Multi-room Audio - a tad confused

[tkmedia]

To add 1 or more linuxmce audio zones using squeezeslave.

Amp
http://lmcecompatible.com/#ecwid:category=285320&mode=product&product=867437
Sound card
http://lmcecompatible.com/#ecwid:category=285320&mode=product&product=1143865

HTH


Tim

[gurumaia]

To add 1 or more linuxmce audio zones using squeezeslave.

Amp
http://lmcecompatible.com/#ecwid:category=285320&mode=product&product=867437
Sound card
http://lmcecompatible.com/#ecwid:category=285320&mode=product&product=1143865

HTH


Tim

Awesome! That's exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much!

[coley]

gurumaia - what kind of budget are you looking at? for whole house audio as opposed to dedicated audio for TV or DVD. e.g. how much for soundcard, amp and speakers?

-Coley.

[m3freak]

EDIT: Sorry to hijack your thread, but it seemed to be a waste to create a new thread to talk about the same thing. If this causes trouble, I could create a new thread!

No worries, mate!  We're talking about the same thing, so it's hardly a hijacking.

[gurumaia]

gurumaia - what kind of budget are you looking at? for whole house audio as opposed to dedicated audio for TV or DVD. e.g. how much for soundcard, amp and speakers?

-Coley.

I'm note sure, I haven't set a limit yet because I'm not sure how much is enough for an 'okay' system, so I'm researching what's the minimum amount I need to spend to get 7 rooms of audio. From what I've seen, its sounding like this:

Sound cards:
The cheapest I've found was about 40 bucks a piece (with shipping to Brazil):
http://cgi.ebay.com/Startech-com-ICUSBAUDIO7-Virtual-7-1-USB-Sound-Card-/370287355739?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5636d8a75b#ht_830wt_905

Amps:
Now it gets problematic because of shipping (and then there's the damn import rates of 60% for electronics in Brazil, for orders above $50 USD):
$89.95 + $79.95 shipping = $169.90. Add the 60% and you get $271

As far as speakers go, I haven't settled on a make or model yet (I've actually no idea which are okay and which are crap. I know the good ones, but they're out of my range). I'm thinking maybe $80 for each speaker? Plus some $25 for shipping, plus 60% that's $168.

Summing up that would be:
Sound cards: 7x40=$280
Amps: 7x271=$1897
Speakers: 14x168=$2352
Total: $4529

This amount is definitely higher than my budget, so I'll keep looking for cheaper options. If I can't find any, I'll have to cut down the number of rooms with audio. I don't mind adding rooms after a little while, but I would like to at least install the speakers before I move in, to avoid the hassle of installing them with us living there.

I also wouldn't mind to upgrade the system some time in the future, but I'm not sure if that's practical.

As far as a dedicated system for TV, DVD, BluRay etc, I'll definitely add that some time in the future, but that's something that is more easily done with us living there than it is to install the whole-home system.

No worries, mate!  We're talking about the same thing, so it's hardly a hijacking.

Awesome! Can you tell me what kind of equipment are you planning to use on your whole-home solution?

Thanks a lot everyone!

[coley]

Ouch! 60% duty.
do you have any other source for these items besides US? any countries you can import from without getting stung with that duty?

It sounds like you are best running the speaker cabling from each room back to a central point before you move in. Then you can add speakers and amps for each room as money allows.

-Coley

[gurumaia]

Ouch! 60% duty.
do you have any other source for these items besides US? any countries you can import from without getting stung with that duty?

It sounds like you are best running the speaker cabling from each room back to a central point before you move in. Then you can add speakers and amps for each room as money allows.

-Coley

Yeah, that 60% hurts. But it's worldwide (except form some other countries in South America, where I probably won't be able to find these items anyway). It is also kind of hit or miss. You're not always taxed. It seems they are a bit lazy so some packages get in without charging the duty, but you can't count on it.

That's something I've been thinking about too. I've never installed one of those in-ceiling speakers, but I guess if the cable is there, installing the speakers themselves is not that much of a hassle, right?

So now I need to find out what kind of cables I need to run. Does anyone have any tips?
Thanks!

[bulek]

Waht about these :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320504385451&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

But beware, I'm not sure if they are the same.... And mybe active speakers....

HTH,
Bulek.

[gurumaia]

Waht about these :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320504385451&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

But beware, I'm not sure if they are the same.... And mybe active speakers....

