple web interface that allows my phone to stream my content down, so I figured I would expand it a little to make control of the various zones possible and more useable on a touchscreen device. In the meantime though I have written the python/php piece that allows me to select which zone connects to which music stream, and then I am running 4 instances of mpd which provide the playback for the zones. As for why I am using multicast, it is because that seemed like the only way I could replicate streams to more than one sink. Please fill me in if I'm wrong since it seemed like a little overkill. I would before a simple copy stream module. This allows any single room to connect to any other room's currently playing audio on demand. Your project looks awesome Jon! I am wondering what your BOM cost is for the end units that have both processing and amplification? Also, what are the specs on the audio codecs/dacs used in the boards, and what are the performance numbers on the amp units? I am a bit of an audiophile so stuff like that is important to me (although the girlfriend would never notice). I have been buying up NHT speakers and NAD/Carver amps for this project. Also, what sort of device/device synchronization accuracy are you getting? I was going to toss the outputs of my system on my scope and see just how good the syncing is, I'm just curious to see how the truly seperate device solution plays out. So coming at this from another angle, since some of you are obviously going to be spewing multicast onto your networks and your routers don't complain, what make models do you guys have? All I need is the basic 4 port 10/100 switch/wireless ap/firewall box. The on PC firewall sounds interesting, and that is what I was going for by changing the kernel routing tables. I would prefer something more elegant though. I'm not afraid of the code either. If someone gives me a pointer to where to look in the code, where network device binding happens, etc. I might be able to add a parameter or something that allows device selection manually. Matt Jon Smirl wrote: <blockquote cite="mid9e4733910802150717h7437caafv275adb5a84419369@mail.gmail.com" type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On 2/15/08, Chris Ribe <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:chrisribe@gmail.com"><chrisribe@gmail.com></a> wrote: </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap=""> </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">You can also use x86 boxes but they are more expensive </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> Not if you already have them lying around :) If I wanted to splurge on dedicated hardware for whole house audio, there are already a number of options out there. The Sonos, Squeezebox, and Airport Express/Apple TV (just to name a few) are all pretty cheap and work wirelessly. I'm more intrigued by the possibility of turning my dumpster bound PC hardware into something useful using PulseAudio. </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> Work out the electricity and AC costs and you won't think they are so cheap. </pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">-chris -- TV/IT Engineer WCJB-TV Gainesville, FL (352) 416 0648 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:cribe@wcjb.com">cribe@wcjb.com</a> _______________________________________________ pulseaudio-discuss mailing list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pulseaudio-discuss@mail.0pointer.de">pulseaudio-discuss@mail.0pointer.de</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://tango.0pointer.de/mailman/listinfo/pulseaudio-discuss">https://tango.0pointer.de/mailman/listinfo/pulseaudio-discuss</a> </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> </pre> </blockquote> </body> </html>