Entire home audio setup

[Mister_magister]

ye thats like no issue

How far do you want to take that idea?

How to Make DIY Wireless Multi-Room Audio System

Here we build the wireless multi-room audio streaming system. This system helps streaming audio to multiple speakers

www.electronicsforu.com

JSmith

In the limits of laws of thermodynamics

and well… budget

but well that's just connecting multiple bt speakers to single source device with extra steps

 

[jae]

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

@jae same problem

Pretty sure I have used bubbleupnp to stream to my google nest in the past, so you should be able to push from mpd/phone apps

 

[Mister_magister]

What do you people think of buying some goodish cheap bluetooth speaker with aux in, yeeting battery and soldering psu directly to it, and then slapping raspi to output to it, do dsp and sync?

 

[a2Thompson]

I’m all about the whole house audio. I’ve tried many things over the years from running wires everywhere when I was younger to FM transmitters before WiFi was a thing and most recently a bunch of chromecast audio pucks. For me, I’ve landed on a Roon system with a bunch of RPi’s and usb dacs (apple C dongle will work well once the latest Ropieee version is released) and then whatever speakers I have in the room. You can run Roon DSP software after making REW measurements and then also control the delay etc to each room. It’s a lot of setup but has plenty of DIY aspects to it and I get to change out speakers, etc whenever I want (or need to) and can always mess around with the DSP settings, etc to force mono if desired or add high pass filters for tiny speakers that can’t handle too much bass.

 

[Mister_magister]

yeah @a2Thompson that's basically my current plan, i can do dsp on each raspi in camilladsp if not in roon. The only issue is that I don't know what speaker to use and i can't find any advice. I'm thinking i will buy some cheap fairly good bluetooth speaker with aux in, yeet the battery cause it's pillow fire hazard and wire it directly to psu

but like tons of thanks for confirming what i'm planning and any advice on speakers?

 

[a2Thompson]

Well, TBH, I would choose different speakers/systems for each room depending on what it needs. For the rooms where I move around a lot I want something with good directivity...for under $150 and if I was buying new (and looks didn't matter so much), I'd go for JBL monitors (https://www.jbl.com/studio-monitors...lor=Black-GLOBAL-Current&cgid=studio-monitors), hands down. Otherwise, I would probably instead collect various speakers that I thought looked cool and fit each room on craigslist or ebay or facebook marketplace or something. If needed, you can get a really good inexpensive amp (like the fosi or other reviewed here at ASR) and then pair that with whatever interesting speaker. You might also just find some with amps...for instance, there are some Tivoli model one (which sounds pretty good, I have a couple and works well for this context) on sale on ebay for ~$50. Have fun!!

 

[Mister_magister]

Well thanks if speakers don't matter that much then ye i can go and just find whatever seems fun second handed

 

[a2Thompson]

The speakers certainly matter but I mean that each room if different. For instance, in my kitchen/living room where I spend a lot of time, I have planned a 6 speaker system with two subs. Genelec 8010 and 8020’s for size and directivity and some Elac DBR bookshelfs as the mains. I’m about half way there on that room and enjoying it along the way. For my media room I have an avr setup with JBL 580s and a sub, done. My partner likes the looks of Tivoli model one so that sits near in her office…and so on, but we don’t have such a large house

 

[Mister_magister]

Ye but i mean, i have my HT setup all fine, and i have speakers for my room with computer, i want like single speaker to nicely fill up remaining rooms

 

[a2Thompson]

Yes, I see. This is a topic close to my heart as I to am always looking for these types of things for bathrooms and other spots. I'd be interested in trying these Edifier's with Maiky76's Eq (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...280t-powered-speaker-review.16112/post-520406) since it brought it from 1.9 up to 5.8 on the preference score (for $100/pair)...but these are stereo, not a single speaker. I have not tried them, but the directivity is pretty good and since you have EQ, you should be able to fix the frequency response. There is also the M4 for a bit more. As for a single speaker, for the $150 max price, I still think the JBL's are an excellent choice (especially if you catch a sale) since you already have the streamers and the DAC.