HTH,
Bulek.

Those would be awesome! Even if it's not the same, for that price I'd buy them and try it out. The only problem is this:
Shipping:    Not Available to Brazil.

As usual, the best deals aren't available here! =/

And about the active speakers, I'm also thinking about that. Though they aren't very cheap, the total should be a bit less expensive!

As for the cables, I think it's best to just buy them here, they shouldn't be too expensive right? Does the type of cable depend on the type of speakers I end up using?

[totallymaxed]

Waht about these :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320504385451&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

But beware, I'm not sure if they are the same.... And mybe active speakers....

HTH,
Bulek.

That usb sound card is available under several brand names and works very nicely with Squeezeslave - they cost £10-12 UKP roughly.

All the best


Andrew

[purps]

I've just bought one on Amazon for around the price that Andrew mentioned.

Cheers,
Matt.

[gurumaia]

Would this one work with squeezeslave?
http://cgi.ebay.com/G904-USB-2-0-3D-AUDIO-SOUND-CARD-ADAPTER-VIRTUAL-/250754507390?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6222227e#ht_2976wt_907
If not, is there any documentation as to what chipsets are supported?

Thanks!

[totallymaxed]

Would this one work with squeezeslave?
http://cgi.ebay.com/G904-USB-2-0-3D-AUDIO-SOUND-CARD-ADAPTER-VIRTUAL-/250754507390?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6222227e#ht_2976wt_907
If not, is there any documentation as to what chipsets are supported?

Thanks!

You need a sound card that gets detected and added correctly as a working sound card then Squeezeslave will work with it. So whether you are installing 08.10 or 10.04 builds will affect your success rate with these types of devices. As with many other add in products manufacturers often change the internal chip or other components but the external plastics remain the same...so even an apparently identical unit sometimes fails to work.

The sound car in the url above is not one we've tested I'm afraid so I cant provide any guidance on whether it will be detected and added

[gurumaia]

You need a sound card that gets detected and added correctly as a working sound card then Squeezeslave will work with it. So whether you are installing 08.10 or 10.04 builds will affect your success rate with these types of devices. As with many other add in products manufacturers often change the internal chip or other components but the external plastics remain the same...so even an apparently identical unit sometimes fails to work.

The sound car in the url above is not one we've tested I'm afraid so I cant provide any guidance on whether it will be detected and added

So if the card is detected in Linux it'll work normally with Squeezeslave? If so, awesome. All I need to do is find a Linux-compatible device. I already did find one that at least says it works with linux (and looks a lot like the lmcecompatible.com one, though I'm sure it's different components). http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Mic-Speaker-7-1-3D-Audio-Sound-Card-Adapter-9765-/150468239984#ht_2953wt_907
And they ship to brazil for $2.50, which for me is awesome. I can buy 7 of them and still avoid the 60% import duty.

Now for amps. I've found some really cheap amps on ebay. Like, less than $20 USD. Now, of course the sound quality on these things will be less than stellar. But at least for now, I don't really care. If I can get background music going I'll be fine. I'll run the cables all to a central position so if I want to exchange the amps at a later stage, I can very easily. I just wanted to at least know if these would fry my speakers or what, cause it seems too cheap to be true. Here are two that ship to Brazil:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hi-Fi-Stereo-Amplifier-Car-Home-MP3-CD-iPod-MA180-/280626864180?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4156aa2034#ht_1473wt_907
http://cgi.ebay.com/mini-hi-fi-stereo-amplifier-home-use-booster-adapter-/250760218832?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a627948d0#ht_2126wt_1141
Does anyone have any experience with these kind of cheap amps?

Also, how does one know how loud they can be? I mean, the second one says 20W RMS x 2, but that seems a bit high to me (for the price). I'm used to measuring guitar amp loudness in RMS Watts. Though 20W RMS is not very much for guitar playing, it is ok for background listening. If a little, cheap amp like that can push 20W to 2 speakers, there must be some kind of catch I'm not getting, right?

Thanks everyone!

[joshpond]

A little bit different, but if all you want is background music what you have picked should be fine. Not running LMCe at work but run these ceiling speakers
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AX3550&keywords=ceiling+speaker&form=KEYWORD
with this amp
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA0472&keywords=power+amplifier&form=KEYWORD

They won't ship overseas but probably similar to what you are looking at and it all works fine so I think a lower powered amp and cheap speakers do work fine.

Josh