I am looking for advice as I look to expand my music capabilities.
I currently use a Monoprice 6 zone amp. It has served well for years, but as I’m renovating rooms and adding in ceiling speakers, I need more zones than it can provide. I have considered purchasing a second amp and linking them, but this is an expensive proposition at over $1,000 all inclusive.
I have a Debian server running Docker containers for Home Assistant, Music Assistant, and a Snapcast client (piped to a USB audio output device that’s connected to the Monoprice amp).
This overall works well, but has a few limitations:
Only one audio stream can be used at a time despite a home with multiple users who may want to listen to different things
No way to turn on/off zones in Music Assistant
Expensive to scale up
I had been considering some type of template player setup, where I spin up several more Snapcast (or Sendspin) players and either give each room their own player or set up some type of proxy player where different rooms can listen to different streams. I’m concerned the end result would be clunky and unreliable.
I’m looking at the hardware for DIY music clients - probably Sendspin makes the most sense. However, my setup is a bit unique since all my speaker wires terminate in one place rather than being all over the house like a typical installation.
I’m thinking about throwing together some custom PCBs with built-in amplifiers, ethernet (w5500), and an ESP32-S3. I would need one for each room, so about 10. It’s a bit of an odd solution since they will all be next to each other, but I can’t think of a way for these devices to share any components besides power supply. I do feel comfortable with PCB design so that’s not an issue.
You can make Linux sendspin clients and just connect to individual input to treat as seperate zone
Left channel is zone 1
Right channel is zone 2
Device connected mono to left control zone 1
Device connected mono to right control zone 2
Amp volume Is fixed
Devices control audio volume (software but physical volume control is possible or use esp device ilocated in zone as control)
I don’t know your physical setup so maybe this makes no sense
Since we are talking Linux you can get a PC with audio DAC cards. You can have multiple in single PC chassis. Maybe possible to run client in docker or again, just a bunch of RasPi.
I imagine Linux client is simpler and more robust than esp device. I love esp device but they still seem Beta and for “15yr reliable” home install Linux would be my choice over esp if given the option and for non relay/sensor type function.
I would personally keep amps separate from audio. Amp failure is rare but much easier to unrack and replace an amp vs try to figure out replace completed device. Same if audio player fails.
It has 6 stereo inputs. I need to check if two linked amps provide 12 inputs.
I currently have 3 USB audio devices. The main problem is keeping them straight, but a more robust DAC might be nice.
That’s a really good insight. I sometimes make really hacky setups then get frustrated when it’s finnicky. I am overall very happy with the Monoprice. It sounds good and is reliable. It also has POE wall controls so zones can be power cycled manually if HA is down.
I really appreciate your insight. I’m currently a bit sleep deprived from a new baby (yay!), so I may come back and read over your advice again when I have more brain space.
Series/parallel/combined series and parallel to get desired speaker ohm rating. Are your speaker 8 or 4 ohm?
Congratulations and I’m sorry.
My first…easy.
My second…literally no sleep. Pulling out my hair… stressed.
Just count the days til diapers and bottles are no longer needed
The HAVPE works well be the sendsoon firmware for that’s still Alpha and others have issues or do not like sound from output. I don’t use enough to have opinion on function. I have used long enough to say the I would not expect to install and not need to fiddle with it while the bugs get worked out.
I have a ton of RaspIs. Not sure if DAC is needed to get good audio out but a Pi without DAC may be good enough to test with