Hi all. I am building a house and none of the home automation systems offer a whole home audio setup that suits my needs. We have been using Chromecasts and Google Home/Assistant since their release. Most systems use Spotify and AirPlay and I have no desire to switch platforms after so many years. I have numerous Chromecast Audios so my thought was to use a multi-zone amp to feed input from the CCAs to speakers throughout the house. This would allow me to continue to cast music via YouTube Music and control via the Google Home app, as well as through various phone/tablet apps. However, I cannot seem to find any sort of multi-zone or even simply multi-channel amps that suit my needs, or that aren't ridiculously expensive. My next thought was to put something together via a Raspberry Pi and various HATs. Ideally I would like something that has TOSLINK inputs for the CCAs (I could use analog inputs if necessary), and could feed 8 or 9 stereo pairs of speakers to be mounted in the ceiling, with additional preamp outputs to feed a few subs and an input into the separate sound system in the TV room. I see SOME things that would seem to work but I'm also unclear on whether or not the HiFiBerry OS would support that sort of routing and multiplexing. Additionally, I would need a USB audio input for a turntable to feed all or any combination of outputs, as well as an input for the main home automation system audio output into the entire home. Thanks!
2 comments
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Geoff W Hi Richard,
I recently went through a similar process to replace my existing Sonos system.
Existing gear was:
- 4 Sonos Connect devices,
- Rotel RKB-1508 8 channel amp driving 4 pairs of Klipsch in-ceiling speakers,
- ICEpower 125ASX2 driving a pair of Kef bookshelf speakers,
- 3 Sonos Play:5 units.I've just replaced the Sonos Connect devices with 3 Pi's, a HifiBerry DAC8X and an IQaudIO Pi-DAC Pro.
Software is Mopidy, Iris and Snapcast. This works very well and the audio quality is noticeably better than Sonos. It's all open source, so you just have hardware cost plus (optional) contributions to the developers :).
I plan to replace the Play:5 devices with the same solution once I get extra speakers installed in the ceiling.What audio quality are you after?
Sounds like you already stream audio but I stress if you want to stream high resoution over WiFi you will need good gear, configured for the purpose. I currently stream at 96kHz 32-bit stereo using 3 Ubiquiti APs.
If you want to DIY amplifiers, ICEpower is good but they are all stereo. Ghent audio sells case kits for them.
The Rotel multi-channel amp is good, although the model I have is discontinued. eBay may turn one up occasionally. If you want more power, there are 8-channel options from Crown and others; plenty show up on eBay. I use Crown in my theatre and they kick a*s.To implement a Pi solution you need some Linux system admin skills or the patience to develop them. :)
I haven't used CCAs - are the DACs as good as one of the better HiFiBerry offerings?
Happy to answer questions and share more details. Cheers,
Geoff -