However, with the RPi's and dac, you are now over $200 each location and I've wondered if it might then be better to just go with something that fully integrates the streamer. For me, I'd want Roon connectivity and I have been wondering about the Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i for $250...but have not seen any measurements. Hence, for me I fall back usually on random used products for less critical locations. Old AVR's are cheap and easy on Craigslist and I have (too) many older speakers lying around that I really enjoy trying to EQ for the odd location like the garage, outside, or the crawlspace ...only sortof joking

 

[ahofer]

Google Nests work pretty well this way. Just have to set up a "whole home" group.

Although synchronizing a whole mess of endpoints in hi-res can create some dropouts.

 

[Mister_magister]

Yeah like it gets expensive quickly, like very quickly, and i'm not searching for making each location audiophile grade sound, i just want music, borderline phone speaker does the job lol but then comes question, should it be directional, or wide as possible, what position, in corner, etc

With passive speaker i would have to spend money on like hifiberry hat because cheap stereo/mono amps don't really exist maybe stereo do
with active ones, cheap ones come in pair and only one has amp

hence my idea with bt speakers as the quality is plenty for me just have to rig it to not use battery (or find some batteryless bt speaker does such thing even exist)
that combined with cheap apple dongle or heck even without dongle makes it cheap

 

[Mister_magister]

Google Nests work pretty well this way. Just have to set up a "whole home" group.

Although synchronizing a whole mess of endpoints in hi-res can create some dropouts.

I like privacy and i like it to be entirely contained in lan and not in proprietary technologies + to integrate it with mpd/control via some linux server

 

[kemmler3D]

BT speakers with intended-to-be-removable batteries are rare (I can think of maybe 2) but I would experiment on one unit before going ahead with the battery removal plan. They all have circuitry to control battery charging, which may not interact properly with a PSU. (no idea, not an EE.)

It's not a terrible idea but if you have a budget of $100ish per speaker, the JBL 305p measures well, gets good reviews, and is like $129 ea. right now. Way less screwing around, will have good sound (at least, way better than almost any BT speaker), and some resale value on the secondhand market, if you ever get to that point. A busted BT speaker with the battery removed is not a salable item IMO.

Another option would be to go for the slightly old all-in-one airplay / BT speakers that never had batteries in the first place. Stuff like the B&W Zeppelin or A7 sound good for what they are, and you can find a lot of them secondhand more or less in your budget. They are intended for the "speaker in a corner for music around the house" use case and you won't need to pull batteries or anything.

 

[Mister_magister]

@kemmler3D ye but that makes it like 200$+ per room and if there's like 4 rooms the cost raises VERY quickly

 

[kemmler3D]

@kemmler3D ye but that makes it like 200$+ per room and if there's like 4 rooms the cost raises VERY quickly

Ah yeah I didn't realize the all-in budget per room was around $100. That is tough if you don't already have the speakers.

JBL 305s go for about $75-80 ea. used on eBay. If you get a bunch of used ones your total cost of ownership should be very low.

Other than that yeah I think picking up a bunch of BT speakers with dead batteries secondhand would be a very affordable path forward, if you are willing to do the work. Some of them may play on USB power, i.e. "play while charging", so if you find some of those you're happy with you don't even need to mess with the power supply.

 

[Mister_magister]

Yeah i think its best plan, throw them here and there and it should provide enough sound

 

[rgpit]

End points: Raspberry Pi running PicorePlayer.
Audio: Either a Fosi Audio DA2120A or AIYIMA D03 USB DAC/Amp and your choice of speakers.
Server: Either a pc running free Logitech Media Server (aka LMS) or LMS installed on one of the RPis

* You can sync all or your choice of the end points

 

[Mister_magister]

@rgpit I appreciate your suggestion but the dac part is even more expensive and the software on rpis is already figured out we're just wondering on dac/speakers because it quickly gets expensive

 

[kemmler3D]

This should be an interesting project, whole-home audio with DSP and not on a closed platform, for $100/room all-in is pretty rare so definitely post your progress!