Entire home audio setup

[Mister_magister]

I've had this idea in the back of my head for some time that i would like to have mono speaker in every room of my house so that when i'm cleaning or doing something i can have music everywhere.

So far i'm thinking, mono (obviously), active speakers so with inbuilt amp, and wirelessly transmitted audio like bluetooth or wifi, bt probably too weak. I'm not sure what are consequences of that so I would love any suggestions about what kind of speakers would be good for that. Also I want to do it the lowest cost possible but not "put bt speaker in every room" level of cheap. Also there is issue with sound delay. Generally i would love to hear input on how to achieve it

lol i just learned it's called multiroom setup

 

[MaxwellsEq]

This is probably not what you are after, but I have a Sonos 1 that I use for this purpose.

 

[Mister_magister]

Yeah can't find any info on this cause 99% of google search results is like "just sonos", i'm looking more after diying it just from conventional speakers

 

[AlfaNovember]

As a DIY project, there are two problem domains to be solved - Hardware and Software.

The hardware is maybe easier - for each room, you need a Raspberry Pi or equivalent, and your choice of either a HiFiBerry Amp hat (a dac & a small amplifier which piggyback on the pi) or a simple USB DAC dongle (HiFimediy, etc) and any amp/speaker combo that takes a line input. A Sangean WR-11 table radio serves this purpose nicely, and has a nice tactile volume knob on the front. The Pi used to be under $50 but have crept up due to supply shortages. You can use older, slower Pis if you find them. The Amp Hat is around $50, or the USB dac dongle can be slightly less. Another 25-50 bucks for memory card, card writer, powersupply and cables. I'm assuming you have a stable and speedy WiFi network already. You'll need to build the PI with an operating system and install a streaming client package, which will depend on your software choice.

Software is harder or more expensive. I pay a subscription for Roon, because they've built a nifty multiroom audio system using a proprietary network protocol that works reliably. In the open-source world, there are any number of projects at varying levels of complexity and sophistication. Many use MPD on the back-end, and you'll probably end up layering different pieces together - backend, multiroom streamer, UI service, etc. If a github repo doesn't look itimidating, there's Snapcast. no idea if it's any good.

Or you could find a secondhand Sonos system, and be listening to music in a matter of hours.

 

[Mister_magister]

As a DIY project, there are two problem domains to be solved - Hardware and Software.

The hardware is maybe easier - for each room, you need a Raspberry Pi or equivalent, and your choice of either a HiFiBerry Amp hat (a dac & a small amplifier which piggyback on the pi) or a simple USB DAC dongle (HiFimediy, etc) and any amp/speaker combo that takes a line input. A Sangean WR-11 table radio serves this purpose nicely, and has a nice tactile volume knob on the front. The Pi used to be under $50 but have crept up due to supply shortages. You can use older, slower Pis if you find them. The Amp Hat is around $50, or the USB dac dongle can be slightly less. Another 25-50 bucks for memory card, card writer, powersupply and cables. I'm assuming you have a stable and speedy WiFi network already. You'll need to build the PI with an operating system and install a streaming client package, which will depend on your software choice.

Software is harder or more expensive. I pay a subscription for Roon, because they've built a nifty multiroom audio system using a proprietary network protocol that works reliably. In the open-source world, there are any number of projects at varying levels of complexity and sophistication. Many use MPD on the back-end, and you'll probably end up layering different pieces together - backend, multiroom streamer, UI service, etc. If a github repo doesn't look itimidating, there's Snapcast. no idea if it's any good.

Or you could find a secondhand Sonos system, and be listening to music in a matter of hours.

The raspi description is already software xd

Ye so I was thinking that i will need at least one arm board per room becaues then i can slap camilladsp and correct it per room, and that's the most expensive part of the entire endeavour i think. Also idk what speaker should i use some guy said to use directional but idk why

Snapcast looks nifty as i already use mpd to stream my music from my server so that looks like perfect thing

I'm more familiar with electronics and linux/networking than beginner level But ye that seems like an idea!

 

[Mister_magister]

Checked out some stuff, i can get raspi 3 which should be plenty as i don't think 1 channel dsp should be too heavy. this + apple dongle as a dac is like $50 and just need active speaker but still dunno what speaker should i choose. And raspis will be useful for other projects as static bt beacons

 

[Zapper]

Simple. Get a WiiM Mini for each room and connect it to the powered speaker or passive speaker+amp of your choice via Aux, optical, or Bluetooth. Plug one or more WiiM unit into a music source. Each unit can transmit or receive to/from the others over WiFi, and they can all play in sync from the chosen source. You can even set the WiiM to mono so both channels are identical.

This is a lot simpler, cheaper, smaller, and neater than the DIY solutions. You can use any speaker: self powered, computer speakers, bluetooth, or passive with a small Class-D amp.

There is a WiiM Pro that adds more connection options such as Chromecast, ethernet, optical input, and coax output.

Edit: I overlooked that this is in the DIY forum, so simple and easy is NOT the point

 

[Mister_magister]

Problem is that there's no api whatsoever so you have to use android/ios app and that's not what i'm into

 

[sarumbear]

It’s not DIY but as it works so well I wanted to point to the excellent Apple HomePod speakers. There’s even a voice control only Apple Music subscription which matches the speakers and create an expandable system for very little money and no hassle. Obviously that’s the opposite of enjoying building your own system.

 

[jae]

What about multiple low-cost smart home assistant devices like Amazon Echo Pop/Dot (recently cost $15-30 each during Prime day sale), or second-hand google nest audio/minis which can be had for nearly as cheap. If you can find Nest Audios second hand for cheap you aren't going to get much better than that without spending at least $200-300+ on each "room" in terms of fidelity and it will probably still be worse.

 

[Count Arthur]

so that when i'm cleaning or doing something i can have music everywhere.

This problem was solved in the 80s.

 

[Mister_magister]

This problem was solved in the 80s.

View attachment 300552

nooooooo i refuse

 

[Mister_magister]

It’s not DIY but as it works so well I wanted to point to the excellent Apple HomePod speakers. There’s even a voice control only Apple Music subscription which matches the speakers and create an expandable system for very little money and no hassle. Obviously that’s the opposite of enjoying building your own system.

But it's still same problem, not being able to access outside of the apple/android ecosystem

@jae same problem

 

[Zensō]

But it's still same problem, not being able to access outside of the apple/android ecosystem

@jae same problem

Have you stated how you’d prefer to stream to these speakers if not from a mobile device (maybe I missed it)?

 

[Mister_magister]

Have you stated how you’d prefer to stream to these speakers if not from a mobile device (maybe I missed it)?

you are right i did not, my bad

Well I operate on linux so i would love to control it from linux too, playing from mpd would also be nice but thats optioal if it can just play url

 

[JSmith]

This problem was solved in the 80s.

View attachment 300552

1975...

JSmith

 

[Zensō]

you are right i did not, my bad

Well I operate on linux so i would love to control it from linux too, playing from mpd would also be nice but thats optioal if it can just play url

Ah OK. That makes it more difficult.

 

[SKBubba]

Wiim pro and roon. Still have to use a phone or tablet to control the linux roon server.

 

[Rednaxela]

This problem was solved in the 80s.

View attachment 300552

Yeah but OP wants mono.

 

[Mister_magister]

Yeah but OP wants mono.

come on you know thats not whats it about