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Multiroom synchronous streaming success? I want to hear how you did it

muslhead

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I am looking to stream both online subscribed music services and local ripped files (on NAS) synchronously. Seems easy and i know it works when you are entrapped in an ecosphere such as sonos, blusound etc but I prefer open systems and want to improve upon the mediocre hardware that is associated with those closed ecosystems. I will be setting up my house that will include at least 4 rooms inside, the backyard and barn, so 6 separate "zones". Ideally i would like to have the ability to have anything play at any zone at the same time but also want to play the same thing in some or all zones synchronized.

On the hardware side i would like to be have the ability to play it on active speakers and the traditional preamp/amp/passive speaker system.

Software solutions I have found can do some is Jriver but the zones are not in synch. Roon, is rumored to do it but would like to hear it from someone firsthand. On the hardware side, there is heos, airplay, chromecast and rasp pi streamers that can meet some but not all needs.

There are so many options and i have done a good amount of research but have not had luck finding "the" solution. I am confident someone, probably many of you have this nailed so I thought i would toss it out and ask for your success stories.
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BDWoody

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Roon and a bunch of Chromecast Audio pucks.

Works brilliantly.

I know they are discontinued, but I'd still pay the $50 each they go for these days.
 
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muslhead

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Roon and a bunch of Chromecast Audio pucks.

Works brilliantly.

I know they are discontinued, but I'd still pay the $50 each they go for these days.

Alternatively, at a bit higher price, RaspPi to replace the chromecast audio will work too, i hear ... and any other approved endpoint, correct?

Just to confirm, it is synchronous, correct?
Are you wired or wireless or both? Does it matter?

Anything special required for the server? A standard med powered cpu pc good enough or do you have to buy one from Roon? If you use yours is the server software included in the price?
 

BDWoody

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You can sync between like devices, but I'm not sure about between for example a CCA and a RaspPi. I can't sync my USB connected M500 with the CCA out in the garage, but I have a CCA plugged into the M500 for when I want to. Same with my Integra receiver, and all the other spots about the place.

It is synchronous, with the ability to adjust individual CCA's in terms of delay, so I can dial out any weird echoes or other effects fairly easily.

I have a moderately powerful desktop that I keep the Roon Core software on. It has to be on a computer somewhere and acts as the server for Roon system, and it does need to be running to use the software on your phone, or anywhere else. No need to buy anything from them other than the subscription. I have a Mac mini I am likely to load the Core onto, as it will be a bit more efficient than the desktop, but I'll get into that when I'm setting it all up in the next place.

I have a pretty good wireless mesh system in my house, and everything including my desktop connects through that. As far as I know, it really wouldn't matter.

It really is easy to use and set up for the exact purpose you described.
 

Aldoszx

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+1 for Roon and RaspberryPi streamers (Ropieee).
As free alternative, Daphile (LMS) and RaspberryPi endpoints (piCoreplayer).
 
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muslhead

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You can sync between like devices, but I'm not sure about between for example a CCA and a RaspPi. I can't sync my USB connected M500 with the CCA out in the garage, but I have a CCA plugged into the M500 for when I want to. Same with my Integra receiver, and all the other spots about the place.

It is synchronous, with the ability to adjust individual CCA's in terms of delay, so I can dial out any weird echoes or other effects fairly easily.

I have a moderately powerful desktop that I keep the Roon Core software on. It has to be on a computer somewhere and acts as the server for Roon system, and it does need to be running to use the software on your phone, or anywhere else. No need to buy anything from them other than the subscription. I have a Mac mini I am likely to load the Core onto, as it will be a bit more efficient than the desktop, but I'll get into that when I'm setting it all up in the next place.

I have a pretty good wireless mesh system in my house, and everything including my desktop connects through that. As far as I know, it really wouldn't matter.

It really is easy to use and set up for the exact purpose you described.
Thanks for all the details. Helpful. I was trying to avoid roon but i may not be able :)
 

tgray

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I know you don’t want to be trapped in Sonos… but for ‘secondary’ zones, a Sonos One SL is pretty cheap and is an all in one unit. If you already have other systems, not as attractive, but it was the easiest solution for me to add speakers where I didn’t have anything before.

I think Pi solutions that rely on Shairport-sync (Airport) can do synced playback. Should work from a Mac, not sure if you can do that from a non-Mac source.
 
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muslhead

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You can sync between like devices, but I'm not sure about between for example a CCA and a RaspPi. I can't sync my USB connected M500 with the CCA out in the garage, but I have a CCA plugged into the M500 for when I want to. Same with my Integra receiver, and all the other spots about the place.

It is synchronous, with the ability to adjust individual CCA's in terms of delay, so I can dial out any weird echoes or other effects fairly easily.

I have a moderately powerful desktop that I keep the Roon Core software on. It has to be on a computer somewhere and acts as the server for Roon system, and it does need to be running to use the software on your phone, or anywhere else. No need to buy anything from them other than the subscription. I have a Mac mini I am likely to load the Core onto, as it will be a bit more efficient than the desktop, but I'll get into that when I'm setting it all up in the next place.

I have a pretty good wireless mesh system in my house, and everything including my desktop connects through that. As far as I know, it really wouldn't matter.

It really is easy to use and set up for the exact purpose you described.
Woody - Does Roon core stream digital or is it converted to analog and then pushed to the endpoints. I assume digital
 

BDWoody

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DWPress

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I can confirm this works with Roon - so long as everything shares a local network. I have the Roon core set up on my Mac Mini and often play music in my two adjoining rooms with separate speakers and amps (one goes to the Okto and the other to another wired computer output enabled in Roon) and can send the same audio to both zones but because I have some significant DSP going in one room I have to play with the zone delay time a little.

But I can also stream the same thing or different music to my house via an Airport Express or AppleTV or to my garage via an old generation Airport Express. This can be done in Roon by enabling endpoints in settings which then can be individual or linked zones. Control can be via computer or using the phone app. Endpoints can be anything Roon recognizes and can be a mix of Apple, Chromecast, RPis or other hardware.

Never played with this much in JRiver but probably something similar there.
 
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muslhead

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Thanks. Jriver has almost as much functionality but the UI is very outdated (I dont care about that) and while it has linked zones, they are not in synch and even if you adjust the time settings to correct for lag, they eventually lose that synch.
 

ahofer

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+1 for Roon with chromecast, or Roon with Pi, but you can't group them with mixed endpoints AFAICT.
 
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muslhead

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+1 for Roon with chromecast, or Roon with Pi, but you can't group them with mixed endpoints AFAICT.
you mean they all have to be either chromecast or pi, no mixing correct? If so, that is not something that anyone ever mentioned in my research.
 

somebodyelse

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I can confirm @Aldoszx's suggestion of LMS/squeezebox based options like daphile and piCorePlayer can handle sync of multiple players, within limits. It won't be close enough to sync separate players as left and right in a stereo setup, but is fine if you want the same music to be playing as you walk between rooms. It doesn't know about the latency after the player, so if you're using DSP with different delay in different rooms you might hear the difference if you're between rooms. LMS has interoperability plugins for streaming to other clients like DLNA and airplay, and in theory it can sync playback to them, but I've not tried it in practice.
 

ahofer

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you mean they all have to be either chromecast or pi, no mixing correct? If so, that is not something that anyone ever mentioned in my research.

Not Pi per se, but Roon Bridge/RAAT/other types

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en...es-so-they-play-the-same-thing-simultaneously

Group Types
Zones can only be grouped with other zones of the same type, meaning Squeezebox zones cannot be grouped with RAAT zones.

These are the types of zones within which grouping is possible:
  1. RAAT Zones
    1. Roon Ready devices
    2. Roon outputs on macOS, Windows, and Android
    3. Roon Bridge outputs on macOS, Windows, and Linux
  2. Squeezebox zones
  3. Meridian Zones
  4. AirPlay Zones
file.png

Note that Chromecast zones cannot be grouped within Roon, but can be grouped using the Google Home app. See the Knowledge Base article on Chromecast for more information.
 

DWPress

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you mean they all have to be either chromecast or pi, no mixing correct?

I stand corrected, just tried to link my Airplay zone to my wired DAC zone and can't. They do have to be of the same manufacturer it seems.
Screen Shot 2021-05-24 at 2.33.12 PM.png
 

ahofer

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hmm, some of Roon's polish is fading

This is a weird comment - faulting Roon for something no other system can do either? I'm not sure it is even technically possible to cast, in sync, to endpoints of different software types. Multicasting is fairly tough as it is.
 

Willem

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I am perfectly happy to have multiple CCAs, but I only stream from online services. But to be honest, we very very rarely play music in more than one room. Doing that reminds me a bit too much of the toilet building in my otherwise favourite camp site in Rome.
 
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muslhead

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This is a weird comment - faulting Roon for something no other system can do either? I'm not sure it is even technically possible to cast, in sync, to endpoints of different software types. Multicasting is fairly tough as it is.
where did i fault it? Roon was possibly the answer to what i am trying to accomplish. This "blemish" was the first (and so far only) item it cant do. Its about setting expectations upfront and why i am doing the research now.
Is the glass half full or empty?
 
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